However, this is unlikely to immediately transform the company’s fortunes in the country, with Chinese consumers spoiled for choice when it comes to driver assistance software.
Many of Tesla’s local rivals are rolling out their own versions of Tesla’s Autopilot, available in China, as well as fully autonomous driving technology as competition rages in the country’s electric vehicle market.
Guangzhou-based electric vehicle startup XPeng’s City Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) system, which it began testing in 2022, is available across China, and plans are also underway for its expansion to China. international scale.
Like Tesla’s fully autonomous driving, NGP can overtake, recognize traffic lights and make lane changes.
Smartphone makers turned electric vehicle makers Huawei and Xiaomi have also been racing to launch their own FSD rivals.
Huawei plans to offer its advanced driving system, with capabilities similar to XPeng’s FSD and NGP, on several electric vehicles it has developed in partnership with other Chinese automakers. Xiaomi integrates its own version into the SU7, its first EV.
Deliveries of the SU7 began in March, and Xiaomi’s driver assistance technology will be fully available in China by August.
Other companies developing their own autonomous driving features include Nio, whose NOP+ driver assistance software is available in 99% of Chinese cities, according to CEO William Li.
The reaction of Tesla’s rivals to the prospect of FSD approval has also been optimistic.
“Today, many friends asked me what I think about FSD’s entry into China, and I particularly welcome Tesla FSD’s entry into China,” wrote He Xiaopeng, CEO of Xpeng, on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Xiaopeng said it was a good thing that regulators had “let a hundred flowers bloom” by allowing competing automated driving systems in China and described Tesla as having “very good technology and a very good brand of autonomous driving.” .
“If the last ten years have been the decade of new energies, the new decade will be that of smart cars,” he added.
Not to be outdone, Tesla’s biggest rival is also set to join the race to develop smart driving features.
BYD, which briefly overtook Tesla to become the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles, announced in January that it would invest 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) in developing new AI-based features for its vehicles .
The Warren Buffet-backed company already has its own version of Tesla’s “Autopilot” driver assistance feature, “Navigate on Autopilot,” available on its Denza N7 EV, and plans to install the feature on all of its vehicles costing more than $41,000.
Tesla faces brutal competition in China thanks to an explosion of cheap electric vehicles built by local companies like BYD.
The American automaker reduced its prices in China earlier this month. Its market share in China fell from 10.5% to 6.7% in 2023, according to Bloomberg data.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside of normal business hours.
businessinsider
