Tesla wants to share it’s technology, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Luxury electric car maker Tesla’s recent announcement that it is willing to share technology with other companies has elicited positive reactions from competitors, including BMW and Nissan.
But in China—which car companies such as BMW expect will be the world’s largest market for electric vehicles—the response from domestic companies building their own electric cars has been mixed.
When China Real Time asked BYD what it made of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s proposal, the Shenzhen-based electric car company didn’t mince its words.
“BYD already has the most advanced electric vehicle technologies,” a spokesman for the company said.
Roughly translated from corporate speak, that sounds a lot like: “No, thanks.”
A recent report by Citibank analyst Paul Gong points to a possible reason BYD isn’t so enamored with Mr. Musk’s latest proposal. Mr. Gong noted BYD’s current battery technology is different from that used by Tesla, which means Tesla’s open source strategy could help marginalize BYD’s battery technology. Given that battery making historically has been a core business activity for BYD, it’s unlikely that BYD management will cheer on anything that could jeopardize its position in the field.
