If you follow China’s new energy vehicles, you’ve likely come across the Telescope YouTube channel. Today, the channel’s founder and host, Sean, posted a message on Weibo apologising to BYD. The apology comes after Sean admitted to making false claims about the automaker.
In a post on his Weibo account “周浩然Sean” dated May 19, 2024, Sean stated that his previous claim alleging that BYD manipulated self-media accounts to defame rival company Nio was entirely fabricated. He acknowledged that these statements infringed upon BYD’s right to reputation.
“I hereby publicly clarify and sincerely apologise to BYD Company,” the apology read.
The incident appears to be linked to a previous legal dispute involving Nio. In June 2022, a video titled “BYD and Nio, who is ripping off customers?” was published by the account “车事纪” (Che Shiji). The video claimed that the Nio ES8, priced between 470,000 and 630,000 yuan (65,000 and 88,000 USD) in China (with battery purchase), was sold for significantly less, between 410,000 and 460,000 yuan (56,800 and 63,700 USD), in Norway.
Nio argued that the video made an inappropriate comparison by contrasting the price of the vehicle with a purchased battery in China against the price using Nio’s Battery as a Service (BaaS) model in Norway. Nio also highlighted that the video deliberately ignored that Norway exempts electric vehicles from import duties and value-added tax. Nio contended that this comparison misled the public into believing Nio treated...
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