Wolf of Dubai is a stock investing YouTube channel based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a recent episode, the Wolf of Dubai dove into Tesla from the point of view of Dubai investors. His videos center on educational content mixed in with stock market knowledge. He shares investment stories, breaking news, and a touch of entertainment in his videos. One of his most recent videos centers around Tesla and how it has crushed its competition.
In his video, he notes that Daimler is one of the largest in the auto industry and that it is getting crushed. First, he reminds us that both Daimler and VW and a few other brands were caught up in a big diesel cheating scandal, a scandal that is still having financial repercussions on those both Daimler and VW (and health repercussions on humans around the world). Both had to pay billions in fines to various governments around the world due to the damages caused by their cheating emissions testing.
Another side effect that is mentioned in the video is the fact that in Q1 of 2019 Daimler reported negative earnings in the area of its buses and trucks. It also reported that it had a negative free cash flow of the industrial business.
“Ongoing governmental proceedings and measures taken for diesel vehicles also had a negative impact on earnings.”
When it comes to electric vehicles, the Wolf of Dubai points out that, “first they laugh, then they try to beat them, and then they copy.” Yes, we all know this and have seen this, but it is important to note because it shows just how others actually see Tesla. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), although reliant to some degree on revenues from oil and gas, is the second-largest country in the Middle East and is known pretty much as a playground for millionaires. Its gross domestic product was around $414 billion in 2018. Dubai, its most populous city, has an especially favorable attitude toward Tesla and technology.
Tesla's #Cybertruck will become part of the Dubai police force https://t.co/tO6xkKzmuS pic.twitter.com/UL4uo9EWw9
— CNET (@CNET) November 27, 2019
When it comes to that cycle of thinking — they laugh at them, then copy them — Wolf of Dubai believes that we are at the point where the competition is moving from trying to beat Tesla (‘Tesla killers”) to admitting that Elon Musk is a visionary and that Tesla is the leader of this industry — simply because it’s “just a better product in the long run.”
It’s a better product because Tesla:
- Doesn’t sacrifice speed
- Has better technology
- Has more range
- Is maintenance-free
- Is greener because it doesn’t produce CO2 emissions
Other areas that are affecting the competition are the fact that they have to cut costs. Last month we analyzed an article from Spiegel about how Daimler had a crisis. A couple of weeks after our analysis Daimler announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide. Audi and BMW also cut jobs, which totaled to around 20,000 jobs being cut. And let’s not forget about Tesla’s plans to build a Gigafactory 4 in “The Holy Land of Car Making.”
Wolf of Dubai tells us in his video that these legacy automakers are becoming scared of Tesla due to the speed of its success. He uses the Shanghai Gigafactory as an example of this. Many claimed it would never happen. Not only did it happen, but the factory was built in 10 months and landed Tesla ahead of schedule.
As Wolf of Dubai speaks of how fast Tesla is actually developing, his video shows us a glimpse of a Tesla factory worker who holds a flashlight in his hands while looking intently into the camera. You can actually see, in this less than three second moment, the zeal of dedication to his work at that moment as the camera allows your gaze to meet his.
One of the good things that comes from Tesla crushing its competition is that Daimler sees that it would be a waste of money to develop better gasoline engines and will stop focusing on that. For a company that, as Wolf of Dubai says, invented this technology, this is a huge step. Tesla has, in its own way, encouraged Daimler to stop trying to create a better gasoline engine. Another good thing is that, with Tesla’s rising success, a lot of money can be put into the electrification of cities worldwide. This market has a lot of room for Tesla to grow.
Wolf of Dubai’s video is important because it reminds those of us who write about Tesla, talk about it on Twitter, and are closely involved with not just Tesla but its competitors, that the world is watching and is very observant. The world sees Tesla for what it is — for what critics deny it to be: a very successful company that has seemingly come out of nowhere and altered the automotive market in what looks like one deadly move. A deadly move for the competition, that is.