Chinese carmakers will ‘demolish most other car companies’ if trade barriers aren’t imposed, says Elon Musk

Tesla boss Elon Musk has said that trade barriers will need to be introduced on Chinese car firms otherwise they will ‘demolish most other car companies’.

Speaking during Tesla’s fourth-quarter and full-year financial results call, Musk said ‘our observations are that Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world, so I think they will have significant success outside of China depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers are established.

He added: “Frankly, I think that if there are not trade barriers established they will pretty much demolish most other car companies in the world.

“They’re extremely good”, added the Tesla boss.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of Chinese car brands arriving on the market in recent years with the vast majority focusing on the production of electric vehicles.

Firms such as BYD have started to have a foothold in the UK, alongside brands such as GWM Ora. Two new brands – Seres and Skywell – have recently been confirmed as new additions to the UK’s automotive scene while Chinese car giant Geely owns more household names such as Volvo, Lotus and Polestar.

Musk added that Tesla didn’t see an ‘obvious opportunity’ in which to partner with Chinese car brands but added that the Californian firm was happy to give ‘any car company’ access to Tesla’s widespread Supercharger network. He also stated that he was “happy to give license for full self-driving and perhaps other technologies which could be helpful in advancing the sustainable energy revolution”.