[moltuae]

Originally Posted by tintin

I don't doubt it, though they won't be capable - and anyway Mark, I was quoting the VAG execs who were promising this capable competitor, not another foreign upstart to their market share.

I got that; I was just joking.
Although I do suspect the Chinese will become capable competitors sooner than we might expect, and this move by Tesla to begin manufacturing in China will probably be a factor in accelerating that. Probably unlikely we'll see direct clones/copies (at least not outside of China) but I have no doubt that any skills and knowledge gained at Chinese Tesla factories will inevitably spill over into other Chinese factories, who will then build on (and likely improve) the Tesla tech. That's usually how it goes.

You're right though. VAG and most other manufacturers are barely off the starting grid, while Tesla are beginning to complete their first laps. It's going to be very difficult for most of the big manufacturers to catch up now. Perhaps they are destined to become resellers of re-badged Chinese Tesla clones!