Tu and Lei begin this podcast by discussing the layoffs announced at NIO and how this could help them and why it was potentially overdue. 

Tu and Lei educate on what Single's Day in China is and how even EV brands have gotten in on promotions during the biggest digital commerce day in the world. 

Tu and Lei give a quick update on BYD sales for 2023 and posit that they are really the ONLY company that's continuing to grow it's already substantial sales in China and starting to build sales momentum ex-China. 

They both then take a few moments to talk about their experience at a Zeekr Track Day event they both attended just outside of New York City at the Monticello Motor Club. 

In addition to the Track Day, Lei also hosted a fireside chat with Ganesh Iyer, current US Head for NIO later in the week. He discusses a few notable things Ganesh had to say.

The podcast closes out with a chat about what's expected to be a mad dash by all automakers to finish out 2023 with a sales bang. 

Tu and Lei start out with the big news of the week. Stellantis acquiring a stake in Chinese EV / EREV maker - LeapMotor. Tu asks Lei to give a brief history lesson of DaimlerChrysler / FCA / Stellantis.

They then both dive into the transaction, giving more background about LeapMotor and the opportunities and challenges ahead for both sides. 

The conversation shifts over to the events happening in Beijing / Shanghai at the time of the live show hosted by Zeekr and Jiyue, one company a Geely brand and the other, Jiyue using Geely as a contract manufacturer. 

Lei shifts gear to discuss the latest on the UAW negotiations with the US Three. Tu goes over what is an estimate of hourly costs for a typical UAW worker. This discussion evolves into why the US is having difficulty selling EVs vs. China. 

The podcast closes out with the accident by a Cruise robotaxi in SF that injured a bystander. 

Tu starts with a brief update and discussion with Lei on Tesla in China and the overall slowdown in the EV space around the world. 

The conversation quickly moves to Bill Ford's comment about Chinese EVs 'coming to our shores' and a brief discussion on Ford's recent moves. 

Tu and Lei move onto discussing European brands Citroën, Peugeot and Mini and how they continue to be built in China and in Mini's case, will be built in China and exported to the rest of the world. 

Tu then asks Lei if he likes the recently unveiled Li Auto Mega MPV. They spend a few moments discussing the vehicle's merits. 

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei giving an update about the Chinese government restricting graphite for export. 

The pod starts with a brief update on the UAW & US Three situation but moves quickly over to a brief disussion about Li Auto's openly stated and ambitious goals of selling 3M vehicles in China by 2028. 

Tu then pushes the chat to Porsche and the struggles they may beginning to see in the China market, a market they've only seen growth in since entering in 2001. 

Tu and Lei move the discussion over to Great Wall Motor's Haomo.ai announcing a very inexpensive ADAS system that starts at less than ¥10K and how LiDAR and overall sensor pricing for ADAS systems will quickly move into commodity territory as Chinese providers continue to try to compete on price. 

Tu brings up how GM has offered to unionize its US battery facilities as a carrot in the ongoing UAW negotiations and they both talk about how the LG & BYD partnership could be used to skirt the Inflation Reduction Act restrictions. 

The podcast ends with Tu talking about his trip to SF and and both of them talking about WM's bankruptcy filing. 

Tu and Lei begin the podcast with a brief discussion about the double holiday being celebrated in China - National Day & Mid-Autumn Festival.

Lei then transitions the discussion to September sales and it wasn't very pretty for many EV companies. Tu reminds everyone that new vehicles were just launched by some brands and that those sales vehicles sales wouldn't be reflected until Q4'23.

Tu and Lei key in on XPeng and NIO to disuss their particular situations and move onto a few other surprise EV companies whose sales numbers stood out including BYD's continuous solid monthly numbers.

Tu and Lei turn their attention to the US market, the current UAW situation and the low take rate that has created more EV inventory than expected for US automakers. 

Tu and Lei end the podcast with a discussion on the recent Cruise accident in SF and US EV startup INDI EV's bankruptcy that further complicates Foxconn's entry into the EV contract manufacturing space.

This week's podcast begins with BYD jumping Ford to become the 4th best-selling automotive brand in the world for the month of July which should be a wake-up call to Ford management, if they've not been woken up yet.

Tu jumps on his soapbox to explain how the narrative about the foreign legacies entering the China market is incorrect and does his best to set the record straight about the real risks & rewards for the legacies that did decide to enter decades ago.

Their chat briefly revisits the Merc NIO collaboration and why it's folly for the automakers to think that they can become really good at SW development without some help. Tu emphasizes that good is one thing, but to be able to compete with Apple, Google, Amazon and the Chinese EV & tech companies is on an entirely different level. 

Tu gives his take on who to look out for in 2024 for both good and bad reasons. 

The podcast ends with Tu and Lei discussing the Tesla announcement that they will begin to sell their vehicles on e-commerce platforms in China in order to expand their reach and Tu talks about who is better positioned in the US to lead the EV transition. 

Tu and Lei begin with a discussion about all the recent moves made by XPeng and whether it moves the needle for them or not. 

They turn their attention to August sales, specifically the top of the leaderboard which sits Li Auto, XPeng and NIO, the three US publicly traded Chinese EV companies who also happen to get the most attention by western media. 

The conversation moves over to the significance and reasoning behind BYD's acquisition of Jabil's Singaporean operations which includes two factories in China. 

Lei then looks back at his visits to Li Auto and NIO retail locations to compare and contrast the atmospheres and highlights the 'no pressure' environment of the NIO Houses, which could be a reason they are revamping their sales teams and tactics. 

The pod ends with a discussion about the appropriate number of NIO swapping stations in the EU and how to determine that appropriate number.