27.04.2021_Editorial

For a long time, it seemed as if a positive relationship had developed between Tesla and the Chinese authorities. It just seemed to fit: here the American e-car pioneer with its reputation, there the world’s largest sales market, which is fully committed to electric drive. Tesla was even the first foreign carmaker not to be forced into a joint venture by China’s authorities. But that has now apparently come to an end. Marcel Grzanna explains how things came to this, what’s behind Beijing’s hard line – and what German carmakers can learn from the process.