Tu starts this week’s pod with a quick update on what’s going on on the ground in Beijing. Lei then moves on to NIO’s challenging last few weeks, first starting out with the tragic accident at their Shanghai headquarters that killed two people to this week’s bombshell short report accusing NIO of fraud, specifically for their accounting of battery swapping revenues.

The next topic that Lei & Tu tackle was the unveiling of the Volkswagen ID.Aero, Volkswagen’s entry into the premium electric sedan category that’ll start shipping next year from its Chinese factory. 

They give their initial reactions from the unveil, look at the market segment it’s competing in and predict what challenges they anticipate the Aero having in the China market. 

The next topic is the Chongqing auto show and specifically the Avatr brand which is a joint venture between Huawei and Changan Motors, an SOE based in Chongqing. 

In the final segment, Tu summarizes what he thought were some of the most interesting news from the week including TSMC likely overtaking Intel on revenues to become the largest chip manufacturer in the world, Polestar’s IPO and Tesla incentivizing customers to trade in their ICE vehicles for discounts on Tesla vehicles.