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Elon Musk says Tesla will have a factory in China within 2 years to satisfy local demand for the Model 3

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is in China this week to personally oversee the release of the Autopilot in the country. Speaking at the Tsinghua University earlier today, he said that the company will have production capacity in the country within 2 years according to a Chinese report. The timeline matches the company’s planned release of its mass market $35,000 car, the Model 3.The company already expressed its intentions to produce cars in China to satisfy local demand and circumvent import taxes, but the 2 years timeline is a new one.

Musk made the comments while speaking with students at the prestigious Tsinghua University, which is one of the nine members of the C9 League of universities – China’s equivalent of Ivy League schools.

The CEO is on the university’s advisory board.

A production facility in China would add to Tesla’s Fremont factory, where all of the company’s cars are currently being produced and the Tilburg assembly plant, where final assembly is completed for the cars going to European markets.

The company is in discussion with government officials and potential partners. They hope to make a definitive announcement “soon” according to a Tesla spokesman.

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Comments

  1. Peter - 8 years ago

    Is this confirmed? I read about some confusion on Reddit whether he meant two years from now or two years after model 3.

    • Fred Lambert - 8 years ago

      yes a direct translation is closer to “within two years, in order to produce the Model 3”. apparently they will announce something soon…

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