EVwire brief: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Tesla China have publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report claiming that the company is considering separating or selling its China business as part of preparations for a potential merger with SpaceX.
Responding to the report on X, Musk first dismissed the claims by writing, "This is fake news." He later issued a stronger denial, stating that selling or spinning off Tesla's China operations had never been discussed.
“This has never even come up in a discussion ever. Absurdly fake news. People should assume news is fake until proven otherwise.”
Tesla China also rejected the report. In a statement provided to Chinese media outlet The Paper, the company described the WSJ’s claims as "false information."
Here's Tesla China's response, via The Paper:
The Wall Street Journal had reported that Tesla executives were preparing contingency plans that could include spinning off, selling, or even shutting down the company's China business ahead of a potential merger with SpaceX. Citing unnamed sources, the publication claimed Tesla had explored ways to separate its China operations because of geopolitical concerns and SpaceX's role as a major U.S. defense contractor.
The report also alleged that Tesla had spent years restructuring its operations to create a clearer separation between its U.S. and China businesses, making any future divestiture easier if geopolitical tensions escalated.
Giga Shanghai has become one of Tesla’s most important manufacturing facilities.
Context:
Gigafactory Shanghai is one of Tesla's most important manufacturing facilities and serves as the company's primary vehicle export hub. The factory supplies vehicles to the Chinese market while also exporting Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to numerous international markets. It is also Tesla's highest-volume vehicle production plant.
The factory is frequently cited as one of Tesla's greatest manufacturing achievements. Construction began in January 2019, and the first Made-in-China Model 3 rolled off the production line less than a year later in December 2019. The rapid buildout helped establish Tesla as a major force in China's electric vehicle market and played a key role in the company's global production expansion over the following years.
Source: Elon Musk on X, The Wall Street Journal
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