Lei throws a curveball to begin the show and talks about some of China’s societal challenges, namely the aging population and shrinking number of babies born. Tu chimes in with his experience coming to the US at a very early age. 

They broaden the discussion out a bit to bring in a few more noteworthy challenges to round out the discussion. 

Tu & Lei get into some of the discounts that were announced last week and get into the forecasted export numbers and some of the surprise automakers that could be exporting out of China in 2024.

Tu points out that each year that the China market breaks sales records makes the following year even tougher to top. And the combination of a tough Chinese economy, high interest rates and the slowdown in the US & EU all point to a more challenging 2024. 

Tu shifts the conversation to the Lotus Emeya and what brands and products it may be going after and whether or not they should be nervous. 

The podcast closes on the news that TuSimple is exiting the US market and how EV related IPOs aren’t likely going to find many takers in 2024. 

Support the show

Tu and Lei dedicate this episode to the sights and sounds coming out of Las Vegas CES 2024. Lei spends the first half of this episode unpacking all that he saw and thought about the technology he experienced and the people he spoke to. 

Tu and Lei then go onto some of the macro sales numbers that came from China for 2023 and unpack what they all mean, including GM's slide since 2017. 

Tu closes out the podcast by telling Lei he's considering buying a used Tesla from Hertz now that they've put a number of them on sale. 

Support the show

Each year this episode is HIGHLY anticipated and is ALWAYS one of the most downloaded epsiodes of the year. If you want to hear what they think of 2024 in China and around the world for the EV, battery and mobility space, you have to listen to this episode. 

Support the show

Tu and Lei begin the podcast out with a look back at how Tesla ignited the price war in the beginning of 2023. 

They move onto a discussion about Xiaomi and CEO Lei Jun's strategy for entering the market and building up excitement for their first vehicle that's due to launch in the next year and finally making guesses on what their vehicle's price will be once announced. 

They move the conversation over to how difficult it is for the legacy automakers to keep up with the constant barrage of new brands, products and endless refreshes in order to not lose pace in the China market. They acknowledge that most automakers aren't able to keep up which could lead to even more challenges in the future. 

Tu and Lei briefly discuss making sure to follow the people that are out there getting it done and visiting the countries, trying out the vehicles and meeting with the executives. 

They end the podcast with their review of 2023 and a discussion about which events shaped the year. 

Support the show

Tu and Lei begin the podcast and take quite a bit of time to share their thoughts on NIO Q3 earnings and how to look at the numbers. They back out of the earnings to briefly review the announcements that NIO has made over the last several months.

Tu moves out a few thousand feet to talk about the China market and some of the players in it and then the discussion quickly moves over to the Stellantis announcement regarding their partnership with Silicon Valley battery swapping startup Ample. 

Tu and Lei push on to a discussion about the final language for the Inflation Reduction Act that was released last Friday and how it may affect the market and the strategies of all involved in the EV space. 

The last two topics touched on were Tu's attendance and thoughts on the Mary Barra fireside chat and her answers relative to EVs, batteries and Cruise. 

He then pushes into the rumor that Tesla is ready to double capacity at ShanghaiGiga from about 1.2M to over 2M units of capacity. 

Support the show

Tu and Lei start out the podcast with a quick review of the November sales and a broader discussion about the difficulty of and pressure on the EV makers to grow sales in an ultra competitive environment.

They both then spend a few minutes unpacking the announcement & implications of  VW developing an EV platform called the China Main Platform (CMP) based on the MEB platform for the China market ONLY and how that's likely to do.

Lei gets Tu's thoughts on Elon mentioning that in the future the Top 10 EV makers will be Tesla with the other 9 all being Chinese.  

The podcast shifts over to discussing all the latest moves by Huawei, who both agree have been very aggressively moving into the connected, EV space over the last couple years with a goal to grow revenues from this new division significantly over the next several years.

The podcast ends with both discussing NIO's expanding swap partnerships in China, now including Geely. 

Support the show

This episode starts with Tu and Lei unpacking the significance of NIO partnering with SOE Changan to expand it's swapping services. 

After a significant deep-dive into the NIO swapping news, Tu then asks Lei about the announcement that Stellantis will use CATL to supply them batteries for the EU market. This in addition to the recent investment that Stellantis had made in Chinese EV company LeapMotor. 

The conversation transitions over to the US and Tu and Lei's thoughts on how the final IRA language is going to shake out and how it may affect the automakers that manufacture inside the US which is just about all of the non-Chinese legacy automakers.

Tu and Lei then get into their experience in LA, both going to Faraday Future's Investor Day and then to the LA Auto show and watching the Lucid Gravity unveil. 

The podcast closes out with Tu and Lei discussing the popularity of extended range electric vehicles (EREVs) 

Support the show

Tu & Lei begin the podcast with an explanation of what Single's Day is in China and how some EV brands are participating, namely by launching promotions to help sell their vehicles. 

They both then begin to talk about Q4 and the mad dash by all the automotive players in the China market to finish out the sales year on a high note. Q4 alone can sometimes make or break a brand's annual sales. 

The podcast moves to a discussion on Li Auto's MEGA and XPeng's X9 MPVs and how they compare with one another and the both company's different approaches to market them. 

Polestar begins the next topic of conversation and it evolves into a broader discussion about Zeekr and Geely who owns both brands, specifically what Li Shufu is trying to get out of the spate of IPOs for his companies with the Zeekr still on the way.

The podcast ends with a brief discussion about the mobile phone connection with EVs and then whether its the right time for a Chinese EV company to be IPO'ing in the US.

Support the show

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. 

Support the show

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. 

Support the show