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1/ A short thread on the huge $TSLA story of the day - perhaps of all time: the Nikkei bombshell that Panasonic is done with investing in the Nevada factory, and plans no investment in Tesla's Shanghai factory, either. asia.nikkei.com/Business/Compa…
2/ As someone else here posted (regret not to be able to recall who, but counting on others to supply the h/t for me), it's almost surely no accident that this story appeared in @NAR. This is likely a calculated message from Panasonic to $TSLA, and it's not a love note.
3/ Already, the usual $TSLA shills & tools are busy spinning tales about how black is white, and it's Panasonic that is unable to supply all the cells Tesla needs. And, of course, they're simply taking their cues from Elon Musk, who told that tale on the Jan 30 conference call. 
4/ Unfortunately, the Q1 delivery numbers give the game away. $TLSA managed to exhaust, in six weeks, three years of European high-margin Model 3 demand, while US Model 3 demand cratered and Model S and X sales - worldwide - plunged deeply despite drastic price slashing.
5/ So to believe $TSLA's spin, you would have to believe Tesla is now sacrificing automobiles with high gross margins to Powerwalls & Powerpacks, which are very low margin in a heavily commoditized & competitive space.
6/ Russ Mitchell (@russ1mitchell) of @latimes is out with an article about how the Panasonic news is a "gut punch" to $TSLA. It features a body slam from one of $TSLA's most ardent supporters:
7/ This is rock solid, hard-hitting reporting, top to bottom. It's fearless, factual, and pulls no punches. Once again, I want to emphasize how happy I am to have my absurdly inexpensive on-line subscription to @latimes.
8/ Mitchell, as he always does, gives full voice to the $TSLA response:
9/ Remember just last Thursday Musk announced, walking out of the courtroom, that his "around 500k" tweet was "true"? $TSLA hasn't revised its written guidance, though. And Mitchell has just a bit of wry fun with this:
10/ Perhaps in former times, mainstream journalists would have believed what $TSLA told them. But there comes a point when you've been lied to one too many times. @russ1mitchell and @latimes have reached that point.
11/ Mitchell hasn't forgotten when $TSLA flat-out lied to him on a strikingly similar issue, claiming that Panasonic's failure to deliver enough Japan-made cells for the S & X, rather than falling demand, was the cause of S & X sales weakness:
12/ Why is this story huge? The Gigafactory was supposed to be three times its present size, fully-integrated, the key to driving down battery costs, & $TSLA's insuperable advantage. In reality, now that Tesla is done milking subsidies from Nevada, it's Tesla's albatross.
13/ Here's the link. Plunk down a few bucks a month for an on-line subscription. And don't miss any of the great work being done by Mitchell on $TSLA. latimes.com/business/autos…
14/ With permission from the very naughty @TeslaCharts. And yet, who doubts Elon Musk is fuming about this right now?
