Tesla has great autonomous driving technology and brand, and only with the entry of more good products and technology can the whole market and customers have a better experience, Xpeng CEO said.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), one of Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) strongest Chinese rivals in the autonomous driving space, expressed its anticipation for FSD's (Full Self-Driving) potential entry into China.

"Today quite a few friends asked me what I think about FSD entering China, and I am especially welcoming Tesla FSD entering China," He Xiaopeng, Xpeng's chairman and CEO, said on Weibo today.

If the last decade was the decade of new energy, the new decade will be the decade of smart cars, Mr. He said, adding that the large model boom in the last 2 years has allowed the technology and experience of higher-level autonomous driving and self-driving to run at a significantly accelerated pace.

"Considering our own progress, I think large models will accelerate driverless deployment by at least 3 years, and fully autonomous driving is also one of the best business scenarios for the large models," he said.

Tesla has great autonomous driving technology and brand, Mr. He said, adding that only the entry of more good products and technologies can make the whole market and customers have better experiences and make the market accelerate its benign development.

China is now promoting openness and mew quality productive forces, whether it's Tesla's FSD, Xpeng's NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot), or other company's NOA (Navigation on Autopilot), all of which are among the representatives of mew quality productive forces and should be supported, said Mr. He.

Earlier today, Bloomberg cited people familiar with the matter as saying that Tesla is set to clear a key hurdle to rolling out advanced assisted-driving features in China by partnering with Baidu on mapping and navigation features.

Tesla will then be able to deploy its autonomous driving services on the basis of lane-level navigation and mapping provided by Baidu, the people familiar with the matter said.

Tesla turned to Baidu for in-vehicle mapping and navigation services in China in 2020, and the new level of partnership aims to address mapping for more advanced autonomous driving features, according to the report.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk made an unannounced visit to China on Sunday to seek approval for driver-assistance software to help stem the automaker's revenue decline, according to the report.

Musk made an unexpected trip to China yesterday and met with senior Chinese officials. Later in the day, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement that the Model 3 and Model Y produced at Tesla's Shanghai factory passed through data security requirements.

This was seen as the latest sign that Tesla's FSD is coming to China, and sparked widespread discussion on social media.

Tesla later responded that there is currently no timeline for FSD to enter China, according to local media outlet The Beijing News.

Tesla clears key hurdle for assisted driving in China with Baidu deal, report says