January 26, 2016

Tesla Model S top-selling sedan in Hong Kong; Elon Musk predicts Hong Kong will be world-leader in electric cars

Could the bustling city of Hong Kong be a sign of the growth possible for Tesla Motors in neighboring China? Tesla CEO Elon Musk is visiting Hong Kong this week touting the city's adoption of electric vehicles and forecasting growth throughout Asia, including China. According to South China Morning Post, Tesla sold 2,221 Model S sedans in 2015, making the electric car the top-selling sedan in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong is a beacon city for electric vehicles, [it can] serve as an example to the rest of the world on what to do,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said yesterday. “I currently do not foresee any city exceeding Hong Kong. It will be the leader of the world,” he added.

From 2014 to 2015 alone, new registrations for electric vehicles in Hong Kong grew 270 percent, said Tesla. As of the end of December, there were 4,198 electric vehicles on the road, compared to 100 electric vehicles in Hong Kong at the end of 2010, according to statistics from the Environmental Protection Department in Hong Kong. And according to Engadget, Tesla "managed to sell 2,221 Model S in Hong Kong alone, which made up over 80 percent of the local electric vehicles that year. To put things into perspective, that's also 4.39 percent of Tesla's total global shipment in the same period."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is quite busy this week in Hong Kong. The CEO premiered a stunning new video showcasing the dynamic growth of Tesla Motors in Hong Kong (see below).

Source: Tesla Motors

At the event, the Tesla CEO also discussed his plans for Hong Kong and thanked the many Model S and Roadster owners who attended. From his plans (see video below), it appears Tesla is looking ahead to continued growth in Hong Kong.

Source: Rocky Liu

Tesla CEO Elon Musk was also in Hong Kong for the StartmeupHK Festival as a featured speaker. At the talk, Musk discussed many wide-ranging topics (summary follows below) and forecasted a promising future for Tesla Motors in Hong Kong. Check out the talk below...

Source: Invest Hong Kong

As reported in Teslamondo, Musk reveals some key takeaways during this talk:

Model X Falcon-wing doors will soon get an OTA update allowing for a 50 to 60 percent opening, to better serve as rain shields.
A truck will probably happen. Does that mean pickup truck? Hard to say. Tesla thinks by first principles, not analogies.
The price of gas is somewhat irrelevant. “What we aspire to do is make the cars so compelling that even with low gasoline prices, it’s still the car you want to buy.”
Hong Kong should serve as a model for other high-density cities as the world shifts to electric motoring.
Model III: “The most profound car that we make.”
About Chinese competition: “If you’re in a race, don’t worry about what the other runners are doing. Just run.”
But is China tilting the race in favor of the Chinese runner? “I’m trying to figure out if there’s any way to answer that and not lose.” He didn’t answer. But he did raise an eyebrow. We’ve seen that non-verbal cue before. It’s generally affirmative.
On shared mobility versus private car ownership: “I think probably, roughly 60 or 70 percent of people will probably want to own their cars. Or call it two thirds own, one third share. This is a complete shooting in the dark guess . . . They also may choose to add it to the shared fleet and then take it out of the shared fleet at will.”
Autonomy/shared mobility not a threat. “No, as long as we make great autonomous cars. It’s just adding functionality that I think people will consider quite important in the car in the future.”

And, as Elon Musk continues to explore plans for local production in China in advance of the upcoming lower-priced Model 3, it appears likely that Tesla Motors will continue to aggressively grow its footprint in the region.