TRIANGLE
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In 2011, when asked about BYD challenging Tesla, Elon Musk smirked and said, “Have you seen their car?” At the time, he had a point; BYD’s vehicles were subpar at best. And because of that Western automakers seemed to have completely ignored them, thinking that they would always be behind. However, quietly working in the background it seems the Chinese took this mockery to heart and returned with a vengeance. And in just a few short years we now see high-quality Chinese vehicles dominating the international market—many of which are superior to their Western counterparts and also available at half or even a third of the price.

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In simple terms, given the rapid improvement of Chinese vehicles—their low manufacturing costs and complete control over the supply chain—Western automakers will cease to exist in the very near future. The Western automotive industry is collapsing in real time, and no one seems to be doing anything about it. The only solution the West has proposed is to keep increasing tariffs on Chinese vehicles. But how long can this continue? What happened to free-market capitalism? Or does it only apply when convenient? The reality is, the Western automotive industry is fighting for its life. Unable to build drastically better vehicles at half the price, they are lobbying hard for tariffs against their competition. This is a band-aid solution to a huge problem that isn't being seriously addressed by any of the major players.

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So, what can we do? Will the current automakers figure out how to make drastically better vehicles for half the price? Will they adopt radically new production methods overnight? Unfortunately, having talked to a huge number of automotive engineers and insiders, it seems most vehicle manufacturers are baffled. And nobody has any clear view of what they should be doing. In reality I believe it is actually quite simple, every single person in the company needs to be focussed on building their current product for half the cost, but of course the reality is complicated. Western automakers no longer really manufacture their vehicles, they just do the final assembly of parts. Below them is a webbed network of thousands of suppliers who all take their cut, resulting in the final over inflated price tag. Therefore it is almost impossible for them to drop their costs. However, in China the reality is different, automakers are increasingly trying to be vertically integrated. BYD for example even owns a fleet of car shipping carriers so that they don’t even pay a middleman on the shipping costs of their vehicles. The reality therefore is bleak for the western automotive industry and unfortunately these large corporations seem to be too big to change at the speed needed.

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Therefore, I have decided to act. I’m launching a startup called Triangle, aiming to build a drastically better vehicle as quickly as possible—one that can compete directly with the Chinese. No tariffs needed—a fight for regular people who are fed up with ever-increasing vehicle costs.

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Without this company, it is very probable that hundreds of thousands of automotive jobs will be lost in Europe. This company is therefore about the livelihoods of ordinary people and the future of an industry that has been a cornerstone of our economies for over a century.

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To do this we’re committed to reimagining vehicle production from the ground up. Our goal is to deliver superior vehicles at competitive prices, without relying on protectionist measures like tariffs. We believe in fair competition and are ready to compete with any global rival.

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It’s time for us to wake up from our complacency. The challenge is immense, but so is the opportunity. With bold action and a commitment to excellence, we can not only save an industry but also lead it into a new era of innovation and prosperity.