Which domestic car company can cooperate with Tesla in the future?

Not long ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk visited China and publicly stated at the Tsinghua Global Management Forum that the Model 3 entry-level electric vehicle will be assembled and produced in China in the future.

Tesla electric cars have been in China for several years now. However, unlike the overseas markets, Tesla's performance in the Chinese mainland can be described as "terrible". The main reason for this is the high price of imported cars and the lack of supporting facilities. Even Elon Musk himself has to admit this.

Therefore, Elon Musk's public announcement of plans to produce Tesla in China in the future indicates that Tesla has realized the problem and has begun to solve it. If Tesla can really be localized, then the most intuitive experience will undoubtedly be a significant drop in price, about one-third. And the localized Tesla will undoubtedly play a very huge and positive role in promoting the development of new energy vehicles in China.

If Tesla wants to produce its products domestically, in addition to investing in building factories, it also needs to find a partner that has the greatest advantages in China and is most suitable for Tesla. Who this partner will be in the future has become a topic of great concern to electric car enthusiasts and industry insiders.

According to Tesla's plan, there are still about three years away from the goal of localizing electric vehicles. During these three years, which domestic manufacturer will marry this most Internet-based electric car manufacturer? Let's discuss it.

BYD

BYD has powerful battery technology and is one of the leading companies in China's new energy vehicles. At the same time, BYD's reputation is also in a leading position among the domestic independent brands. In addition to BYD itself, BYD also jointly created the Denza brand with Daimler, intending to create an electric car that meets the needs of high-end Chinese consumers, and this positioning is basically very similar to Tesla.

Currently, BYD has pure electric and hybrid models including e6, S6 and Qin, and has relatively rich experience in the field of electric vehicles. At the same time, with the support of powerful battery technology, it is believed that BYD will become the most likely partner for Tesla's localization in the future.

BAIC Group

Among all the domestic independent brand new energy vehicle markets, BAIC Group is the most active one. Currently, BAIC New Energy's EV series electric vehicles are among the best-selling in the domestic market, and it also has very solid government relations and can be the first to obtain national policy and strategic support.

In addition, in addition to electric vehicles themselves, the laying of charging piles is also a major advantage of BAIC New Energy Group. Charging piles are also another major "heartache" for Tesla. Therefore, if Tesla chooses to cooperate with BAIC, in addition to having a complete electric vehicle production line, it can also increase the laying and popularization of charging piles and integrate them into the unified domestic charging settings, which is also a factor worthy of consideration.

SAIC Motor

When Elon Musk visited China, Shanghai leaders personally suggested that Tesla settle in Jiading District and planned to provide full policy support. In addition, Shanghai is also an automobile industrial city, and the State Council and the municipal government have the strongest support for the automobile industry. In addition, Shanghai has a free trade zone and a port, and its geographical location is central, which can assist Tesla in taking on the responsibility of the Asia-Pacific production workshop. From a market perspective, Shanghai's new energy policy is more open than Beijing, and the Yangtze River Delta is the main market for luxury car consumption, which is in line with Tesla's market positioning.

From SAIC's own perspective, SAIC has been making continuous moves in the field of new energy, and has rich experience in the industry. The sales of Roewe E50 are also increasing amid the new energy boom. At the same time, SAIC Group is also very experienced in the field of automobile research and development. It has R&D and factories. If Tesla and SAIC form a joint venture, they may even save money on building factories.

FAW Group

When Tesla enters China, it first faces administrative approval. Therefore, it must give priority to partners with strong administrative approval capabilities. In addition, since Tesla is positioned as a luxury electric car, it must choose to cooperate with companies with luxury car sales experience and network resources. In this regard, FAW has two major brands, Audi and Hongqi, and its experience and network resources are more suitable.

In addition, FAW is also the best choice to minimize the factory construction cycle after the joint venture. FAW Car invested 4.3 billion yuan in the past few years to build a professional factory for new energy vehicle production. It is expected to be completed by the end of the next year and put into production at the latest early next year. The factory is large in scale and must have a large capacity exposure. If Tesla cooperates, it will directly bypass the cycle problem of factory construction. Finally, FAW's new energy factory has a huge investment, and Tesla's entry will effectively improve the capacity utilization rate of the new energy vehicle factory.

Dongfeng Motor

Dongfeng has previously cooperated with Sweden's National Automobile Company to develop electric vehicles and jointly expand domestic and overseas markets. Dongfeng will support National Automobile in building a new energy vehicle R&D and production base in Tianjin, support Nevs in using Dongfeng's automotive parts supplier system to achieve scale procurement cost advantages, connect with Dongfeng's dealer system to complete the construction of sales and service systems, and support National Automobile Company to achieve mass production of complete vehicle products.

These features can be directly utilized by Tesla in the future, making it one of Tesla's first-tier choices when entering China.

Changan Automobile

In March this year, Ken Morgan, director of Tesla's investment and government relations, led a team to visit Changan Automobile Company. At the same time, Changan Automobile's stock trading was suspended for 5 days, which also triggered speculation from the outside world that Tesla and Changan would cooperate to make Tesla domestically. Although neither Changan nor Tesla responded to this, it is possible from analysis.

First of all, Changan Automobile, as one of the four largest automobile companies in China, is a large state-owned enterprise. At present, Changan is also experienced in the field of automobile manufacturing. Foreign brands including Ford, Mazda and Suzuki have already cooperated with Changan. At the same time, Changan also has its own brands including Yuexiang and Zhixiang, which have also achieved good results in the market. In addition, in the field of new energy vehicles, Changan Eado has also begun to seize its own position in the market. Therefore, Changan also has certain experience in the production of electric vehicles.

As for Tesla, Changan, as a giant state-owned enterprise, has very strong lobbying ability on the government, which also helps Tesla to obtain a good development environment and policy support in China.

In fact, in addition to BYD, BAIC, Changan and other manufacturers, many domestic car companies have also extended olive branches to Tesla, hoping to reach a cooperation intention with Tesla. In March last year, JAC Motors met with the head of Tesla China to discuss matters such as Tesla's domestic production settling in JAC's Hefei factory. In addition, the general manager of Foton Motor Company also flew to Tesla's California headquarters in person to meet with Elon Musk to discuss face-to-face how Foton Motor and Tesla could cooperate to promote its localization process.

At present, the Chinese government has been vigorously promoting the upgrading of new energy vehicle infrastructure and promoting new energy vehicles through various policies. Once Tesla is produced domestically in the next two or three years, the price will be greatly depressed and there will be no 25% tariff. The entry of Tesla will undoubtedly inject a shot of adrenaline into the domestic new energy vehicle market and become the first choice for users with ample budgets. Therefore, Tesla's localized production is in line with the development direction of the Chinese government in electric vehicles. It will be a win-win situation for both Tesla and domestic manufacturers.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.