The significance of the 12/9 (12/10 in China) video and its promo video from 12/8 (12/9 in China) seems to have been missed by everyone. They showed us something more important than the prototype design of the inexpensive (maybe $25,000) Chinese hatchback and far more important than a stock split announcement or sooner-than-anticipated Cybertruck deliveries. Instead, they showed us important new details on the factory of the future. As investors, time and time again we've been guided by our Technoking that prototypes are easy and production is hard.
Whether or not it was actually part of a 12/9 conspiracy we shall probably never know for certain, but it's still a big deal nevertheless. I replayed both videos at 0.25x speed several times and am working on in-depth analysis of my observations, which I will post in the main thread later this weekend.
This was, in my estimation, a subtle and understated display of unrivaled manufacturing prowess with implications of utter domination of the marketplace. As I understand it, in Chinese culture boasting and displays of arrogance are considered crass--if not downright rude--but the indirect humble-brag is a sophisticated art form. Did they come out and say "It is our greatest pleasure to vanquish our enemies and chase them before us, to see their factories and dealerships reduced to ashes, to rob them of their wealth and hear the lamentations of their women"? No, but essentially they implied it.
The alien dreadnought of Elon's dreams in 2017 is finally coming to life in Shanghai, and soon in Berlin, Austin, and beyond. I believe it is no coincidence that the video begins with a clip of Elon speaking in an interview about the need for making the cars more affordable and how it takes multiple major iterations of a design before it becomes excellent, inexpensive and mass produced. Manufacturing truly will be Tesla's long-term competitive advantage. This is what vehicle factories look like now, and anyone who doesn't copy these techniques is screwed.