The superposition of the epidemic, the price increase of materials, the shortage of chips... In 2021, the automobile industry in the tide of change encountered a historical whirlpool, one after another intriguing stories, there are bitterness and helplessness, but also hardships and emotions.
Tesla's report card is perhaps the most luxurious in the tough auto market in 2021: 936,000 units sold worldwide, an increase of about 87.4% year-on-year, and its market value exceeded the trillion-dollar mark. But on the other hand, Tesla has sued two users in court, which can be called the most "horizontal" car company for users. Between one big and one horizontal, people sigh.
According to media reports: In May 2019, owner Han Chao spent 379,700 yuan to buy a second-hand Tesla Model S. Before buying the car, the sales staff promised that the car had no blisters, no fire, and no structural damage. Later, there were failures such as "stall" and "abnormal braking system", and the vehicle was found to be an accident car after testing. After Han Chao sued, after a total of five hearings in the first and second instances, the court finally ordered Tesla to refund the purchase price of 379,700 yuan to the owner of the car, and compensate 1.1391 million yuan in accordance with the provisions of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, that is, refund one and pay three. However, it didn't take long for Han Chao to be sued by Tesla.
On September 26, 2021, Han Chao published Tesla's Civil Complaint on Weibo, showing that it claimed economic losses and other expenses of 5.05 million yuan from Han Chao. According to the article, Tesla filed four litigation claims: first, to order the defendant to immediately stop the infringing act and immediately delete all the infringing content published on the Sina Weibo platform and all comments and replies related to the infringing content; second, to order Han Chao to apologize to the two plaintiffs on his personal Weibo for 30 days and eliminate the adverse effects; third, to order Han Chao to compensate the second plaintiff for economic losses of 5 million yuan; fourth, to order the defendant to bear the reasonable rights protection expenses of the second plaintiff of 50,000 yuan, with a total claim of 5.05 million yuan.
When the outside world was shocked by Tesla's "claim of 5.05 million yuan" from the owner, the Tesla Model 3 female car advocate lady (Weibo number: freshwater coral) who defended her rights on the roof of the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show Station revealed on Weibo on September 27, 2021 that she was also sued by Tesla for violating its right to reputation, demanding that Ms. Zhang compensate Tesla for direct property losses of 5 million yuan in addition to apologizing for not less than 30 days on Weibo and publicly apologizing in the national media.
Ms. Zhang also said that in addition to the two Tesla lawsuits against users, a number of Tesla owners have also been sued by Tesla for reputation infringement and demand high compensation.
According to financial auto reports, in response to Ms. Zhang's rights protection incident, Tesla vice president Tao Lin said on April 19, 2021: "The recent negatives are all contributed by her", "We have no way to compromise, it is a process that must go through the development of a new product", "Our own research shows that 90% of customers are willing to choose Tesla again", "I think she is also very professional, there should be (people) behind it".
Along with high sales and localization, there are many negative reports such as frequent price cuts and brake failures, and for the product quality problems in the mouths of consumers, Tesla likes to find another way to "win" back face.
According to a number of media reports, including Zhongguancun Online and Financial Investment News, when there are BUGs in the quality or function of the product (such as brake failure, charging spontaneous combustion), and users make reasonable complaints, Tesla not only does not take a positive approach to solve, but habitually throws the pot, and each time the responsibility is attributed to external factors such as improper operation by the user.
According to the Xinhua News Agency client report, Tao Lin said on May 10, 2021: "In the use of vehicles, it is necessary to strengthen consumer education, and it is necessary to cooperate with driving schools and transportation departments to let everyone understand the use of new cars and avoid misoperation in the use of the links." "
The legal level between Tesla and the owner of the car is not its own court to determine, what puzzles the reporter is that the car companies in the tide of change are almost all treating users as the most important resources and cherishing, user operations have also risen to an important development strategy for many car companies, Tesla has been trying to "educate" users in various ways, is the image of its subversive a bit off?