Tesla is close to achieving fully autonomous vehicles, CEO Elon Musk said during a visit to Paris on Friday, adding that autonomy was a “principal driver” of the brand’s market value.
The corporate’s shares rose as much as 3% to their highest level in over eight months.
Tesla, the world’s most precious automaker, has a market capitalization of around $800 billion, but has fallen in need of Musk’s goals of achieving full self-driving capability for years.
“Although I actually have said this before, I believe we’ll solve the autonomy issue soon,” the billionaire told the VivaTech conference.
“The worth of the corporate is based totally on autonomy,” Musk said at an event in Paris. “I believe that is really a significant factor in our price.”
The electrical automotive maker says what it calls “Full Self-Driving” software doesn’t make its vehicle autonomous and requires driver supervision.
Earlier on Friday, Musk met with French President Emmanuel Macron for the second time in only over a month. French officials are hoping to persuade Musk to select France to construct his next Tesla gigafactory in Europe.
He also had lunch with Bernard Arnault, the boss of luxury goods giant LVMH, and two of his sons, Antoine and Alexandre, according to a source aware of the matter.
Arnault and Musk took turns becoming the world’s richest men, with Musk taking the lead in recent weeks after a luxury goods sale and Tesla stock surged.