[DigitalToday Seung-ah Yoo, intern reporter] Elon Musk (일론 머스크) said he aims to capture more than half of the global passenger travel market by pushing autonomous driving. Regulation in each country and the timeline for commercialising self-driving technology remain variables in meeting the goal.

On Oct. 22 (local time), Tesla and foreign media said Musk told Tesla’s earnings conference call on Oct. 21 that in countries where autonomous driving can be operated freely, Tesla would be responsible for more than half of global passenger travel distance.

Musk argued that regulation by foreign governments seeking to protect domestic industries could block Tesla’s global expansion. The remarks go further than his January earnings outlook that most travel distance would shift to autonomous driving and the share of human driving would fall to under 5 percent. At the time, several companies including Waymo, Zoox, Ford, General Motors (GM) and Rivian were cited as competitors in the self-driving market.

Autonomous driving is a core pillar of Tesla’s corporate value. Tesla has presented a plan to leave only the Roadster, its high-priced sports car, as a vehicle directly controlled by a driver. In September, it began expanding its ride-hailing business by rolling out the steering-wheel-free Cybercab robotaxi in stages in Texas. It is also preparing to launch services in Florida, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation after the Cybercab unveiling to review the vehicle’s self-certification process.

Delays to Musk’s autonomous-driving schedule are also a burden. He projected that Tesla would expand autonomous driving that does not require driver supervision across the United States in 2025, but that goal was not achieved. Ashok Elluswamy (아쇼크 엘루스와미), Tesla’s vice president in charge of artificial intelligence (AI), said at the earnings release that the company expects it may be able to apply unsupervised full self-driving (FSD) as early as the second quarter of 2027 to some customer vehicles and deploy them for robotaxi operations.

For Tesla’s plan to dominate the global passenger travel market to become reality, it will need not only technology development but also regulatory approvals, service expansion and adherence to commercialisation timelines. Despite Musk’s confidence, whether Tesla can secure a competitive edge in the market will depend on how quickly autonomous-driving services expand and how performance is verified.