Introduction

Full of complaints, really.

Without warning, BYD, which was preparing to celebrate sales exceeding 4 million for the year, suddenly became a trending topic on social media.

"Well, the top position has always attracted a lot of controversy," on Wednesday, with this thought in mind, I carefully examined the content—

Hmm, requesting a 10% price reduction from suppliers while being "exposed" for using commercial paper to pay suppliers...

What???

The reason for my surprise is not due to an overwhelming sense of justice, but rather because I find it incredibly absurd.

Seriously, it's almost 4202, and there are still people in the automotive industry who don't know about this routine "shady practice" of OEMs?

Because in my opinion, the real issue here is that if we were to criticize an OEM specifically for delaying payments or pressuring for price reductions... does BYD deserve it?!

Let's talk about price reductions first.

As we all know, if all the grievances about price reductions and delayed payments were combined, one OEM in the Yangtze River Delta automotive cluster would account for half of them. The remaining half would be split between another OEM in the Western Triangle automotive cluster. As for BYD... sorry, it's part of the remaining grievances, and it has to share with other competitors.

In short, BYD cannot be considered innocent in this matter, but at most, it falls into the "Other" category. So it's like urging underperforming students to improve in class. No one pays attention to the last or second-to-last students, but someone in the middle is singled out for harsh criticism.

Right? Everyone can think about it from the content I introduced above. Needless to say, everyone will find it absurd.

As for the issue of "commercial paper," it's even more ridiculous.

Firstly, commercial paper originated from the domestic effort to clear triangular debts in the early stages of reform and opening up in 1981 and has been in use for over 40 years. How could it suddenly be treated like an IOU from a village official at a small restaurant after being hyped up online?

Image | Found online - I heard someone call this a "white slip"?

Secondly, both commercial acceptance bills and bank acceptance bills are negotiable instruments and can be circulated among legal entities. If the complaint is about the long payment cycle from OEMs to suppliers, then that's a valid point - but why criticize the use of commercial paper?

Due to the misconduct of many real estate companies in recent years, such as the notorious Evergrande, many people have become sensitive to commercial acceptance bills. However, this is not the fault of commercial paper, right?

Of course, speaking generally, malicious defaults and price reductions cannot be justified by the logic of "if the monk can touch it, why can't I?"

But I believe after the brief explanations above, everyone is now very clear about the cyber army battles behind this hot topic. Considering BYD's current situation, it's not surprising that it has become the target of criticism. After all, when Geely became the sales champion of domestic cars a few years ago, it also faced widespread criticism. As the saying goes, those who are not envied are mediocre.

Of course, since Geely was mentioned above, we have to talk about the "sending kitchen knives" incident.

Amidst the cyber army battles over price reductions and delayed payments, someone suddenly dug up an old story from last year. It was said that Chen Yudong, President of Bosch China Investment, received a kitchen knife from Geely last year.

Combined with recent rumors of OEMs forcing suppliers to reduce prices, it looks like a "mafia styler" situation.

As the rumors spread and grew, the person involved was eventually forced to come forward and deny the allegations in a triple negation - I didn't, I'm not, don't talk nonsense!

On the noon of the 29th, Chen Yudong posted an explanation on his WeChat Moments: "The knife is real, and the person who sent it is a good friend, not for price reductions. At the time, he thought I was too fussy and told me to cut the Gordian knot."

Is that it?

Tao Lin, who once joked about only understanding GR and not PR at Tesla, posted on her personal Weibo account on the afternoon of the 28th:

I confirmed the data. In 2024, our payment cycle to supply chain partners has been shortened again compared to last year. It now only takes about 90 days????

She also attached a chart titled "Changes in Payment Times to Suppliers by Chinese New Energy Vehicle Manufacturers," comparing Companies 1, 2, 3, and 4 with Tesla.

Needless to say, the scene was like an Admiral of the Navy Headquarters issuing a "genocide order." The excitement on various platforms immediately escalated the situation.

I have a good understanding of Tesla's worker salaries, but not much information about supplier payment terms. So, I'll take Ms. Tao's words as true since she said them publicly. But the question is - are you really going to brag about this?

From any perspective, Tesla's current niche in the Chinese automotive market, in terms of both profits and market praise, resembles that of joint-venture brands in their heyday, especially first-tier brands like Volkswagen and Toyota.

But the problem is, as far as I know, joint-venture brands used to have a 60-day payment cycle back then.

Image | Businesses have their ups and downs, and commerce has its ebbs and flows. Tesla has undoubtedly set a new low for employee treatment and supplier payment terms during its heyday in the Chinese market.

In addition, SAIC Volkswagen once offered 27 months' salary in 2011, and its frontline employees earned 4,000 yuan in 1997. When the Xiangle Mansion apartment building adjacent to Huaihai Road was completed in early 1997, the property prices were only in the range of 7,000 to 8,000 yuan.

How come Tesla China, where workers in the Lingang factory eat boxed lunches, has a group of live streamers hyping up employee buffets on Douyin and Kuaishou? And what about the annual salary of over 100,000 yuan for general workers that's advertised everywhere during recruitment... why not compare it to the salaries of joint-venture factories and Shanghai's property prices back then?

After all, Tesla is currently in its heyday. Why are you rushing to compare your lower limits with those of the "rolling in the mud" independent brands that you and even your car owners look down upon, just for the sake of traffic?

Overall, this commotion once again illustrates everyone's powerlessness in the internet traffic economy.

Countless people are easily incited by simple rhetoric and push notifications, generating immense traffic and becoming a feast for platform advertisers and push service providers.

The essence of the internet is actually like a home in the minds of all middle-aged people with sufficient cognition - it has never been a place for reasoning. In such an atmosphere, emotional manipulation and simple but effective memes or jokes are far more popular and valuable in terms of traffic than well-reasoned analysis.

For the current situation and the intense emotions of internet users, I can only use an outdated meme from a few years ago and say through the mouth of Mr. Morishita -

Image | Very spirited! (Your work is not saturated)

In short, with the waters completely muddied and no reasoning possible, this is a weekly automotive commentary filled with scattered complaints and heavily influenced by the editor's personal bias.

Gathering automotive news of the week and reviewing major and minor automotive events, all automotive anecdotes are in [Weekly Automotive Commentary]. See you next week!