Rearview mirror: Car industry's hot topics in 2017

5. Tesla to build in Shanghai by 2020

Tesla Inc announced plans to produce cars in China by around 2020. The carmaker's CEO Elon Musk said in November that Tesla is about three years away from starting production in China and will not make any significant capital expenditure until 2019. Tesla confirmed in late October to China Daily that it was in talks with the Shanghai city government to build a plant. Musk said the new plant will make cars for China and other parts of Asia, essentially the smaller and cheaper Model 3 sedan and the upcoming Model Y crossover. It will not make the more expensive Model S sedan or Model X SUV in China.