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Tesla’s launch of self-driving system in China to widen autonomous tech adoption in world’s largest EV market, analyst says
- Tesla’s potential launch of its Full Self-Driving system in China is expected to help widen local availability of such autonomous vehicle technology
- FSD, however, is unlikely to shake up the industry because Tesla’s domestic rivals have started to offer similar technologies
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Iris Dengin Shenzhen
Tesla’s potential launch of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in China is likely to widen the adoption of autonomous driving in the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market, but it would have little impact on boosting domestic car sales amid cutthroat competition, according to a Bank of America (BofA) analyst.
Autonomous driving is currently not a priority for Chinese EV buyers, so Tesla’s FSD is unlikely to shake up the industry because local rivals have started to offer similar technologies, according to Ming Lee, head of Greater China Autos Research at BofA Global Research, on the sidelines of the Innovative China Conference in Shenzhen on Thursday.
“The good thing is that they can help make the adoption of autonomous driving more widely available to consumers,” Lee said.
Speculation on how Tesla’s FSD launch could impact China’s EV market reflects the anticipation for the US carmaker’s proposed domestic launch of a “robotaxi” service, which would test its advanced driver assistance system on the mainland.
Tesla plans to launch its robotaxi service and test the FSD system in Shanghai, Reuters said in a report, citing people briefed on the matter.
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