Tesla is planning to open a research and design center in China in a bid to understand and design 'Chinese-style' cars. The company hinted at this through a recruitment notice on its official WeChat account. This further makes it evident that Tesla is increasingly shifting focus to China.
China is an important market for Tesla and it has been firing all cylinders to capture the fast-growing vehicle market in that country. The company stated deliveries of its Made-in-China Model 3 cars recently and has plans to ramp up production in its Shanghai facility.
Tesla's big China plans
Tesla has come up with a recruitment notice seeking designers and other experts to help the company understand 'Chinese-style vehicles' and open a research and design centre. The electric carmaker has asked for applications by February, which makes it clear that it doesn't want to delay its plans. However, the company didn't specify the exact location or the start of operations of the research and design center.
Musk last week had hinted at similar plans but didn't make any clear announcement. Last week at the Made-in-China Model 3 delivery event Musk had said, "I think something that would be super cool would be to — and so we're gonna do it, we're gonna try to do it — would be to create a China design and engineering center to actually design an original car in China for worldwide consumption. I think this will be very exciting.
The recruitment notice now gives more authenticity to Tesla's plans. "In order to achieve a shift of 'Made in China' to 'Designed in China', Tesla's CEO Elon Musk has proposed a very cool thing - set up a design and research center in China," the recruitment notice read.
China-made Model 3 just the beginning
Made-in-China Model 3 is just one of the many things that Elon Musk and Tesla is thinking to capture the country's car market. The company has been moving ahead with its plans at a brisk pace in China. Last week, Musk also launched a new design drawing of its Model Y car. Going by the looks, the new design could be Made-in-China Model Y or well be a hatchback.
The company started deliveries of its China-made Model 3 to the public from January 7. Tesla is fast trying to capture the electric car market in China and has been delivering things ahead of its deadline in China. The deliveries of the China-made Model 3 come within a year of Tesla breaking ground for its Shanghai Gigafactory.
Tesla broke ground in China only in January last year. It started rolling out its China-made Model 3 cars in October. The first deliveries of the vehicle were made less than a year after the construction of Gigafactory 3.
