California-based automaker Tesla Motors Inc. is in the process of fulfiling the requirements imposed by the Chinese government in order to open  a car manufacturing hub in the country.

According to the company's CEO Elon Musk, with local production, about a third of the sale price can be probably chopped off.

Like Us on Facebook

"In the long term, we will probably see equal or higher sales in China than in the United States. That may take five or six years," Musk told Xinhua.

However, to open a local branch in China, the government requires foreign establishments to team up with local ones.

China Daily reports that the company is still negotiating both at the national and provincial levels. "We get the press of an elephant, but are the size of a mouse," said Musk, as he underscored that Tesla is still a small, growing company. 

This year Tesla admitted to be striving in sales resulting in a decision to layoff about 30 per cent of the 600 workers in the company, according to Reuters.

The electric automobile maker said in a statement on Friday that in nine months, that is, from January to September, 3025 units of their Model S cars were sold in the country. To break down, 791 of those cars were in Q1, 882 in Q2 and 1345 in Q3.

Musk revealed that Tesla is partnering with Baidu Inc to facilitate GPS and automated driving in China. He further confirmed that the Tesla's Nevada-based "gigafactory," a $5 billion-worth battery plant, would start releasing products in 2016. In two to three years, the factory is projected to be fully operational.

Meanwhile, analysts said Musk's move to launch Tesla's Autopilot in Beijing is a sign of the company's desire to win the heart of the world's largest automobile market.

Musk admitted that Tesla had made some mistakes on their primary entry in the People's Republic. He revealed that lessons have been learned, and products should only be launched when it's totally ready and not because of customers' demands.

TagsTesla, Elon Musk, Tesla Motos in China, Model S cars