Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-01-25
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| A Tesla on show at the CES in Las Vegas, Jan. 8, 2014. (Photo/Xinhua) |
US electric
vehicle maker Tesla made its debut in China this week amid applause over its
lower-than-expected price tag, but consumers are still concerned about issues
such as battery charging.
The company
plans to have showrooms and maintenance centers open in more major cities in
east China this year as part of its outreach to consumers in the world's
largest auto market, Veronica Wu, Tesla's vice president, told Xinhua on
Friday.
She also
said CEO Elon Musk wants to double Tesla's auto production this year and sees
China as a key driver of its global auto sales growth.
Despite
these ambitions, its efforts to build a strong presence in China face many
hurdles.
Wu said
pre-orders of its Model S in China have been dynamic in the past few months,
but prospective car buyers in China are still resistant to the idea of driving
a purely electric vehicle, mostly out of concern that it is hard to find places
to recharge the car.
At Tesla's
Beijing showroom — the first and so far only one in mainland China — Xinhua
reporters found customers gathering around the company's popular Model S, with
some venturing inside to try driving an electric vehicle.
A sales
representative at the showroom said people who check out the Model S come with
a broad range of questions, but the most frequently asked is where to charge
the car, especially when running long-distance trips.
Tesla has
said it will build free-to-use charging stations along expressways linking
Beijing and Shanghai. The Model S can run up to 500 km after an hour of
charging at one of these stations.
The
insufficient infrastructure will likely hold back Tesla's sales and expansion
in China. But Wu expressed confidence in the Chinese government's commitment to
advancing its green initiatives. "Based on our contacts with officials in
central and local governments, we find that authorities are very open to discussions
about sustainable solutions to problems posed by growing automobile
ownership," she said.
Wu labels
Tesla's commitment to the Chinese market "unprecedented" compared
with many multinational firms such as Apple and Motorola that she has
previously worked for.
Tesla
marked its entry to the highly competitive Chinese auto market with an online
announcement on Thursday that the price of its Model S constitutes only its
original price in the United States and unavoidable taxes and shipping costs.
Yet competitive
pricing alone does not promise strong sales in China. A host of big Chinese
cities have moved to cap the growth of automobile ownership to alleviate
traffic congestion and air pollution.
Authorities
have been encouraging purchases of hybrid and electric cars by granting more
quotas and subsidies for buyers, but Tesla has yet to make the official list of
cars eligible for such preferential policies.
Wu said
Tesla is in talks with relevant government departments over this issue,
recognizing that Tesla's inclusion on the list would make its cars much more
attractive to Chinese consumers.
She said
the company has grand vision for its China business, even though its current
China-based team of less than 30 people is building from scratch.
Wu also
said she felt encouragement from the fact that China has seen "leapfrog
development across many industries in the past" as an unsatisfactory
status quo in many sectors has led to faster adoption of the latest
technologies.
Kingston
Chang, Tesla's general manager in China, also added, "Though we sell cars,
we are more of a tech company and we are in a business consistent with China's
goal of developing more sustainably. This means huge opportunities for
us going forward."
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