By Michael Elkins
The Shanghai autoshow, China’s largest annual autoshow, begins next week. However, one of the biggest automakers in China will not be there. According to plans published by the event's organizers, electric vehicle giant Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) will not be occupying a booth this year.
China is set to host Auto Shanghai from April 18-27. It is Asia's largest auto show where brands from BYD (OTC:BYDDY) to Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG_p) are expected to show off their latest models and technologies.
Tesla, which has a large electric vehicle factory in Shanghai, has attended the show in past years. In 2021, the company's stage at the auto show made headlines when an unhappy customer clambered atop a Tesla being displayed to protest its handling of her complaints about malfunctioning brakes.
The protest, captured on video, went viral in China and Tesla eventually issued a rare apology for not addressing customer complaints in a timely manner. At the time, the automaker did not acknowledge any defect in the car.
The auto show, which is held in Shanghai and Beijing on alternate years, was canceled last year because of China's zero-COVID curbs.
The company offers four models in China but has been rolling out new ones, putting it at a disadvantage while models from companies like Nio (NYSE:NIO), Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV) and Li Auto Inc (NASDAQ:LI) have flooded into the arena.
Shares of TSLA are down 1.33% in mid-day trading on Friday.