Elon Musk not only fears that cheap Chinese EVs will destroy his Tesla, but the entire Western car industry.
We can now give a story about why Chinese cars are so bad, but the fact is that you don't like to spend a lot of money. And let's face it: you can come up with all kinds of arguments against a Chinese car, but the fact that they are expensive is not one of them. Some people like to throw all their principles overboard for a big discount.
Chinese cars are going to demolish 'our' cars
It is also closer than ever for Elon Musk. His attention will be mainly focused on BYDthere that brand in the last quarter Tesla overtook in terms of cars sold. Tesla did their best to drop prices to a level where it became almost laughably cheap for a Tesla, and even then they couldn't actually keep up with the Chinese. The reality is simple: for the type of car that most Chinese brands offer, they are really dirt cheap and would destroy the competition. You cannot match that as a European or American company. According to Musk, it all depends on the import tariffs that will be levied on Chinese cars. In Europe we already see that most Chinese brands can already be reasonably ranked among European rivals. The Chinese ball has yet to start rolling in the US, so Musk hopes that prices can at least remain competitive.
Subsidy
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that prices are kept fair, but the EU is already intervening. It is being investigated whether an extra tariff can be added to Chinese cars, as it appears that the Chinese subsidize their cars (too) heavily. In the US, Donald Trump, currently a very potential presidential candidate, is advocating an additional 10 percent import tax and removing China's status as 'best trading partner'. (through Reuters)
This article Musk: Chinese cars will demolish rivals without import rules first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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