DSHR's Blog: Elon Musk: Threat Or Menace? Part 5
Ananya Bhattacharya reports that Indians who pre-ordered Teslas in 2016 are giving up and chasing refunds: "Within hours after the company opened its pre-booking portal for India in April 2016, Gondal, a fan of Elon Musk and Tesla, paid $1,000 (then 66,237 rupees) to pre-book the Tesla Model 3. ... For almost seven years after that, Gondal, founder and CEO of health-tech startup GoQii, patiently waited for his Model 3. By 2023, when there was still no sign of the car, he decided to cancel his booking — and that was the start of another ordeal. Gondal had to chase Tesla’s India executive over emails for six months before he received his refund in June 2023. “There was no communication, no emails. And even years later, there was no apology [from the company],” he told Rest of World. Tesla still does not sell its cars in India — the third-largest auto market in the world."
Bloomberg reports that Tesla Ramps Up Job Cuts in China as Sales Slowdown Bites: "Additional layoffs began earlier this week, extending cuts in mid-April that were part of the electric vehicle maker’s pledge to slash global headcount by more than 10%, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to disclose the information publicly. The latest move affects a range of departments including customer service staff, engineers, production line workers, and the logistics team at Tesla’s Shanghai plant — home to more than half the company’s global production, according to the people. The layoffs last month more directly impacted sales representatives, they said." Will the last person leaving TESLA - turn out the lights.
