The American electric car company Tesla may have tried to get the Chinese government to censor its critics as part of the company’s overall efforts to improve its public image in the Chinese market.
Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Tesla has been trying to repair investor relations in China. As part of the company’s efforts to repair investor relations in China, Tesla “complained to the government over what it sees as unwarranted attacks on social media, and asked Beijing to use its censorship powers to block some of the posts,” Bloomberg reported.
Tesla s Fall From Grace In China Shows Perils Of Betting On Beijing Tesla s Fall From Grace In China Shows Perils Of Betting On Beijing What is clear is that the remarkable honeymoon Elon Musk enjoyed in the world s most populous nation is over.
Tesla has began an effort to better manage how it s perceived by consumers
Huang Jiaxue, a businessman in Wenzhou in eastern China, was thrilled when he got his Tesla Model 3 late last year. The car was good-looking, environmentally friendly, and even domestically built, having rolled off the line at California-based Tesla s vast factory in Shanghai. But in May he sold it, recouping only about 75% of the 249,900 yuan ($38,600) he paid. It s out of safety concerns, Huang said, citing reports on Chinese social media, vigorously disputed by Tesla, about the brakes failing in its vehicles. Reading about it every day, I ve been afraid of driving.
BLOOMBERG
BEIJING Tesla Inc. said on Tuesday it had established a site in China to store car data locally, as automakers come under growing scrutiny over how they handle information collected by vehicle cameras and sensors.
Tesla said in a Weibo post that data generated by all cars it sells in China, where it is making Model 3 sedans and Model Y crossovers, would be stored in the country.
China, the world s biggest car market and the second largest for Tesla, is drafting rules to ensure the security of data generated by connected vehicles as their growing popularity fuels concerns about privacy and national security.
Reuters
U.S.-based electric carmaker Tesla has bowed to pressure from Beijing and announced it will move Chinese user data to a new center in China, sparking concerns that the move will set a precedent for other tech companies when dealing with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The company said in a Weibo post Tuesday it would expand its network of data centers and store all data generated by the cars it sells in China within the country s borders, according to Reuters news agency.
Tesla currently makes Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs in China, which is home the world s largest automobile market and the second-biggest market for Tesla.