In Korea, the image of luxury cars was originally reserved for German brands.
However, when the German brand suffered a decline in its image due to emissions manipulation and a fire of unknown cause, Tesla came to mind as an alternative.
In the midst of this, as the WHTS Company aggressively pushed Tesla vehicles, the public’s reaction was hotter than ever.
[Did the WHTS Company’s goal work? 60,000 people made advance reservations within 2 hours of starting reservations for electric vehicles.]
From noble mtl dot com
[Tesler Motors’ Tesla S electric car landing imminent. Expectations of prospective owners UP!]
[Car reservation service using virtual currency. Transactions between reservations are also active. It has already been traded at a higher price… … .]
[The Tesla Electric Vehicle Showroom opens in the middle of Seoul. The commercial contract has already been completed.]
The media covered Tesla and electric car articles every day.
Since the number of clicks on the news was good, some media companies even went to the Tesla factory in the United States to publish a special article.
It was a welcome thing for prospective car buyers to obtain quality information, but there were also those who did not like this flow of media.
“Reporter Kim, I told you that it would be difficult if I posted an article like this. Even if it gets good views, what if I put the Tesla article on the main page?”
The managing director of Daehyeon Motors, Ko Pil-geun, was on the phone on the one hand and on the other hand was watching the boss sitting in the seat of honor.
“Aww, don’t worry. where are we It’s Daehyun. Daehyun. Won’t you take care of me? Okay, please sort it out quickly. got it?”
Even after he ends the call, he continues to call other contacts.
Since there were not one or two media outlets that posted articles on Tesla, it was not an ordinary task to contact him one by one.
Tou… … Tou… … Tou… … .
While the ringing tone continued, the middle-aged man in the seat of honor spoke up.
“Director Ko, do you still have other places to contact?”
It was Lee Seung-hoon, the president of Daehyeon Motors.
“These days, there are not just one or two Internet media outlets… … In particular, there are many places where automobile-related media are small.”
“Tsk tsk, then you should have taken care of it beforehand.”
“I’m sorry.”
While Pil-geun Ko is at a loss what to do, Seung-hun Lee grabs the cell phone that keeps repeating the call and turns it off.
“Do you know how much effort the group puts into the electric vehicle business?”
“I am aware.”
“The president told me to risk life and death to prepare, life and death. But what if a stone rolled in from somewhere takes that place?”
The Daehyun Group was extremely uncomfortable with the Tesla incident.
That would be the case, and electric cars were being purchased in the form of subsidies. For example, if the price of a car is 50 million won, the government provides a subsidy of 20 million won.
Until now, Daehyun had been wiping out all the government subsidies, but the appearance of Tesla caused a setback.
“Don’t worry too much. A bill has already been submitted that does not support electric vehicle subsidies to Tesla.”
When the subsidies for expensive electric vehicles disappeared, popularity naturally declined.
That’s why Daehyun’s side was somewhat complacent, but after going through this reservation situation, their thoughts changed.
“It’s not enough to suppress subsidies. We should use stronger countermeasures and nip them in the bud from the beginning.”
“What do you mean by a stronger response… … .”
“What if we made it impossible for them to enter Korean soil at all? Then, no matter how many tens of thousands of people have reserved it, it will be useless.”
President Lee Seung-hoon wanted to ban Tesla sales in Korea.
It was a sufficiently possible countermeasure for Daehyeon, which is closely related to the political world.
The Ministry of Environment could block emission certification, or the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport could restrict the manufacturer certification process.
“If we block the launch itself, there could be a strong backlash from Tesla bookers.”
“What if they bark? In Korea, we would have no choice but to buy our Daehyun car.”
More than 90% of electric cars released in Korea were Daehyun vehicles.
If the launch of Tesla was blocked, there was virtually no alternative in Korea, so Daehyun had nothing to shy away from.
* * *
[Koreans who love Tesla, see you this fall.]
Starting with Tesla’s CEO Elon’s tweet, Tesla’s electric vehicles started to advance into Korea in earnest.
First, the Tesla exhibition hall entered the middle of Cheongdam-dong, and at the same time, Tesla executives arrived in Korea one after another, raising the atmosphere.
Accordingly, like Elon’s tweet, the anticipation that Tesla bookers may receive a vehicle this fall has boiled over.
However, it wasn’t long before the news that poured cold water on this atmosphere was announced.
[Tesler Motors failed to cross the wall of certification. Failed to pass manufacturer certification and emission certification… … Tesla CEO Elon “The result is unconvincing. I will be re-certified.”]
It was like a thunderbolt to the bookers who were waiting for the release date of Omaebulmang.
If the certification process is delayed like this, there was no promise of when to receive the car not only this year, but also next year.
The related community has already gone wild, and even Internet reporters have come forward to dig into this situation.
Then, Elon’s additional tweets fuel the heated public opinion.
[The Korean telecommunications company blocked the release of the Apple phone. However, it was impossible to go against the trend of the times. It will be the same this time.]
The tweet blatantly meant that someone intentionally blocked Tesla from launching.
In Korea, there was only one group that benefited from blocking the launch of Tesla electric cars.
“Woohyuk. Have you checked the car club bulletin board? It turned upside down in one day.”
Park Tae-shik, who was looking at his phone, makes a fuss. I answer without taking my eyes off the report I was looking at.
“There must be posts swearing at Daehyun Motors.”
“Eh? how do you know that Have you been looking at the community bulletin board?”
“Isn’t it obvious without looking at it?”
Daehyun Motors has been a company with a lot of anti-community on the Internet due to various gossips such as poor customer service, discrimination against domestic demand, and quality problems.
However, now that there is something to criticize openly, there is no choice but to go wild on the Internet.
Sarak.
While I’m looking at the report, Park Tae-shik comes right next to me and stares at me intently.
“Did you know?”
“what?”
“That Daehyun will step in this time.”
I replied, ‘Yes’, but Park Tae-shik did not raise his eyes of suspicion until the end.
“If it weren’t for that, there wouldn’t be a single car coming in this year, so it couldn’t be this peaceful.”
“This time, it didn’t matter whether Daehyun blocked it or not.”
“What are you talking about? If Daehyun hadn’t interfered, we would have been eating all the swear words that are now on the bulletin board.”
“I don’t think so. Think carefully. Even if Daehyun didn’t step forward, what do you think would have happened if the government rejected the certification?”
“Well, if it was Daehyun’s usual image, there would have been a conspiracy theory that he stopped it even if he didn’t step forward.”
It’s not just a conspiracy theory, the internet atmosphere would have been the same as it is now. There is only a difference between swearing unfairly or doing something really bad and swearing.
“From the beginning, I was thinking of using Daehyeon as a shield.”
“of course. You don’t have to refuse a shield you can use for free, right?”
Of course, it was impossible to endure using Daehyeon as a shield forever.
By the time the anger toward Daehyeon subsides, the bookers will also notice that there is a problem with Tesla’s productivity.
* * *
A large production plant of Tesla Motors was recently completed in Nevada, USA.
aka Mega Factory.
It is literally a super-large production plant, where Tesla’s batteries, motors, and other electric vehicle parts are produced.
“This is the Mega Factory, which is the pride of Tesla. The amount of batteries produced here is equal to that of all the world combined.”
There was power in Elon’s voice. His eyes were already looking towards the future, and his demeanor did not doubt his success.
I ask him a question while examining every aspect of the factory where the machines run fast.
“Assuming the Nevada plant is functioning properly, how many EVs do you expect to produce next year?”
“The original estimate was 100,000 units, but thanks to the availability of funds, it seems possible to produce up to 160,000 units.”
My direct investment in Tesla is on the order of $1 billion. The rest of the money was used to recover stakes held by capital or hedge funds.
Nevertheless, the reason why Tesla’s funds are plentiful is thanks to the deposit received from reservations not long ago.
The price of a Tesla S car reserved in Korea is about 98,000 dollars.
The 20% deposit was about $20,000, so if you collect it from a total of 60,000 people, you have $1.2 billion in funds.
“It’s still a bit disappointing if you’re talking about 160,000.”
“Sorry? That’s double the expected production this year.”
“There are 60,000 reservations in Korea alone. People to buy it lined up, but they said it was a pity that the production couldn’t keep up.”
“It can’t be helped, can it?”
I stop walking and look back at Elon.
“What do you mean you can’t help it?”
“Because the capacity of our factories is limited.”
“If there is a limit to the production capacity of the factory, can’t we just increase the number of factories? Isn’t it simple?”
Hearing my words, Elon makes an absurd gesture.
“It’s a problem because it’s not that simple. Do you know how much money it would cost to build more factories of this size? We need at least a few billion more.”
“If you need more money, just take a deposit from the person making the reservation like last time.”
“yes?”
“What are you so surprised about? I guarantee you, if you start taking reservations again, about 100,000 people will laugh at you.”
If there are 100,000 reservations, 2 billion dollars comes in as a deposit. That was enough money to build a mega factory.
However, Elon doesn’t readily agree and shows a troubled look.
“Are you sure you don’t have the confidence to increase production?”
“What are you talking about? If you just build a factory, it’s not even a matter of production. but… … .”
He furrows his brow and mumbles bluntly.
“It’s not just money to build such a huge factory, there are a lot of problems. For example, there will be environmental assessments, tax negotiations and… … We also have to look at the political issues.”
“What is the political problem?”
“It is literally politics. If you want to build in an area favorable to the Democratic Party, the Republicans will take issue, and if it is an area favorable to the Republican Party, the opposite is true.”
I thought the US would be better than Korea politically, but after hearing Elon’s words, it feels like the illusions I’ve built so far are shattered.
“We are in a position to take the deposit from the reservation and use it. We need to build a factory and start production as soon as possible, but if the construction of the factory is delayed due to political reasons… … .”
“It will be difficult.”
“So at least we have to move after this election is over.”
When the word ‘this election’ comes out of his mouth, a wonderful idea pops up in his head.
“I think I can solve that problem.”
“Can you solve it? Wasn’t Daniel Korean?”
“you’re right.”
“How do Koreans solve American political problems? I can not understand.”
I gave him a toothy grin and said.
“There is one American politician I know well. That person will solve this problem neatly.”