Posted on 03/27/2024 8:14:49 AM PDT by Miami Rebel
Tesla and China built a symbiotic relationship, with credits, workers and parts that made Mr. Musk ultrarich. Now, his reliance on the country may give Beijing leverage.
When Elon Musk unveiled the first Chinese-made Teslas in Shanghai in 2020, he went off script and started dancing. Peeling off his jacket, he flung it across the stage in a partial striptease.
Mr. Musk had reason to celebrate. A few years earlier, with Tesla on the brink of failure, he had bet on China, which offered cheap parts and capable workers — and which needed Tesla as an anchor to jump-start its fledgling electric vehicle industry.
For Chinese leaders, the prize was a Tesla factory on domestic soil. Mr. Musk would build one in Shanghai that would become a flagship, accounting for over half of Tesla’s global deliveries and the bulk of its profits.
Mr. Musk initially seemed to have the upper hand in the relationship, securing concessions from China that were rarely offered to foreign businesspeople. But in a stark shift, Tesla is now increasingly in trouble and losing its edge over Chinese competitors in the very market he helped create. Tesla’s China pivot has also tethered Mr. Musk to Beijing in a way that is drawing scrutiny from U.S. policymakers.
Interviews with former Tesla employees, diplomats and policymakers reveal how Mr. Musk built an unusually symbiotic relationship with Beijing, profiting from the Chinese government’s largess even as he reaped subsidies in the United States.
As Mr. Musk explored building the factory in Shanghai, Chinese leaders agreed to a crucial policy change on national emissions regulations, following lobbying by Tesla that was not previously reported. That change directly benefited Tesla, bringing in an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits as China production took off, The New York Times found.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
He’s not a rocket scientist, nor a scientist of any other discipline. He, like Edison, is superb at harnessing the talents of scientists and using them to create innovative technologies.
As for what those accomplishments have to do with his decision to make China a major production hub is beyond me.
And then there’s the fact that 99% of FR posters detest electric vehicles, plus the fact that Tesla has been the beneficiary of massive government subsidies over the years.
But Musk being a rocket scientist (according to you) makes any criticism unfair.
China must have more sane, reasonable, reliable, trustworthy government than our collection of undesirables.
He has a degree in physics.
Notwithstanding, he is not responsible for the development any of the technologies used in the manufacture of Tesla vehicles.
And his physics degree is a bachelors, which hardly makes him a physicist.
“China must have more sane, reasonable, reliable, trustworthy government than our collection of undesirables.”
That’s spectacularly untrue, but are you trying to frame the argument that repatriating jobs to America is foolish?
NYT 50 IQ atheists dabbling in eschatology again. Watch out for thunderbolts, Elon.
lol- when 1 just won’t do lol
A Zeeper troll posts propaganda from the New York Slimes. Color me shocked.
Anyone posting far left propaganda from a tabloid like the NYT shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Got to fix why jobs went overseas in first place. Of course I wish all possible jobs were back home! I’m sick to death of “made in China”!
Troll....
Propaganda...
Zeeper.....
Personal invective is a last resort of the intellectually bankrupt.
IQs notwithstanding, 40% of Tesla’s production is out of its Shanghai plant.
If you think that that comes without conditions, I can’t even take a guess as to your IQ.
He knows the only option for lithium in large enough amounts is going to have to come from China.
“Got to fix why jobs went overseas in first place.”
They went overseas because wages are a fraction of ours. Chinese workers get 25-49% of what US workers do, with zero safety or disability protections.
A couple possibilities to fix the problem: slash US wages in half, or place drastic tariffs on imported goods (which, of course, would set off explosive inflation.)
“If you think that that comes without conditions, I can’t even take a guess as to your IQ.”
Oh, look, everyone. Miami rebel is a failed ventriloquist, trying to put words in my mouth.
“He knows the only option for lithium in large enough amounts is going to have to come from China.”
Just last year there was a major find on the Nevada/Oregon border, but as it stands, China is a distant third worldwide with 19mm tons produced. Australia is first at 61mm, and Chile is second at 39mm.
But that said, the simple fact is that Musk set up shop working in close agreement with the Chinese Communist Party. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is up for grabs, but in the rush to put him up on a pedestal it’s okay to take a moment to take a look at some of his business operations, some of which fall far short of the MAGA paradigm.
You don't think he is a smart guy?
There’s shipping to add to the costs. Also, unions and government meddling/regulations had nothing to do with it? Just look at what Biden is doing to our economy? Bottom line, business is business and it is profit driven. I have no quarrel with your points, and am not an economist but we have to look at the reasons and fix them.
Sorry guys. I root for Musk. That came out wrong. I just don’t see him cow towing to China anymore than he does to sponsors on X.
Over 26 million views so far.
Wonder how Deep States, plural, feel about that...
Just speaking truth.
I never saw you on FR until the Russia/Ukraine war began. Your only interest is defending the “sacred” borders of Ukraine. You couldn’t care less about the border crisis here in the US.
You never speak a word against our most dangerous enemy: Mexico. Why is that?
Cease your projection, Xiden bot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.