I've now read the full article, it begins as a hit piece against Tesla and Elon Musk that requires no repetition (German competition coming any time soon, Tesla in trouble and overvalued, yadda, yadda.), but the key section is a leak from top Volkswagen management, which is reported in the final part of the article. I believe this is what TSLA reacted to:
[quote from the German original]:
"Als größter Tesla-Fan der Autoszene gilt indes Volkswagen-Chef Herbert Diess. Zweimal im Jahr trifft er sich mit Elon Musk, schwärmt seinen Topingenieuren immer wieder vor, was Tesla und andere im Silicon Valley können – und VW noch nicht."
"Vor einem Jahr schon wollte sich der Volkswagen-Chef an Googles Autotochter Waymo beteiligen, sich so die fehlende Expertise für autonomes Fahren sichern. Das war zu teuer. Es blieb nur die kleine Lösung: eine Partnerschaft mit Ford."
"Der Traum Tesla glühe noch in Diess, heißt es an der Konzernspitze. Er glaube, dass Volkswagen von Teslas Batterie- und vor allem Softwarekompetenz profitieren könne. "Er würde sofort einsteigen, wenn er könnte", sagt einer seiner Topleute. Das Geld sei auch da, für den Anfang reiche ja eine Beteiligung. Schwieriger sei es da schon mit der Zustimmung der Großaktionäre, der Familien Porsche und Piëch."
"Aber kann sich irgendjemand Elon Musk als einen Mann vorstellen, der nach Wolfsburg berichtet? Bislang lehnt er jedes Ansinnen ab, über etwaige Kooperationen nachzudenken. Aber wenn jemand den Tesla-Gründer überzeugen und mit ihm zurechtkommen könne, sagt ein VW-Mann, "dann Herbert Diess". Zumal wenn Musk kaum noch etwas anderes übrig bleibt, um sein Werk zu retten."
[Translation (Google Translate with a few corrections and annotations from me):]
The biggest Tesla fan in the car industry is Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess. Twice a year, he meets Elon Musk and keeps reminding his top engineers what Tesla and others in Silicon Valley can do - and VW does not.
A year ago, the Volkswagen CEO wanted to participate in Google's car subsidiary Waymo, thus addressing [VW's] lack of expertise for autonomous driving. That was too expensive. There was only the lesser solution: a partnership with Ford.
The Tesla dream still glows in Diess, according to our sources in top VW management. He believes Volkswagen could benefit from Tesla's battery and software expertise. "[VW CEO Herbert Diess] would immediately [invest in Tesla] if he could," says one of his top people. The money is there too, initially a [minority] stake in Tesla would be enough. It would be more difficult to gain the approval of the largest [VW] shareholders, the Porsche and Piëch families.
But can anyone imagine Elon Musk as a man reporting to Wolfsburg? So far, [Elon] rejects any request to think about any cooperation [with Volkswagen]. But if someone can convince the Tesla founder and get along with him, says a VW man, "then Herbert Diess". Especially when Musk has little else left to save his work.
The takeaway:
- Manager Magazin has been the recipient of top level VW leaks before, I do think their claims here are credible.
- Remember the story from last summer, about VW's participation in the going-private transaction at $420? Apparently it was true, although the VW CFO denied the rumors at that time.
- Last year VW wanted to invest in Waymo, but found the price too expensive, and the agreement with Ford was Plan B.
- VW's CEO still wants to acquire a stake in Tesla, but Elon doesn't want their participation.
My speculation: I believe VW management leaked VW's interest in Tesla to Manager Magazin to pressure Elon into allowing a VW investment. Hostile takeover without Elon's blessing probably wouldn't work with Elon the largest shareholder.
