Tesla announced plans to build a design studio and R&D center in China in order to build a car and in the announcement, it released a new design drawing.

At an event for the start of made-in-China Model 3 deliveries to customers and the launch of the Model Y program last week, CEO Elon Musk said Tesla will design an electric car in China for the global market.

Musk said:

I think something that would be super cool would be to — and so we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna try to do it — would be to create a China design and engineering center to actually design an original car in China for worldwide consumption.  I think this will be very exciting.  I think China has some of the best art in the world, and I think it’s something that would be appreciated on a worldwide basis.  I think it should be done, and we’re gonna do it.

Today, Tesla followed up with an official announcement for a China design and engineering center, and a call for people to apply for jobs at the upcoming facility.

 

 

 

They posted to their official Wechat account:

In the announcement, the automaker notes that it wants to integrate “Chinese art” into upcoming Tesla vehicles.

Tesla also released this design drawing in the official announcement:

The automaker didn’t elaborate on its plan to build a car in China for the global market, and instead, it seems to be focused on its hiring effort right now.

Electrek’s Take

This design drawing almost looks like it could be an early Model Y drawing, but at the same time, it looks like it could be a smaller hatchback.

The latter could be very interesting: a small and affordable premium electric hatchback made in high volume at Tesla Gigafactory 3 to be exported around the world.

Either way, China has been producing some very cool products in the electric vehicle sector for years now, so it will be interesting to see what would come out of the Tesla China design and R&D center.