موقع وجه أفريقيا موقع وجه أفريقيا هو موقع مهتم بمتابعة التطورات في القارة الأفريقية
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Muhamad Yehia
Tesla’s commercial and political success in China has hinged on the support of a powerful patron: Li Qiang, the former party boss of Shanghai who is now China’s premier, second in rank only to President Xi Jinping. It was under his watch, in 2019, that Tesla built its first overseas factory on the outskirts of China’s financial capital.In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, visiting Tesla CEO Elon Musk, left, meets with then-Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Wang Ye/Xinhua via AP, File)
With Li’s support, Tesla became the first foreign automaker allowed to retain complete control over its China venture and got low-interest loans and generous tax breaks. China also adopted an emissions credit scheme modeled after a U.S. program that has generated billions in income for Tesla.
In January 2020, one year after breaking ground, Elon Musk unveiled the first Chinese-made Teslas on a stage in Shanghai. Tesla turned an annual profit for the first time in its history that year, and Musk was declared the world’s richest person in January 2021.
China got what it wanted, too: Tesla was a potent catalyst for domestic production and consumption. Before Tesla’s arrival, new energy vehicles accounted for around five percent of China’s auto market. Today, analysts say, more than half of passenger vehicles sold retail in China are powered by an electric motor. Chinese battery maker CATL, a key Tesla supplier, has embedded itself in global supply chains to become the world’s largest EV-battery maker. China’s BYD is now the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer and a growing competitive threat to legacy carmakers in the West.
“Tesla had a large part to play in that,” said Tu Le, the managing director of Sino Auto Insights, a consulting firm. Tu said the way the government smoothed the way for Musk’s factory was critical. “It was a swampy field on the outskirts of Shanghai. A year later they’re rolling cars off the line,” he said. “I don’t know if that happens anywhere else in the world.”In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Tesla CEO Elon Musk reacts at a delivery ceremony for the first Tesla Model 3 cars made at Tesla’s Shanghai factory in Shanghai, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. (Ding Ting/Xinhua via AP, File)
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at a delivery ceremony for the first Tesla Model 3 cars made at Tesla’s Shanghai factory in Shanghai, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2020. (Ding Ting/Xinhua via AP, File)
Requests for comment to the State Council, which is run by Li Qiang and oversees China’s government ministries, went unanswered.
Musk still swings by to meet Li when he goes to China. Their encounters underscore the complexity of Musk’s overlapping interests as a businessman and the most China-friendly member of Trump’s inner circle.
Musk’s “greater objective was winning influence over the people that mattered for him, that enabled him to get things done,” said Russo, the auto strategist in Shanghai. “He’s done a good job of it in China and he’s done it now with the influence he purchased with his relationship with Trump.”
A chilling effect
Safety advocates worry about the implications of Musk’s proximity to power in the United States. Federal investigations and safety initiatives Musk has long railed against could be easily snuffed out by the new administration.
In the U.S., Tesla also has been subject to a raft of customer safety complaints and lawsuits over autopilot function, battery charging, alleged suspension defects, sudden braking or acceleration, faulty airbags and allegedly monopolistic practices on repairs and parts. Judges have dismissed some cases. In others, Tesla settled out of court or paid hefty settlements.
Tesla has not publicly sued any of its U.S. customers for speaking out, though in January, Musk said on X that “maybe it is time” to sue media outlets for coverage that could stain Tesla’s brand. His post has been viewed more than 22 million times.
Tesla has already successfully done that in China.
Two Chinese journalists based in Shanghai told AP there is an unwritten rule to avoid critical coverage of Tesla. Both spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing retaliation.
“We were told by our editor that we should not write negatively about Tesla because it is a key company that was introduced and protected by the Shanghai government,” a tech reporter told AP.
Those who have strayed have found themselves in court. Musk’s company sued media outlets PingWest and ifeng.com over negative coverage. It was unhappy about PingWest’s report that claimed Tesla’s Shanghai factory was a “sweatshop.” The news website ifeng.com drew Tesla’s ire over a story that explored the tribulations of car owners who fought Tesla. PingWest had to apologize and pay Tesla 100,000 yuan ($13,700). AP could not determine the outcome of the case against ifeng.com.
Tesla is not the only company in its industry to sue its critics. BYD has also aggressively pursued media in court, including an unsuccessful lawsuit against Vice Media in the United States. More recently, electric vehicle makers Nio and Li Auto have stepped up defamation cases against bloggers in China who allegedly spread false information about their companies.
Tesla, however, stands out even among its cut-throat Chinese competitors — in going after car owners who suffered crashes.
“Tesla used their legal advantages to bully Chinese car owners and people who speak up for them,” said Feng Shiming, an auto blogger and Tesla owner who was ordered by a Shanghai court last year to pay Tesla 250,000 yuan ($34,200) after he wrote about Tesla’s alleged brake failures. He has appealed the verdict. “Tesla wants to have a chilling effect on society and terrify people so they will be scared to say anything negative about Tesla.”
Chen Junyi got the message. He lost control of his Model 3 and plowed into a dozen cars in a parking lot at high speed in August 2020. He claimed the brakes had failed. He told Chinese media at the time that he broke his back and four ribs and had to have 30 centimeters (12 inches) of his small intestine removed. Chen took to social media and warned people not to buy Tesla, raising his shirt to reveal the long, gnarled scar that runs up his abdomen.
Tesla maintained the accident was Chen’s fault, citing a technical review that found the car was accelerating and not braking in the seconds before the crash, and sued him for making false claims.
“Tesla should proactively respond to consumers instead of using its superior resources and filing lawsuits against consumers who are at a disadvantage,” Chen said in a court statement reviewed by AP. “I almost lost my life because of the car accident. I lost my job and income. I am under tremendous economic pressure.”This excerpt from a legal document shows that a Chinese civil court ordered Chen Junyi to publicly apologize to Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and to pay the company $6,800. (AP Illustration/Allen G. Breed)
Chen declined to speak with the AP, citing fear of retaliation. A Chinese court ordered Chen to pay the carmaker 50,000 yuan ($6,800) as compensation — and to issue an apology.
“I deeply regret the serious negative impacts I have had on Tesla and its cars,” he wrote. “I hereby sincerely apologize to Tesla and to the people who were misled by my remarks.”
A month later, he apologized for his apology, saying the words were not his own.
