China EVs & More

Tu and Lei kick off this podcast with the news that Volkswagen would like to close factories in Germany for the first time in decades. They spent a long moment to discuss this because this news sent shockwaves across the industry and is the realization to the world, if not clear yet, China EV Inc is putting the world on notice - that's its here and here to stay.

The discussion moves over to Mercedes, who while not in the same dire situation as VW, are also looking at what they can do to stop the bleeding in China. 

Volvo is the next OEM discussed and Tu updates everyone on what EVs he's looking at for purchase since there are so many great deals out there. 

Lei then updates everyone on August sales, which annually is the calm before the final turn into year end where all bets are off. They also discuss some of the levers being used by Tesla and others to try and keep demand for their products consistent. 

To end the podcast, Tu and Lei discuss the ways that BYD continue to have their feet on the gas and have not slowed their aggressive entry and shipment of products into international markets. 

They also analyze some of the tariffs and how they affect some more than others and who have the advantage in Europe for now. 

The podcast starts with Tu and Lei's thoughts on the XPeng's Mona M03 and the aggressive pricing that was announced for the vehicle. This evolves into a recap of XPeng history on product launches and the hope that this launch can be more successful than their past ones. 

Tu mentions that there are bad takes out there and emphasizes that price doesn't automatically dictate the segment in China anymore since the Chinese EV makers are offering tremendous value during this price war.

The two switch topics over to the Chengdu Motor show and give a brief history lesson on the Chinese auto show hierarchy and what they expect from Chengdu. This discussion moves onto Tesla news about offering a 7-seat Model Y for China and their current promotions that have allowed them to keep production high in China. 

Lei mentions Tu's LinkedIn post that got a bit of attention referring to BYD's forecast of 50% of sales in the future will be ex-China. They then discuss the possibillity of and the scenarios that would help them achieve that goal. 

The podcast ends with a discussion on the recently announced Vauxhall Frontera EV being offered in the UK for £24K ($28K) and why other legacy automakers aren't able to get to that price. 

Tu and Lei start the podcast out with an update on the EU tariffs on Chinese EV makers, this time including Tesla. Some initial tariff rates were reduced but not substantially. 

Tu moves the conversation over to the improvement in XPeng's earnings and the momentum they may have when launching the Mona M03.

The discussion moves over to who the global players are in the autonomous vehicle space and when thinking of China the lines are blurred with the autonomous vehicle companies competing directly against the OEMs who are either developing their own intelligent driving system or are partnering with tech companies to integrate a solution into their NEVs. 

They both touch on the Volkswagen ID.Buzz van launch and how the specs just don't match anything out in China that's comparable. They also briefly discuss the Chevy Tahoe pricing that was revealed this week in a picture posted to social media.

Tu and Lei close out the show by unpacking Zeekr's earnings call. 

Tu and Lei open this podcast with a discussion of Polestar launching production of it's Polestar 3 in the US, South Carolina. They quickly shift the conversation over to XPeng's 10 year anniversary and discuss what they remember about XPeng over the last 10 years. 

Lei and Tu then move to discuss the speed of change and product refreshes. The automotive space hasn't seen this frequency of refreshes ever. 

Tu changes subject over to General Motors (GM) restructuring the China business along with a brief history lesson for GM doing business in China. 

The discussion moves over to a 15 minute CNBC video that was posted that compares the US Model Y to 4 Chinese branded vehicles: BYD, Li Auto, NIO and XPeng that Tu contributed to and was interviewed for. 

The podcast closes out with a discussion on the Merc EQE that caught on fire in an underground parking structure outside of Seoul, South Korea which sparked a HUGE uproar about the safety of EVs and who supplies which batteries to what vehicles. 

Tu and Lei start the podcast out with a discussion on the China take rate on NEVs exceeding 50% in July for the first time. 

The discussion then shifts to reports that the Biden administration is looking at restricting Chinese connected, intelligent driving technology for use on US roads including the ability to collect data on Americans. They project how these restrictions may or may not be mimicked by the UK and EU, two places that also have voiced concerns re: national security, data security and privacy. 

They move onto Audi potentially not using their logo for their new Chinese EVs and evolves into a more detailed discussion about Audi's history in China. 

Tu ends the podcast clearing up a bad take from an American analyst who is trying to drum up clicks by writing about the Chinese govt wanting to kick all the foreign automakers out of China. 

The podcast begins with a review of July sales by Lei and then they both transition into a discussion about the upcoming important product launches and why they are important to those Chinese brands. 

They both transition the discussion over to the BYD partnership with Uber that was announced this week. They piggyback off this BYD discussion to also talk about the rumor that BYD will be entering the Canadian market which moves into a broader discussion on BYD and why they are the likeliest EV company to succeed long-term. 

Lei then moves into a discussion on how companies have begun to lay off staff at the tier 1s. 

The podcast ends with a deep dive on how the Rivian VW Group tie-up could lead to VW Group abandoning Cariad and a deeper discussion on how Stellantis and VW may have too many brands to manage. 

Tu also discusses the WSJ post about Tesla FSD in the US and how there's a lack of transparency in the US on whether or not it's causing the accidents that Tesla vehicles are involved in. They both compare FSD to some of the Chinese intelligent driving systems currently on offer by China EV Inc. 

Tu and Lei begin the podcast talking about the US IPO announcements for Pony AI and WeRide, two Chinese autonomous vehicle (robotaxi) startups. This leads to a broader discussion about autonomous vehicles and regulation in the US and China. 

Tu then moves on asking Lei what he knows about Windrose, the Chinese electric semi-truck manufacturer that plans to build semis in the US. Tu posits that this could be push that opens the door for more Chinese players to mannufacture in the US. 

Tu then speculates that should Kamala Harris win the election she may want to develop her own set of policies toward Chinese EVs, specifically on the manufacturing in the US side. 

Tu brings up a post in his newsletter about battery pricing below $100 in China where OEMs can build EVs profitably. 

Tu closes out the show with his brief experience riding in a Lucid Air Sapphire and it's absolutely ridiculous acceleration. 

Tu and Lei start out this podcast with a broad discussion about how virtually all the foreign legacy automakers are doing so poorly in China with Tu detailing Porsche's recent, severe challenges. 

Tu and Lei then move onto Xiaomi's production license despite the overcapacity in China. Tu briefly explains how this could happen. Tu and Lei take a few minutes to discuss how business has evolved in China the last several years and how China's maturity as an economy makes it tougher than before to get out of economic slumps. 

Tu switches gears to talk about BYD's manufacturing footprint including the newest announcement about building in Turkey. Tu talks about the strategic importance of location of Turkey relative to the European, Middle Eastern and African markets. 

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei talking about the latest goings on in the autonomous vehicle sector. Lei details his latest experience riding some robotaxis while in China and they both discuss the importance of having a clean record because of their desires to IPO in the near future. 

Tu and Lei unpack who they think could be the winners and losers from the recently announced EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and how they may react to tariffs being considered in other markets. 

Tu and Lei then look a bit forward to what they expect to see later this year as we get past summer and move towards the always exciting year-end sales dash including the impact some of the new vehicles scheduled to begin delivery will have on the competitive landscape.

The discussion moves over to the VW Group investment and partnership announcement with Rivian as the two dissect how the partnership may work. Tu raises questions about both Cariad's and Scout's future place in the VW Group hierarchy now that they've effectively partnered with two strong EV startups in China and in the ROW - rest of the world. 

Lei spends a few minutes talking about his visit to NIO's Hefei factory and what he saw. 

The podcast ends with Lei giving his take on the new pilots being offered by WeRide and Baidu in Beijing from the Daxing airport to downtown.  

Tu starts the podcast out talking about his experience at the MOVE London event where he hosted two panel discussions. 

Lei then pivots to update everyone on the latest news about potential tariffs the Chinese govt are considering in retaliation for the EU tariffs on Chinese EVs. 

Tu and Lei then take a few moments to digest and unpack what it all means. 

They move onto the latest partnership announcement between JLR and Chery and how this falls in line with Stellantis and Volkswagen both partnering with local Chinese manufacturers. 

Tu talks about how these partnerships may create a reliance on the companies doing well in both regions in order for the partnerships to be successful. 

Tu and Lei close out the podcast with a discussion about FSD coming to China, what their domestic competitors think and updates on a few other Chinese AV startups.