Text/Editor: Yu Xiaoran's notes
One thing is very strange, why knowing that India is a pig killing plate, India makes money and India spends.
There are still so many large Chinese companies that have gone to India to build factories one after another.
Why is that?
As the saying goes, how high the cowhide blows, how bad the fall must be!
The Indians claim that Tesla's investment in India is a win-win deal! It is impossible to lose money at all! They also claim that "China is not good for India"!
And the "Global Times" also objectively commented on Tesla's investment in India, but this also aroused the anger of the Indian media!
But just after India finished scolding, he directly received a more heart-wrenching news that Musk would not go to India for the time being!
What the hell? And Tesla's investment will also be delayed!
On April 16, Musk was scheduled to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he announced an investment of $2 billion to $3 billion in India, mainly to build a new factory there.
This is very happy for India! Boasting of a warm welcome to the "Tesla" brand in India!
But not long after the news that Tesla was ready to shift its investment focus to India, on April 20, Tesla's headquarters in California, USA, came with a sad news that made Indians sad, Musk postponed his trip to India originally scheduled for late April, and Tesla's plan to build a factory in India should be postponed accordingly.
This also gave India a slap in the face that had just boasted of a "cordial welcome".
As the Indian government, in order to attract Tesla investment, they have tried all kinds of preferential policies, such as reducing the tariff on imported electric vehicles worth more than $35,000 to 15%, opening up 8,000 duty-free import quotas every year, and strong support in land, water and electricity, tax revenue, etc., which now seems to be in vain.
may be afraid of causing trouble, Musk is silent on this matter.
But the Indian media quickly pointed the finger at China, believing that it was behind the scenes that instigated Musk to abandon his investment in India.
The Economic Times pointed out categorically that Musk changed his mind because China's auto industry poses a serious threat to Tesla's survival in China, and China wants to prevent Musk from investing in India and prevent India from becoming an emerging electric vehicle manufacturing powerhouse, so as to protect China's dominant position in this field.
"BYD was hit hard in India last year," the Economic Times said.
"The Indian authorities have demanded that BYD relocate the entire industrial chain to India, otherwise it will be severely punished. Obviously, Musk is not willing to take this risk. "
Indeed, BYD's lessons have more or less influenced Musk's decision-making.
But at the end of the day, the underlying reason for Tesla's delay in investing in India is based on a realistic trade-off.
Musk is not a fool, he is not unaware of India's upcoming general election, although the current Prime Minister Modi has a better chance of winning, but it is undoubtedly safer to be cautious and wait for the dust to settle before making a decision.
Moreover, Tesla's performance this year has not been satisfactory, with its stock price plummeting by more than 40% and laying off more than 10% of its employees.
More importantly, India is extremely worried about the infrastructure and supporting capacity to undertake the electric vehicle industry chain.
While the Indian government has boasted of increasing the share of electric vehicles to 30% by 2030, everyone can see that this goal is caught in the gap between reality and ideals.
Last year, India's overall car market sold 5.08 million units, and based on a 30% penetration rate, India needs to have 1.5 million electric vehicles by 2030.
However, there is currently a severe shortage of charging infrastructure across India, not to mention the fragility of its grid system, which is rampant in electricity theft and simply cannot support the energy demand for large-scale electric vehicles.
On the other hand, as an upstream industry in the electric vehicle manufacturing industry, India is obviously far behind China in key areas such as power batteries and intelligent systems.
Musk expects to establish an independent R&D and production system in India at the same level as factories in the United States and China, and attract supporting companies to come to India together, which is obviously a distant vision.
Following BYD, Chinese auto giants such as Great Wall and Geely have also suffered setbacks in India.
Indians are accustomed to "making money and spending India", and their tempting policies are nothing more than sugar-coated shells, and it is difficult for companies to turn back once they are recruited.
Musk naturally will not listen to those good words of "friendly cooperation and common development", and his investment concerns in India can be said to be justified.
In fact, even leaving aside the issue of the industrial chain, India's own investment environment is quite poor.
An official of the US Central Intelligence Agency bluntly said that they should be "cautious" when cooperating with India, for fear of being caught up in India's complicated ethnic and religious contradictions.
In the unmetaphorical discourse, it is not difficult to hear the lack of trust and concern of American pundits about the trust of their partner India.
As the saying goes, distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, and why is India, China's closest neighboring large developing economy, so worried about even the so-called "Indo-Pacific partner" of the United States?
However, for Musk and Tesla, what they are exploring is not these complex social and political issues, but the real maximization of capital benefits.
Analysts from the Association of Automobile Manufacturers put it this way:
"Although India is a huge emerging market, compared to China, it lacks a well-developed supply chain system and well-established infrastructure, which puts automakers investing in India at greater risk. "
Now it seems that Musk's choice to back down was a wise and balanced pros and cons.
Even if Tesla does enter the Indian market in the future, it will not be achieved overnight, but step by step.
If you rush too much, it can lead to irreparable damage.
For Indians, Musk's actions are undoubtedly a blow to them.
Although the Economic Times has lashed out at China for playing tricks behind the scenes, the fact is that they have ignited expectations for Tesla and targeted Musk with a series of tempting policies, but in the end, Musk has kicked the door in the door, which is doubly heart-wrenching.
In the face of the fierce criticism of the Economic Times, the Global Times responded with an objective and rational attitude.
The Global Times pointed out that the reason why China's auto industry is booming is because of the persistent construction of the industrial chain.
Over the past 20 years, China has successfully built a complete electric vehicle industry chain from raw materials to lithium batteries, motors, electronic control systems, and even on-board radars, chips and algorithms.
In contrast, it is naïve for India to try to achieve a class leap in the field of electric vehicles by simply bringing in foreign investment.
While India is eyeing Tesla, it has not paid attention to its own lag in infrastructure construction.
The lack of charging infrastructure across India, a fragile grid system, and rampant electricity theft simply cannot support the energy demand for large-scale electric vehicles.
The Indian government's ambitious blueprint to increase EV penetration to 30% by 2030 has failed to consider the huge infrastructure investment needed to achieve this goal.
The Global Times concluded by calling that although the competition between China and India in the field of new energy vehicle manufacturing can stimulate each other's vitality, India may still have a long way to go if it wants to truly realize its dream of industrialization.
In contrast, China will continue to advance its own electric vehicle industry at a steady pace, without being swayed by unnecessary rhetoric.
In the face of the sharp accusations of Chinese public opinion, India is always full of conceit, and it seems that it has not been crushed by reality.
On the contrary, they are still tirelessly opening their eyes for themselves, trying to prove that China's doubts are unnecessary.
"India is on the verge of becoming the third largest economy in the world!" The Economic Times boasted that "according to IMF estimates, India's nominal GDP will surpass Japan in 2025 to become the third largest economy after the United States and China." "
"At that point, India will no longer present itself to the world as poor and backward, but as a huge market with strong purchasing power. "
"This will be an opportunity and a challenge, and foreign investors will want a piece of the pie," the Economic Times revealed. "
This nonsense is nothing short of a gross distortion of the facts.
As an agricultural country with a huge trade deficit and only 2% of the world's exports, India's wishful thinking of taking a slice of the world economic stage with its inflated GDP statistics will only make the outside world laugh.
However, there is no need to make a fuss about the pretentious gestures of the Indian government and media.
They are full of expectations but repeatedly frustrated, and it is difficult to hide their disappointment and resentment, and it is reasonable for them to vent their feelings on unreasonable accusations against China.
Let us maintain restraint and rationality, and generously give this poor and proud country more time and more opportunities in the arms of a great country, and also give them the space they deserve, not to provoke or provoke, and wait for them to finally come to their senses and wake up to the true meaning of the development of a great country.
In this regard, netizens also said:
India, don't worry, China's SAIC has already invested in Indian electric vehicles, and I believe that SAIC will do its best to help India develop electric vehicle technology and industry.
One thing drops one thing, India invests in Indian flowers, and India governs the capitalists!
Pony is a smart man!
In short, although Musk's "Indian dream" died abruptly, it may be just a losing experience for both Tesla and India.
While the lessons are painful, we should also maintain an open and inclusive mind, and give patience and understanding.
Maybe one day Tesla and India can start a new cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win, India's ambition of "manufacturing power" is not useless, as long as it is based on the perception of real national conditions and follows the basic laws of development, the dream will eventually come true.
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