Tesla Model Y will be built in China, and the news sent Elon Musk dancing
The CEO also shared that Tesla will design new models locally for sale around the world.
Today's a big day for Tesla in China. Following its first vehicle deliveries to employees there last week, the first public customers received the keys to their locally built Model 3 electric cars on Tuesday. At an event at the company's Shanghai factory, CEO Elon Musk thanked the local government for helping bring the plant online so swiftly and the brand's growing customer base.
He also spent some time on stage discussing what's next from Tesla's Chinese operations... and did a bit of dancing, as seen below.
After Musk finished busting out some moves, he delivered news that the Chinese factory won't only build the Model 3, but also the forthcoming Model Y crossover, CNN reported. Musk commented the Model Y will "have more demand than probably all of the other cars of Tesla combined," according to CNN.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Indeed, the crossover segment is a popular one these days, and an electric model slotting into the space from Tesla could be just the ticket. Local Model Y production will, according to Musk, come with increased investments in China.
Yet the CEO was looking even further outward with the electric carmaker. Musk added he wants to design "original car[s]" and declared Tesla will open a design center in China to do just that. This design center will produce designs for future Tesla cars to be sold around the world, which Musk said after he complimented Chinese art and noted the world would likely appreciate the country's local design ethos.
Tesla hasn't said if any of the locally made Model 3 or Model Y cars will be exported to the US. The Shanghai factory is the company's first production facility outside of its domestic market, though plans for another foreign plant are underway in Germany.
Mass deliveries of the Model 3 will continue in China as Tesla opened order books back in October. The electric sedan costs as little as $43,080 at current exchange rates after government incentives and a recent price decrease for the Model 3.
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