Tesla, Inc has set up an insurance broking company in China, after CEO and co-founder Elon Musk indicated continued interest in the idea last month.
According to a report by Morning Tick, the brokerage was registered on August 06 with the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System of China. It has principal capital of RMB50 million (US$7.2 million) and shares its address with Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory.
The company is registered as owned by Tesla Motors Hong Kong Ltd, with Zhu Xiaotong as person-in-charge and legal representative.
In July, during Tesla’s second-quarter earnings conference call, Musk said that Tesla plans to build a “major insurance company”. According to Musk, the data gathered from Tesla’s vehicles can be used to offer premiums that are lower than traditional insurers’. However, when Tesla’s insurance was launched in California last year, it encountered several problems and customer reception was poor.
The launch of the insurance broking business in China comes after Tesla opened its own car wrap service in several Chinese cities. In recent years, Tesla has been branching out into related automotive areas, apparently embarking on a quest to become a total automotive service.
This is especially relevant in China, which is the world’s largest market for electric vehicles. In 2016, Tesla sold US$1 billion worth of vehicles in the Chinese market. By the following year, Tesla was the third-highest-selling automotive brand in China, following home-grown automakers BYD and BAIC.
