MUNRO THREAD 1/ If anyone can buy Sandy Munro's #Tesla #Model3 teardown report, why is his ability to do press limited by a contract from an unnamed corporation (as reported by @lorakolodny)?

leandesign.com/pdf/Tesla-3-An…

MUNRO THREAD 2/ Who is the unnamed corporation muzzling Munro? The PDF linked above offers some possibilities: BMW and GM.

The report includes side-by-side analyses of the Model 3 with the BMW i3 and Chevy Bolt.

Might these companies fear head-to-head comparisons with Model 3?

MUNRO THREAD 3/ Another possibility is Siemens. They partnered with Munro to measure noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) and body-in-white (BIW) performance. Though I can't see why Siemens would care if Munro talked to the press.

MUNRO THREAD 4/ In past press releases, Munro has listed the following customers.

MUNRO THREAD 5/ But there's another company: UBS.

In 2017 UBS bought a Chevy Bolt and Munro tore it down for them.

institutionalinvestor.com/article/b15x4w…

MUNRO THREAD 6/ Guess who is one of the most consistently bearish analysts on $TSLA?

UBS's Colin Langham. He has never issued a BUY rating on #Tesla's stock.

MUNRO THREAD 7/ Now look at Colin's ratings on GM. Over seven years of coverage, Colin has issued nothing but BUY ratings for $GM.

MUNRO THREAD 8/ Since UBS payed for the Chevy Bolt that Munro tore down, it's conceivable that they don't like that Munro is using UBS-owned data in his Model 3 report. That might be a legal angle for them to threaten a lawsuit toward Munro.

MUNRO THREAD 9/ It's also clear that UBS has a financial interest in preventing any kind of objective comparison which favors the Tesla Model 3 over the Chevy Bolt.

UBS is also acutely aware that the Model 3 also threatens GM's ICE vehicles as well.

MUNRO THREAD 10/ None of this analysis is conclusive, of course. But it does help lead us into asking better questions that I hope we all pursue.

*UBS's Colin Langan

MUNRO THREAD PS/ Podcast on the UBS Chevy Bolt teardown. h/t @TradrFloridaFIL

blogtalkradio.com/autolineafterh…