Expect the two German automakers to compete with affluent green-minded car buyers but the bigger question is whether Tesla can steal them away if, as planned, the Silicon Valley automaker comes out with a cheaper, A3-sized version of the Model S sometime in the next couple of years.

FORBES: The Audi A3 Electric Goes Old School To Take On BMW, Tesla

"When you take away somebody's heritage you steal their history - it's wrong and it's devastating for all of us, " says Mr Magnus.

BBC: Durban fishermen cry foul over 'World Cup ban'

In 1984 they used controversial legal maneuvers to steal away voting control from outsiders who'd originally bought into a one-share, one-vote structure.

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The shift was famously used against Ted Williams, who was such a dead-pull hitter that opponents would move their infielders between first and second to steal away line drives and ground balls.

WSJ: The Yankees Battle a Shifting Tide

In 1995 he did a two-year stint managing Komatsu America's Chattanooga, Tennessee plant, building excavators designed to steal business away.

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But yes, some people who have been fair-weather friends, no doubt at those Krug and shepherd's pie parties, will steal away into the night.

BBC: Breakfast with Frost