Tesla does not exclude suppliers based on their country of origin as the US electric-vehicle (EV) maker applies unified and rigorous standards in selecting vendors from around the globe, according to a senior official.
Grace Tao, vice-president of the US company, offered a vote of confidence to the more than 400 Chinese manufacturers that supply car components from batteries to heat-control systems to Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory.
She made the remarks on Wednesday, in what appeared to be an indirect response to media reports suggesting that Chinese-made parts would be excluded from the production of Tesla vehicles in the US.
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“Whether in the US, China, or Europe, Tesla uses the same rigorous and objective standards in selecting suppliers across all its manufacturing sites worldwide,” Tao, who is in charge of Tesla’s external relations in China, said on social media platform Weibo. “The selections are based on product quality, total cost, technological strength and ability to keep long-term supply.”
She added that geographic location was not one of the criteria.
On November 15, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk’s company planned to stop using Chinese-made components in cars assembled in the US as it aimed to reduce reliance on China amid uncertainty over tariffs between the world’s two largest economies.
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