(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- Tesla is preparing to take PingWest to court over an article the Chinese tech content provider published on its website labeling the US electric car giant’s Shanghai Gigafactory a ‘giga-sweatshop’ and accusing the firm of sacrificing quality for speed.

“Tesla is doing whatever it can to hit the production goal, including lowering its quality standards,” according to the report released on Dec. 25, citing several current and former Tesla China employees. The “insanely high” output is achieved by working employees into the ground and bending of normal factory standards. Any complaints to management fall on deaf ears, it added.

This article is too outrageous and is beyond imagination, Tao Lin, the vice president of Tesla Global, responded the next day, using the same words that PingWest had used to describe Tesla. The California-based firm will sue, she added.

The “Giga-Sweatshop Meets Corporate Overlords: an Exclusive Look Into How Tesla China Runs Its Shanghai Gigafactory 3” report has created a media storm. Some inconsistencies were immediately noticed. Tesla does not make Model S cars in China, although the article says it does, The Paper reported.

PingWest has since apologized for this mistake. However, as the Beijing-based media firm has already claimed that Tesla’s actions in China are outrageous and beyond imagination, it has no choice but to follow up, it said.

Netizens have been quick to point out that the founder of Tesla rival Xpeng Motors, He Xiaopeng, is a shareholder in PingWest through another company he founded, Guangzhou Dongjing Computer Technology, which holds a 6.69 percent stake in PingWest operator Beijing Pinxi Interactive Technology.

Dongjing Computer was acquired by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding in 2014, said PingWest. Therefore He no longer holds any equity in PingWest, the tech firm said.

Editor: Kim Taylor