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Expert: "Whoever holds out till the end wins? It's too meaningless."
Tesla registers 'voice assistant' service in Shanghai... FSD China launch delayed
Regarding China's EV industry, which is considered a prime example of cutthroat competition, an expert has warned that if such competition continues, the ultimate winner could be the American company Tesla.
According to China's Jiefang Daily (Shanghai Observer) on the 23rd (local time), Zheng Yongnian, Dean of the Institute for Public Policy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen campus, who was once called President Xi Jinping's 'foreign policy advisor,' recently said in an interview with the media, "If the cutthroat competition continues in the new energy vehicle industry, the ultimate winner will be Tesla."
He further emphasized, "This kind of competition is collective suicide," adding, "There are no winners."
He pointed out that companies in the new energy vehicle industry are trying to increase market share through price competition, which is leading to reduced profits.
He criticized, saying that the combined profits of China's top ten or so automakers might not even reach that of a single top global company, and "Everyone has the same mindset. That the company that holds out until the end wins. This is too meaningless."
Regarding the background of the cutthroat competition, he pointed out the herd mentality, stating, "When an opportunity arises, various regions quickly follow suit. If a path seems good, various industrial parks, funds, subsidies, and investment attraction plans are quickly initiated."
He continued, "Local governments do not think independently; when they see others doing something, they also rush to do it."
Regarding China's EV industry, warnings have been issued about insufficient demand and excessive discount competition, and Chinese authorities even summoned officials from major companies like BYD last year to pressure them to refrain from discount competition.
In July last year, even President Xi Jinping stepped in, mentioning artificial intelligence (AI), computing power, and new energy vehicles, and questioned, "Should all provinces nationwide develop industries in this direction?"
Amidst this, Tesla completed the regulatory registration process for an in-car 'AI voice assistant' service in Shanghai on the 20th, and state-run media such as Global Times reported that the company is strengthening localization by using Chinese AI models.
Local media previously reported that this service would be linked to Doubao, the large language model (LLM) of China's ByteDance (parent company of TikTok).
The previously disclosed terms of use for Tesla's in-car voice assistant state that some models will be equipped with models from Chinese startup Deepseek and Doubao, with Doubao primarily handling voice command functions and the Deepseek model being used for conversations between the user and the device.
Industry analyst Liu Dingding viewed that if multinational companies use local Chinese AI models, it could be a practical approach considering market demand and the requirements of Chinese regulatory authorities.
However, the launch of Tesla's full self-driving (FSD) software in China is being delayed.
According to Bloomberg, Tesla stated in an earnings call after its financial results announcement on the 22nd that overall approval for FSD in China has not yet been granted and is expected to be completed by the third quarter.
Initially, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had hoped to receive commercial approval in February, but it has not yet been launched across China.
Bloomberg added that this reflects the cautious attitude of Chinese authorities towards rapidly developing autonomous driving technology.
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