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This is what's so strange about US. There are laws with very hefty fines about false advertising, especially when human life and health is involved, this is tru

This is what's so strange about US. There are laws with very hefty fines about false advertising, especially when human life and health is involved, this is true for EU and most other locations. Try to remember how much VW paid for their diesel emission scam. It was almost 3 billion dollars. And Tesla...

buran77 5y ago
Also remember that GM paid a fraction of that for the ignition switch scandal [0] where GM management intentionally hid the issue which directly lead to at least 120 deaths, and that was just the official count. The US has little interest in hitting home companies in any way. Preventing the false advertising would impact the value of Tesla because the FSD claims were an integral part of Tesla's branding and success. Some countries in Europa, like Germany, blocked Tesla from using misleading claims in their advertising like suggesting anything about self driving [1]. Of course this is usually dismissed as Germany protecting its auto industry. But the reality is that the claims Tesla made consistently misleading and made to suggest the cars is able to self-drive and it's only regulations that prevent it from doing this. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch_recalls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/business/tesla-autopilot-germany.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/business/tesla-autopilot-...
- JackPoach 5y ago
  I feel that there's almost 'Protect Tesla at any cost' order, even though there clearly isn't one. I have this heavy feeling that should Tesla crash and burn, this is going to be a major hit not only for Nasdaq or S&P, it can lead to major disillusionment with what tech sector really is and what it can and can not do for humanity in general and for US as a country specifically.
  - buran77 5y ago
    It's a very valuable company that's just taken off and for the first time in a long time gives the US an edge in the global auto industry. Shooting it in the wing now, even if it's the legal duty, gives everyone else an advantage. So blind eye it is. Tesla has no reason to crash and burn but without a real or perceived edge over the competition it wouldn't thrive. And the self driving claim is a hefty part of that edge.
    - JackPoach 5y ago
      Yeah, but this is a very US-centric view. China is (arguably) far ahead of US both in EV technology in general and Tesla specifically. It's hard to separate personality cult of Elon Musk from Tesla, but for many outside US, there's absolutely nothing special about Tesla except for the valuation part.
      - buran77 5y ago
        I am completely oblivious as to how Tesla is seen in China. But plenty of the hype Tesla generated in Europe some years ago had FSD as a backbone (maybe a bit of ludicrous mode too), it was an easy way to cover generic EV drawbacks. I'm not saying that this is why people bought Teslas, rather that that's the reason people spoke about Teslas. If everywhere you look you see a discussion about how awesome one feature of a product is you're slowly and unconsciously going to start assuming the whole package must be awesome. Tesla not only got "infinite" marketing and PR points by claiming "FSD", they even got money from people who are still waiting for that functionality. Those who expected driver assists are happy. Those who expected the claimed FSD are certainly not. Today with competing companies like Volvo announcing L4 cars in 2022, the generic FSD claims are nowhere nearly as valuable as a few years ago.
    - mschuster91 5y ago
      > It's a very valuable company that's just taken off and for the first time in a long time gives the US an edge in the global auto industry. Shooting it in the wing now, even if it's the legal duty, gives everyone else an advantage. So blind eye it is. Reminds me of Wirecard, which imploded one year ago. Everyone, from regulation agencies over banks to politics - including Chancellor Merkel and her advisors - wanted Wirecard to succeed at all costs. In the latest hours of Wirecard, after the "we're missing two billion euros" statement, there even was the idea to pump hundreds of millions of euros taxpayer money to prevent its collapse.
      - buran77 5y ago
        The principle of defending your superstars applies everywhere, albeit the US is doing it to a far greater degree compared to others simply because they're in a better position to do it. But Tesla and Wirecard are in no way in the same league. Tesla is actually delivering cars, batteries, building factories, and developing tech. Wirecard on the other hand was a hot air balloon, at least after a point.
  - xkjkls 5y ago
    The behavior of the investors in Tesla is extremely scary. Tesla bulls have organized some large intimidation campaigns against anyone whose tried to question why this company is worth $500 billion.

buran77 5y ago

Also remember that GM paid a fraction of that for the ignition switch scandal [0] where GM management intentionally hid the issue which directly lead to at least 120 deaths, and that was just the official count. The US has little interest in hitting home companies in any way. Preventing the false advertising would impact the value of Tesla because the FSD claims were an integral part of Tesla's branding and success. Some countries in Europa, like Germany, blocked Tesla from using misleading claims in their advertising like suggesting anything about self driving [1]. Of course this is usually dismissed as Germany protecting its auto industry. But the reality is that the claims Tesla made consistently misleading and made to suggest the cars is able to self-drive and it's only regulations that prevent it from doing this. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch_recalls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_ignition_switch... [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/business/tesla-autopilot-germany.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/business/tesla-autopilot-...

JackPoach 5y ago
I feel that there's almost 'Protect Tesla at any cost' order, even though there clearly isn't one. I have this heavy feeling that should Tesla crash and burn, this is going to be a major hit not only for Nasdaq or S&P, it can lead to major disillusionment with what tech sector really is and what it can and can not do for humanity in general and for US as a country specifically.
- buran77 5y ago
  It's a very valuable company that's just taken off and for the first time in a long time gives the US an edge in the global auto industry. Shooting it in the wing now, even if it's the legal duty, gives everyone else an advantage. So blind eye it is. Tesla has no reason to crash and burn but without a real or perceived edge over the competition it wouldn't thrive. And the self driving claim is a hefty part of that edge.
  - JackPoach 5y ago
    Yeah, but this is a very US-centric view. China is (arguably) far ahead of US both in EV technology in general and Tesla specifically. It's hard to separate personality cult of Elon Musk from Tesla, but for many outside US, there's absolutely nothing special about Tesla except for the valuation part.
    - buran77 5y ago
      I am completely oblivious as to how Tesla is seen in China. But plenty of the hype Tesla generated in Europe some years ago had FSD as a backbone (maybe a bit of ludicrous mode too), it was an easy way to cover generic EV drawbacks. I'm not saying that this is why people bought Teslas, rather that that's the reason people spoke about Teslas. If everywhere you look you see a discussion about how awesome one feature of a product is you're slowly and unconsciously going to start assuming the whole package must be awesome. Tesla not only got "infinite" marketing and PR points by claiming "FSD", they even got money from people who are still waiting for that functionality. Those who expected driver assists are happy. Those who expected the claimed FSD are certainly not. Today with competing companies like Volvo announcing L4 cars in 2022, the generic FSD claims are nowhere nearly as valuable as a few years ago.
  - mschuster91 5y ago
    > It's a very valuable company that's just taken off and for the first time in a long time gives the US an edge in the global auto industry. Shooting it in the wing now, even if it's the legal duty, gives everyone else an advantage. So blind eye it is. Reminds me of Wirecard, which imploded one year ago. Everyone, from regulation agencies over banks to politics - including Chancellor Merkel and her advisors - wanted Wirecard to succeed at all costs. In the latest hours of Wirecard, after the "we're missing two billion euros" statement, there even was the idea to pump hundreds of millions of euros taxpayer money to prevent its collapse.
    - buran77 5y ago
      The principle of defending your superstars applies everywhere, albeit the US is doing it to a far greater degree compared to others simply because they're in a better position to do it. But Tesla and Wirecard are in no way in the same league. Tesla is actually delivering cars, batteries, building factories, and developing tech. Wirecard on the other hand was a hot air balloon, at least after a point.
- xkjkls 5y ago
  The behavior of the investors in Tesla is extremely scary. Tesla bulls have organized some large intimidation campaigns against anyone whose tried to question why this company is worth $500 billion.