Tesla moves a step closer to launching full self-driving in China

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Written on Apr 29, 2024

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Tesla cleared the data security requirements of Chinese authorities on Monday.
The electric vehicles giant also signed an agreement with Baidu today.
Tesla stock is currently down well over 20% versus the start of this year.

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) is up 10% this morning after hitting a significant milestone in making its full self-driving technology available to customers in China.

Here’s what it means for Tesla stock

The electric vehicles behemoth had local authorities of the world’s largest auto market remove restrictions after clearing its data security requirements on Monday.

Tesla will likely be able to roll out its Full Self Driving or FSD software in China. The news arrives shortly after the EV maker said it will reveal the much-awaited robotaxi in early August as Invezz reported here.

Last week, $TSLA reported its financial results for the first quarter that came in shy of Street estimates (find out more).

Tesla stock is down well over 20% for the year at writing.

Tesla inks an agreement with Baidu

What also helped Tesla winning the licence in China is an agreement it reportedly signed with Baidu that would enable it to use mapping and navigation technology of the internet giant for its FSD software.

Both $TSLA and $BIDU are yet to officially comment on the news.

Tesla Korea has reported to the Korea Road Traffic Authority that it will introduce a driver safety education program domestically. Owners are speculating on whether this education is for user training on features like Autopilot EAP for MIC vehicles or for the introduction of FSD pic.twitter.com/Y0iEdzIyuh
— YongYong (@dydrbs80) April 29, 2024

Launching FSD in China will likely help Tesla compete better with the local rivals like Nio, BYD, and Xpeng that recently announced a new brand of affordable EVs (Mona).

Note that BYD was briefly the largest EV maker worldwide after producing over 3 million cars in 2023. Wall Street currently has a consensus “hold” rating on Tesla shares that do not pay a dividend at writing.