SINGAPORE – Elon Musk, whose Tesla Inc. is on the defensive in China, praised the country’s plans to combat carbon emissions and increase its economy, saying it will become the automaker’s biggest market in the long run.
In a short interview with Chinese state television published three days after trying to reassure Chinese politicians about concerns that the company’s vehicles pose a national security risk, Tesla’s chief executive said he was impressed with the emissions targets. established in the last five year economic and social project that was agreed earlier this month.
“I would like to leave an optimistic note and I am very confident that the future of China will be great and that China is going to be the largest economy in the world and with much prosperity in the future,” he told state broadcaster China Central Television in a clip. interview published on Tuesday.
“In the long run, China will be our biggest market, both where we manufacture the largest number of vehicles and where we have the largest number of customers,” he added.
China accounted for about a fifth of Tesla’s global revenue of $ 31.5 billion in 2020, according to public records. The US is its largest market, with $ 15.2 billion in sales.