What is the future of cars? For one thing, after substantial government support and poaching of top Western talent, China’s car industry is about to dominate globally with charging rates, ranges, luxury design, technology, and sheer volumes. Moreover, it’s no longer content with serving its own enormous market as Chinese brands make serious inroads across Australia and Europe.
In May, it was reported that, for the first time, Chinese automaker BYD sold more cars in Europe than Tesla in the previous month. Meanwhile in the US, the affordable car is about to go extinct. With President Donald Trump’s back-and-forth tariffs, it may well be time to say goodbye to the sub-$30,000 car.
WIRED senior editor and auto obsessive Jeremy White hosted a Reddit AMA earlier this month to directly answer your questions about the future of cars and EVs as the global market dramatically shifts. Here’s what you need to know.
Questions and responses have been edited for clarity.
Musk’s horrific journey into politics aside, do you think Tesla has a future, with pressure from BYD and its failure to develop a cheaper model, among other challenges?
Yes, I do think Tesla has a future—it was only last year that they lost the top slot of the biggest-selling car in the world (to Toyota). So let’s keep in mind that Tesla still sells a lot of cars. That said, Tesla has an aging fleet, it has a CEO with his attention diverted very much elsewhere, and, most of all, right now it has a brand and reputation problem. Musk’s DOGE antics have directly hit the company—even their finance chief Vaibhav Taneja was forced to admit so on its April earnings call, saying “unwarranted hostility towards our brand and our people had an impact in certain markets.”
And the Cybertruck has been an unmitigated disaster.
Tesla desperately needs a win. It needs a new cheap electric car, and no amount of dressing up the Model Y in new clothes is going to cut it. It also needs to look at its autonomous tech, because Chinese brands all favoring Lidar are beating it there too.
Let’s face it, the Chinese brands have learned a great deal from Tesla and are now coming for Elon’s lunch—and, right now, Tesla is not really in a position to compete. How long can this go on? How long can the board put up with these dismal sales figures? We shall see. But one thing is for sure: it cannot carry on like this.
Will China really be able to make inroads into the European market given the combination of tariffs and European consumer preference for their own homegrown brands?
Yes, and they already are. Chinese automaker BYD now outsells Tesla in Europe, and it is now launching its premium brand, Denza, there too—think Audi or BMW level. Xpeng is there, too, as is Nio.
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