On April 22, the China Consumers Association released the Annual Report on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in China (2021). The "Annual Report" pointed out that important achievements have been made in the governance of consumer infringement in key areas in 2021, but related issues cannot be ignored, and it is still necessary to improve the intensity and level of governance in areas where consumer infringement problems are more frequent or have become hot events in public opinion.
In the "new energy intelligent vehicle consumption triggers rights protection", the following aspects are mainly manifested: First, the safety of automobiles, such as sudden acceleration, flameout, oil leakage, engine noise, brake steering failure, etc. The existence of these problems shows that relevant producers and operators need to continuously enhance their awareness of quality and safety responsibility and quality integrity and self-discipline, and promote the continuous improvement of product and service quality.
Second, there are many new problems in the consumption disputes of new energy intelligent vehicles, and there are difficulties in safeguarding rights. For example, there are problems such as driving interruption, mileage shrinkage, auxiliary automatic driving system failure, battery charging failure and other disputes to varying degrees. On April 19, 2021, a video of a car owner defending his rights on the roof of a Tesla booth at the Shanghai Auto Show was widely disseminated on the Internet, and the relevant person in charge of Tesla Company caused controversy. With the development of the situation, the State Administration of Market Regulation, the China Consumers Association and other relevant departments have spoken out one after another to respond to public concerns. The phenomenon of rights protection in auto shows has appeared repeatedly, reflecting that consumers still have pain points, difficulties and blockages in the field of automobiles, especially in the field of intelligent and connected vehicles.
Event Review: On April 19, 2021, at the 19th Shanghai International Auto Show Media Day, a woman wearing a white T-shirt with "brake failure" stood on the roof of a Tesla exhibition car and shouted "Tesla brake failure", the scene was chaotic, and finally the woman was carried away from the scene. That night, Tesla issued a public apology, apologizing for failing to solve the owner's problem in time. Tesla wrote in the article that it respects and firmly obeys the decisions of relevant government departments, respects consumers, abides by laws and regulations, and resolutely and firmly cooperates with all investigations of relevant government departments. Tesla has set up a special processing team to do its best to meet the demands of car owners and strive to satisfy car owners.
With the development of the situation, the State Administration of Market Regulation, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the China Consumer Association and other relevant departments have spoken out about this incident one after another. At that time, the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a comment tesla late-night apology: compared with the previous statements, Tesla finally has some sincere and humble appearance. The Chinese market welcomes companies to invest and develop, but all companies are treated equally: they must comply with Chinese laws and regulations, market rules, and respect the rights and interests of consumers. In addition, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV and other official media also made relevant comments. CCTV news officials said that Tesla finally apologized, but if it is not public pressure, how long will it take for the "uncompromising" Tesla to apologize? The truth remains to be investigated, but this is not the first time Tesla has been on the cusp of a rights defense incident. If "making things bigger" can solve the problem, then neither consumers nor manufacturers can be the winner. What Tesla really "leverages" is not the rights defenders, but the quality of its own car, and what neither side should compromise should also be the quality of the vehicle.
Tesla has responded and is willing to cooperate fully, providing the original data of the vehicle half an hour before the incident to a third-party appraisal agency or a government-designated technology regulatory department or the consumer himself. However, in the view of the female owner of the rights protection, the data provided by Tesla is incomplete and lacks key projects, resulting in the accident identification cannot be carried out smoothly, and until now, there has been no breakthrough in the incident. Of course, in the past month, female car owners have also replied to data and identification issues, while Tesla has been silent in responding to the data questions of rights protection owners.
Third, the second-hand car sales information is inconsistent with the actual situation, and the quality problems of the car after the transaction. Operators delay in performing or do not fulfill after-sales service commitments, maintenance efficiency is low, the effect is poor, the same fault multiple maintenance can not solve the problem, consumers frequently go back and forth to the 4S store, time-consuming and laborious. Fourth, the price increase in addition to the clear price can be picked up, which has become the "unspoken rule" of some high-end and "tight" models. However, the dealer will not appear in the sales agreement with the word "mark-up", will not issue an invoice to the consumer after the mark-up, or stipulate that the mark-up part needs to pay additional money to supplement the invoice tax point. The existence of the problem of price plus indicates that the relevant supply methods are extensive and the structure is not entirely reasonable, and it is impossible to accurately match and fully meet the diversified needs of consumers. At the same time, it also shows that the cost of violating the law is still relatively low, and it is difficult to completely suppress the impulse to violate the law.
The China Consumer Association believes that the phenomenon of auto show rights protection mainly reflects three problems: First, there are still pain points, difficulties and blockages in consumer rights protection in the automotive field, especially in the field of intelligent and connected vehicles; second, in the face of consumer rights protection, car companies should give consumers a reasonable explanation in a timely manner, respond to public opinion concerns, and improper responses and disposal will often further aggravate the contradiction between enterprises and consumers; third, the repeated occurrence of auto show rights protection incidents affects the public opinion image of the automotive industry, which is not conducive to the high-quality development of the auto industry. In this regard, on the one hand, car companies should strictly control safety to ensure the safety of vehicle use and consumer rights, and at the same time, they must do a good job in after-sales service, understand consumer rights protection demands, and give practical and effective solutions. On the other hand, relevant departments and consumer associations at all levels should further smooth the channels for consumer complaints and guide consumers to protect their rights and interests through reasonable and legal means and legal channels.
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