Tesla prepares for China expansion after dealing with name dispute
The company has settled trademark issues that prevented it from using the "Tesla Motors" name in the mainland
American electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors has ambitious plans for China, after successfully handling a trademark dispute that allows the company to advertise its vehicles in the region under the Tesla name.
Veronica Wu, vice president of Tesla’s China branch, told Reuters on January 25 that the company settled trademark issues over the "Tesla Motors" name, which had originally been registered in 2006 by a Guangdong man named Zhan Baosheng.
Zhan claimed that he needed the name for his research on electric car manufacturing, despite not using the trademark since 2009.
Tesla recently announced that its Model S electric car would retail for 734 thousand yuan (HK$941 thousand) in the mainland after deducting shipping and import costs.
In interviews with the press, Wu said that Tesla China had a “very aggressive growth objective,” and added that the company planned to open at least ten stores in major Chinese cities by the end of 2014. Tesla currently has a flagship store in Beijing that it opened at the end of 2013.
In addition to these expansion plans, Tesla announced on January 15 that the company was planning on constructing a series of charging networks on the mainland that would serve drivers traveling between major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai.
