Elon Musk says will design a future Tesla car in China for global market

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company will design a future car in China for the global market. The electric car company founder said Tesla would open a design and engineering center in the world’s second-largest economy. He did not specify any timelines.

Tesla also confirmed that it would start work on a production program for its Model Y crossover vehicle in its Shanghai Gigafactory, the only production factory outside of the U.S. Production for its Model 3 — a sedan that was announced before the Model Y back in 2016 — only started in October in the Shanghai factory. Musk made the announcements as he delivered the first Model 3 cars out of the Shanghai factory to the public.

China is seen by analysts as a critical market for Tesla but it faces a number of challenges from cooling electric vehicle sales to increasing competition. Still, the company has produced positive news with a profitable third quarter of 2019 and fourth-quarter vehicle delivery numbers that topped Wall Street estimates. Shares of the firm hit a record high of $454 last week.