People shop at a Tesla store in Shanghai, China, on February 17, 2024.
Coast Photo | norphoto | Getty Images
Electric car giant news Tesla Progress toward rolling out advanced driver assistance in China is not as groundbreaking as investors are making it out to be, according to a major technology investor.
Mark Hawton, investment director at GAM Investment Management, who focuses on investing in disruptive growth and technology stocks, told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday that such predictions were misleading — not least because Tesla's full self-driving service doesn't offer driving Completely subjective.
“We have to say what they're doing, everyone is talking about full self-driving capability,” Hawtin told CNBC. “What they will be able to do in China is what they already do in the United States or the United Kingdom, which is kind of a driver-assistance capability.”
Tesla shares rose sharply on Monday, marking their best day since March 2021, after crossing an important milestone toward the launch of FSD in China. Tesla said on Sunday that local Chinese authorities had removed restrictions on its cars after passing the country's data security requirements.
This has raised expectations that Tesla's FSD will soon be available in China. Tesla shares have risen 6.7% in the past five trading days, largely due to hype surrounding its roadmap for bringing FSD to China — as well as CEO Elon Musk's comments about plans to start producing more affordable models in early 2025.
But Hawtin said the company's so-called full self-driving service lacks the qualities that would make it a true example of self-driving technology.
“It's not autonomous driving by any means yet,” he told CNBC. He believes a Tesla FSD version capable of “true autonomy” is still five to 10 years away.
Tesla's reported deal with China's Baidu is a bigger win in the short term for Baidu than Tesla, Hawtin said, adding that competition is intense in China with names like BYD, Huawei, Xpeng, Li Auto and Xiaomi all providing technology capable of Level 2 autonomous control. . .
Tesla has reportedly struck a deal with Baidu that would allow Musk's company to take advantage of a license for Baidu's mapping service, a key requirement for introducing FSD on Chinese public roads, according to Reuters.
Tesla was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.
Full Self-Driving, or FSD, is an upgrade to Tesla's Autopilot assistant. Tesla does not yet manufacture or sell cars capable of full self-driving. It sells “Level 2” driver assistance systems, marketed under the FSD brand name.
“Level 3” assisted driving, also known as “conditional automation,” entails systems that handle all aspects of driving, but the driver still has to be present, according to standard-setting organization SAE.
Tesla has offered its FSD technology in China for years, but with a restrictive feature set that limits it to operations like automatic lane changes.
GAM does not own shares in Tesla, and Hawtin said he does not personally own shares either.
— CNBC's Laura Kolodny and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report
