Elon Musk was in a complimentary mood during his appearance at the World New Energy Vehicle Congress. In his message, he praised Chinese automakers, who he opined were “the most competitive in the world.”
Bloomberg reports that Musk’s comments during his pre-recorded appearance can be seen as an attempt at repairing Tesla’s image in China. “I have a great deal of respect for the many Chinese automakers,” said Musk, adding that the country’s carmakers are particularly strong on software. “Public sentiment and support for electric vehicles is at a never before seen inflection point because they know it is the future,” he noted.
Tesla has faced a difficult few months in China following a largely positive welcome. China is a crucial market for the California-based carmaker as it’s the world’s largest EV market, with the added jeopardy of having plenty of home-grown EV competition.
In May, Tesla’s sales halved in the wake of public and government criticism. Accusations of poor aftersales service spurred negative opinions of the brand, with a local paper saying that the company’s “arrogant and overbearing stance” was “repugnant and unacceptable.”
Read: China Is Developing Tech That Can Track Automotive Data Sent Abroad
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Meanwhile, Chinese authorities grew suspicious of Tesla and how it handled the storage of customer data. Staff at some important Chinese government facilities were told not to park their Tesla vehicles inside government compounds due to security concerns related to their exterior cameras.
Musk spoke about data security, reiterating that the company was working with national authorities to ensure the security of data gathered by their vehicles. Tesla has complied with a request from the Chinese government to store data gathered by its locally-used cars within the nation.
China has gone on to develop advanced machines that will be able to track data sent overseas by cars driven on its streets. The system, which analyzes the path of data transmission, is currently being tested on vehicles from foreign automakers, including Tesla.
