SAIC Volkswagen lost the "pin crown" three times, reflecting the "crisis of trust" of consumers behind it

Beijing, January 10 news (reporter Liu Mengyu intern reporter Xu Xinyi) Recently, the reporter of the central broadcasting network auto channel paid attention to consumer complaints, and the "transmission failure" of the SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan L model was frequent, which seriously affected driving safety.

The owner of the car reported that when the SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan L appeared in the gearbox "emergency" sign, although the vehicle could continue to drive, there would be a clear sense of frustration. When the owner found the problem, the vehicle had passed the warranty period, and the 4S shop proposed that the owner should repair it at his own expense and bear the maintenance cost of 20,000 yuan.

The reporter found in the interview that although there are more consumer complaints, the gearbox problem of SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan has not attracted enough attention, whether it is "the product defect of the vehicle itself" or "the problem caused by maintenance", which has become the key point when the owner protects his rights.

Consumer complaints hit "soft nails"

On a third-party platform, SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan L's consumer complaints exceeded 3,000, of which "engine noise", "transmission setback" and "high fuel consumption" became high-frequency words.

A few days ago, the car channel reporter of the Central Broadcasting Network contacted Ms. Pan, the owner of Tiguan L. Ms. Pan purchased the Volkswagen Tiguan L car in October 2017. In January 2021, when Ms. Pan was driving home, the car gearbox suddenly entered a "state of emergency", and at the high-speed ramp, when Ms. Pan stepped on the brakes, the gearbox once again prompted a "state of emergency". "There is a clear sense of frustration in the process of hanging the gear," Ms. Pan said, "which can lead to safety accidents and potential infringements on personal safety."

Ms. Pan then contacted saichiro Volkswagen after-sales, the staff said that Ms. Pan to contact the relevant testing station to issue a car test report, so she contacted the 4S shop, 4S shop said to replace the electromechanical unit, because the car at the time of the incident has passed the warranty period, so Ms. Pan has to pay 20,000 yuan for the maintenance cost, and the 4S shop "can not provide a test report sheet."

Ms. Pan believes that in the process of complaints, SAIC Volkswagen's after-sales service and 4S stores have "delays and prevarication phenomena", and "the attitude is relatively tough", not acknowledging that the transmission failure is the quality problem of the car itself, believing that the situation encountered by Ms. Pan is a case, and proposing that "it may be a problem caused by maintenance".

Since then, Ms. Pan has been complaining about rights protection through various platforms and complaining to the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau through 12345. In the end, the 4S store was pressured to say that it was willing to bear half of the replacement cost. Ms. Pan purchased the maintenance package of the 4S shop and replaced the electromechanical unit free of charge in the package.

The owner, Mr. Chen, has been driving Volkswagen for 18 years. In an interview, Mr. Chen said that savoy-Volkswagen's warranty period has undergone changes from "5 years or 150,000 kilometers (whichever comes first)" to "3 years or 100,000 kilometers (whichever comes first)", generally as long as it is within the warranty period, it can be repaired for free, but out of the warranty period, the 4S store will not only charge maintenance costs, but also "the price is still very high".

Mr. Chen's Volkswagen car friend group also has a Tiguan L owner who encountered the transmission failure problem, and the 4S store also proposed to charge a replacement fee of 10,000 yuan because it "passed the warranty period". As a result, the owner had to find someone to repair in the market, although nearly half of the cost was saved, but it felt very disturbing, "after the car was repaired, it was sold."

On May 14, 2019, the Jiangsu Provincial Market Supervision Bureau, together with the Provincial Consumer Protection Commission, collectively interviewed representatives of 19 automobile manufacturers and exposed 16 high-complaint brands.

Lu Xichun, deputy director and secretary general of the Consumer Protection Commission of Jiangsu Province, pointed out that the pre-sales inspection of some automobile operators before the delivery of vehicles is a formality, and after problems, they only provide "three guarantees" after-sales service on the grounds that the car has been sold, and refuse to bear the responsibility for return or compensate for losses, which is illegal. The premise of the application of the "three guarantees" of automobiles is that the quality of the vehicle is qualified when delivered to consumers, and the unqualified automobile products delivered shall be returned and replaced in accordance with the law, and the "three guarantees" provisions of the automobile shall not be distorted to reduce their statutory responsibilities.

A reporter from the Automobile Channel of the Central Broadcasting Network interviewed Hao Jianxun, a practicing lawyer at Beijing Zhongtong Cecheng Law Firm, on this issue. Hao Jianxun believes that from a legal point of view, such problems require quality inspection agencies to test whether the relevant auto parts meet national standards to determine whether the design of the car itself is defective.

"If it is determined that the car itself is defective, then this type of situation is a product quality problem, regardless of whether its warranty is in the 'three guarantees' period, whether it is found by the manufacturer itself or a consumer complaint, or the market supervision department has the right to request a car recall." Relevant enterprises shall also pay consumer-related losses in accordance with the law. Consumers can contact the 4S store, that is, the seller to claim compensation, if the seller can not smoothly contact the producer, you need to first assume responsibility for compensation, and then contact the manufacturer for recovery. Hao Jianxun said.

Recalls are not a "panacea"

According to the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, since December 2018, SAIC Volkswagen has had a total of 6 recalls, including Tiguan, Tiguan L, Tuan, Tuon, Passat, Octavia, Langyi, Haorui and other models, mainly involving "engine control unit software matching", "transmission electromechanical unit housing", "left steering tie rod connection nut tightening torque is insufficient", "electronic components inside the airbag electronic control unit" "water may enter the skylight ambience light module and cause short circuits, increasing the risk of fire" in total, more than 410,000 vehicles were recalled.

Among them, in 2018 and 2019, SAIC Volkswagen recalled Tiguan L and Tiguan models for two consecutive years, including "some domestically produced 2016-2018 Tiguan L cars produced between October 26, 2016 and July 27, 2018", a total of 303386 vehicles; "Tiguan 2015 1.8TSI Hand-contained Comfort Edition" produced between July 21, 2014 and September 28, 2017, a total of 89,134 vehicles. It accounts for more than 90% of the total number of SAIC Volkswagen recalls since December 2018.

Regarding the reason for the recall, the official statement is as follows, on December 29, 2018, some vehicles within the scope of the recall, "water may enter the sunroof atmosphere light module and cause a short circuit, increasing the risk of fire, there is a safety hazard." Some vehicles covered by the recall on December 19, 2019, "may malfunction the electronic components inside the electronic control unit of the airbag due to reasons manufactured by the supplier, which in extreme cases may lead to the unexpected deployment or activation of the front occupant airbag and belt pretensioner, and may also result in the deactivation of the front occupant airbag and the belt pretensioner, thereby increasing the risk of accident or injury to the vehicle, and there is a safety hazard".

The Tiguan family deservedly became the "champion" of SAIC Volkswagen's recall list. Curiously, however, there is little recall information about complaints about obvious transmission issues. In this regard, the third-party platform experts analyzed: "Because of the huge amount of ownership, the number of recalls is obviously insufficient."

(Screenshot of third-party platform, issued by CCTV)

SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan also had highlight moments. Once upon a time, it was hailed as "the model model of high-end smart SUVs", ranking first in the "China Automotive User Satisfaction Evaluation (CACSI) segment" and "topping the Chinese passenger car retention ratio segment".

In June 2019, SAIC Volkswagen Tiguan achieved a monthly sales of 336.97 million units, ranking first among domestic joint venture SUV models at that time (this achievement has not been matched so far). However, according to industry analysts, the main reason for the sharp rise in sales at that time was "Qingguo five model inventory", "Tiguan terminal discount up to about 80,000 yuan, Tiguan L the highest discount of about 110,000 yuan".

According to the data of the Association, affected by the epidemic in early 2020, Tiguan sales plummeted to 3,456 units in February (down 72.8% year-on-year), and recovered to a level of more than 10,000 vehicles per month in May. However, in the case of the overall trend of the automobile market in 2021, as the star model of SAIC Volkswagen, Tiguan has not ushered in a greater rebound. In November 2021, Tiguan sold only 14,387 units, down 22.7% year-on-year, ranking tenth in the monthly sales ranking of SUV models, less than half of the sales volume of the first place.

From the past "can not buy the price increase", to now "price reduction and loss of the market", saicutical Volkswagen Tiguan consumer "trust crisis" can not be described as not serious.

However, SAIC Volkswagen was not prepared for this.

On April 8, 2021, the Consumer Protection Commission of Zhejiang Province interviewed 13 car companies, and the main complaints of "Shanghai Volkswagen" involved "maintenance, body accessories and electrical appliances, body, financial loans", etc., and its complaint resolution rate of 71% was at the bottom among the head car brand.

According to the "Report on the Evaluation of Consumer Satisfaction in 20 Brand Car 4S Stores Service" released by the China Consumer Association on November 30, 2020, "the occurrence of transmissions, noise/abnormal noise, front and rear axles, brake systems and clutches has a greater negative impact on automotive quality satisfaction." ”

If we continue to ignore the voices of consumers, I am afraid that not only Tiguan, but also the sales of other models of SAIC Volkswagen will be greatly affected.

Ace models have been trapped in the "collision gate"

In recent years, in the increasingly fierce market competition, SAIC Volkswagen not only has no halo, but even can be described as something that is not going well. One of the most representative events is SAIC Volkswagen's "pioneering work of SUV strategy" model Tiguan and "veteran German B-class sedan" model Passat, both of which are caught in the "collision gate".

In December 2016, the new generation of Tiguan debuted, and SAIC Volkswagen named it "Tiguan L". In 2018, Tiguan L participated in the China Insurance Auto Safety Index (C-IASI) model evaluation. Tiguan L performed poorly in both 25% bias collisions and side collisions, with 25% bias collisions receiving the lowest "P" (poor difference) worst rating. This means that Tiguan L may have a serious vehicle deformation in the accident, causing secondary injuries to the owner.

After more than a year, in 2019, the China Insurance Auto Safety Index (C-IASI) announced the safety crash test results of SAIC Volkswagen Passat's 2019 model, of which the front 25% bias crash test set the worst record of C-IASI, and the A column had a bend fracture of nearly 90 degrees, resulting in roof deformation.

Industry insiders believe that the crash test results may have a certain relationship with SAIC Volkswagen's "allocation reduction" move to control costs. It is said that the domestic Tiguan L has reduced the low-equipped side air curtain and also reduced the amount of body thermoformed steel. According to media reports, SAIC Volkswagen insiders told reporters that such a "reduction" is a decision made by SAIC Volkswagen's internal engineers through data calculations. But can SAIC Volkswagen's engineers be held accountable for key decisions at the top?

In 2020, Jia Mingdi, then general manager of SAIC Volkswagen Sales Co., Ltd., responded for the first time in a media interview that "the proportion of 25% bias collisions accounts for only 1% of the case statistics of China's in-depth investigation of traffic accidents", arguing that the Passat's 25% bias collisions are "magnified".

However, according to the statistics of relevant agencies, in China, 25% of the positive bias collision accidents accounted for 17.2% of the frontal collision accidents, and the resulting death accounted for 20.8% of the total number of frontal collision accidents, which is "one of the main safety accident scenarios".

According to the interim report of SAIC Motor in 2021, the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first half of the year was 13.314 billion yuan, of which the net profit of SAIC Volkswagen was 2.885 billion yuan. SAIC Volkswagen's profits account for more than 21% of SAIC's.

People can't help but ask, as the "profit cow" of SAIC Group, how far does SAIC Volkswagen have to go on the road of cost control? When the profit chase and product quality are placed at both ends of the balance, and constantly increase the weight on the profit side, the result is actually doomed.

Recently, the 2021 car company report card has been released. SAIC Volkswagen sold 1.242 million units in the whole year, down 17.50% year-on-year. Faw-Volkswagen's latest sales figures show that its annual sales volume will exceed 1.8 million units in 2021, surpassing SAIC-Volkswagen again.

Today, the pattern of "north and south masses" has changed. SAIC Volkswagen has lost the "sales crown" in the passenger car market for three consecutive years, becoming the brand with the largest annual sales decline under SAIC Group. In 2022, can SAIC Volkswagen resolve its pain and return to the "position of the king"?