Danish company car drivers no longer bother to drive Tesla. Musk is to blame. But the Chinese alternatives are also being chosen.
Danish company car drivers say no to fleets of Tesla models. Here, Elon Musk is directly to blame.
This is what Berlingske writes based on a survey conducted by the trade union Business Danmark .
"My company has just cancelled the order for several Tesla cars. From now on we will get European cars instead," says a Danish company driver, who, according to Business Danmark, does not dare to give his name for fear of his American business.
In the roundtable, 2 out of 3 respondents said that the country of origin of the car is of great importance to their choice. However, many of the Teslas that now make company car drivers frown do not come from the USA or the factory in Germany, but from China.
Conversely, the 1,300 union members in the survey also respond that they would now prefer to ignore Chinese cars.
When asked directly, the union members say they are opting out of Tesla because they do not want to be indirectly associated with either Elon Musk or US President Donald Trump.
Just a signal – because Tesla is not building worse cars now
– It is undoubtedly a signal of support for the European car industry. Because Tesla has not become a worse car overnight.
– And several of the Chinese models also perform excellently in terms of roadworthiness when we annually test the best business cars, says Lars Bundgaard, chairman of Business Denmark's traffic committee, to the union's own website.
When it comes to cars from China, Lars Bundgaard doesn't have anyone to directly target. Instead, he points out that it takes years to rebuild a brand that drivers trust.
– First of all, company drivers are not into experiments – they want something that works. Therefore, it can take years to build a strong brand in the target group.
– We saw that years ago with Korean Kia and Hyundai, as well as Czech Skoda. In recent years, we have seen a host of Chinese brands come and go, and that is not something to be taken lightly.
That said, Business Danmark does not address why Tesla is the only brand that members have been asked directly about. All other brands in the roundtable are either described as 'Chinese or European'.
However, this does not change the fact that over 80 percent of the union's respondents believe that they now view electric cars negatively. That figure is 'only' 54 percent when it comes to cars from China.
For union members, the fear of being monitored is holding them back. And they are not the first to be afraid of that.
Boosted has previously reported that a Swedish professor and cybersecurity expert is actually warning against Volvo because the brand is Chinese. Read more about it here.
Here at home, several parties at Christiansborg are considering whether Chinese electric cars should be banned from public tenders.
In any case, the Liberal Party's finance spokesman, Hans Andersen, suggested earlier this month that it should be more difficult for Chinese brands to win tenders for cars for, for example, home care.
According to Berlingske, the SF, the Conservatives, the Liberal Alliance and the Social Democrats view the idea from the Liberal Party positively and openly.
