Episode #135 - BYD Moving Up the Charts, Foreign Legacies Chose to Enter China, Tesla Selling Online in China

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.