Whatever you thought of his editorial style at TTAC, Bertel Schmitt is the best person to turn to if you want to make sense of China’s car market. His column today, on the rumors about a Tesla joint venture in China, thoroughly debunks the case made in Chinese media reporters.
According to BS, the rumors are all, well BS
A JV with tiny Lifan would bring Tesla nothing, and the JV has little chance of being approved. A JV with Chang’an would have more chances of an approval. Basically, it would be a JV with China’s military-industrial complex. Not the most ideal fit for an Elon Musk who likes to be seen as someone who changes the world for the better.
Read the whole thing here for a better explanation of why Tesla isn’t likely to pursue a Chinese JV the way it’s being reported.
Agreed. Tesla’s not going to jump in bed with the Chinese military-industrial complex, no matter how badly they want to sell cars in China.
I think the best Musk can do is walk back his anti-China rhetoric and stick with the current sales model.
I follow Bertel on Twitter. The strident hammering Telsa makes me wonder if a) a Model S ran over his dog, and/or b) he’s shorting the stock.
I don’t see it as hammering so much as spelling out some facts that are glossed over by other media outlets in their never ending puff pieces about Tesla.
Hate him or dislike him, when he puts on his journalist hat, BS does the job. I appreciated that about his articles (the actual journalism pieces he did–not the other ones).
Bertel is doing his own thing now and everything is gonna be OK.
Can we officially end the “us vs. him” stuff that occurs every time his name is mentioned.