Elon Musk has commended the quality of the Tesla electric vehicles built at Gigafactory Shanghai in China, recognizing them as “one of the best quality cars in the world.”
Musk wrapped up his first visit to China in three years by returning back to the U.S. earlier this week. The trip included meetings with Chinese officials and a visit to Gigafactory Shanghai, Tesla’s Chinese manufacturing plant.
Musk commended the plant for producing some of the “best quality” automobiles in the world, a long-standing narrative in the Tesla community. Tesla has long sparred with critics over the quality and build of its vehicles, but Giga Shanghai has long attempted to redefine the moniker of “Made in China” by producing what is the best and highest quality cars in the company’s lineup of factories.
“The emergence of Tesla has expanded the export sales area of Chinese cars to developed markets such as Europe and the United States, breaking the prejudice of ‘low price, low quality, and low value’ made in China, and sending ‘high quality, high value’ Chinese made cars,” a report from major Chinese outlet Xinhua said in late 2021.
The Model 3 manufactured at the plant in Shanghai has also been noted as one that brings the least number of complaints forward per vehicle. This was highlighted in a study performed in 2020.
Musk made an extensive visit to the factory during the tail end of his trip, with rumors of seeing the new Model 3 also landing on the agenda. While the look at Project Highland remains unconfirmed, what is for sure is Musk’s impression of Shanghai’s factory and its workers, which is likely standing toward the top in terms of a comparison of the four currently operational vehicle factories.
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