> Meanwhile, BYD, the burgeoning, ultra-cheap Chinese electric and plug-in hybrid carmaker, continues to put its stamp on Europe. Sales jumped 206.4% in July against 2024 figures. The 9,698 models BYD sold in July means it is now outselling Tesla.
Europeans protesting against Elon Musk to fight what they label as “fascism” by instead sending money to companies from a totalitarian country, whose interests support a totalitarian regime (CCP), is peak irony and lunacy.
jaggs · 7s ago
I'm not sure the word totalitarian means what you think it means.
Nextgrid · 1h ago
The media has an incentive to frame things as "protesting against Musk" but I wonder how much this is simply due to BYD's better price/quality ratio? Tesla has had quality issues long before Musk's descent into madness, which could be influencing purchasing decisions regardless of recent events.
acdha · 3m ago
Elon Musk personally plowed enormous amounts of money and energy into harming American democracy: not just getting Trump elected, not just DOGE, but also things like heavily threatening Republican lawmakers not to serve their constituents and elevating some of the worst voices on X. Somewhat ironically, Tesla is receiving the backlash despite also having been damaged by having an absentee CEO at key moments but it’s understandable: giving Tesla money literally funds that effort since the hundreds of millions he spends on politics, not to mention buying Twitter, came mostly from Tesla shares.
In contrast, China’s government significantly predates the existence of BYD and companies like it have been part of China opening up somewhat and definitely improving the standard of living for millions of people, not to mention the whole “backing away from wholesale destruction of the planet” part. That’s not to say I approve of the Chinese government but simply that it’s priced into much of what we buy and buying from BYD isn’t actively contributing to tearing down a better system of government the way buying a Tesla does.
Europeans protesting against Elon Musk to fight what they label as “fascism” by instead sending money to companies from a totalitarian country, whose interests support a totalitarian regime (CCP), is peak irony and lunacy.
In contrast, China’s government significantly predates the existence of BYD and companies like it have been part of China opening up somewhat and definitely improving the standard of living for millions of people, not to mention the whole “backing away from wholesale destruction of the planet” part. That’s not to say I approve of the Chinese government but simply that it’s priced into much of what we buy and buying from BYD isn’t actively contributing to tearing down a better system of government the way buying a Tesla does.