For every three Porsches sold worldwide, one is in China. Out of trust in the brand, some domestic Porsche owners accepted the manufacturer's plan to delay the reloading of some configurations when they bought the car, which knew that after picking up the car, Porsche unilaterally "repented" and told the owner that it was no longer reloaded. As a result, hundreds of Porsche owners began to fiercely defend their rights, the voice of compensation occupied Weibo, and "brushed the screen" at the Porsche new car launch. Porsche is facing its largest crisis of trust since entering China.
Porsche suffered the largest crisis of trust since entering China.
On April 30, Porsche officially issued a "letter to the owner", saying that due to the shortage of chips, some vehicles in the short term replaced the steering column with electric adjustment function with manual adjustment steering column, and cancelled the plan for later reloading.
This is the first time that activist car owners have confirmed the reduction from an official Porsche statement. Some rights protection car owners told Caijing Tianxia Weekly that when they bought a car, Porsche sales staff said that due to insufficient supply of chips, the vehicle was temporarily reduced to a "manual steering column", and promised to install an "electric steering column" for the owner for free. However, after several months of buying a car, some car owners suddenly heard that they were not reloaded, and took the initiative to inquire from the 4S store to confirm the information. For these Porsche luxury cars priced at more than one million yuan, only 2300 yuan vouchers are provided as compensation after the official reduction.
"It's been more than half a year since this happened, and Porsche has only issued a statement now, which is really a bit of a slap in the face." A car owner in the field of rights protection told the Weekly Magazine of Finance and Economics.
On April 27, a large number of car owners poured into the live broadcast of Porsche's new car listing, and the rights protection information requiring Porsche to respond positively was screened in the live broadcast. In the view of some rights protection car owners, if it were not for these fierce behaviors, car owners would probably not even wait for a public explanation. "Finance and Economics" weekly learned that the number of people in some Porsche rights protection groups has exceeded 500.
"At present, we have learned that nearly 30,000 vehicles have been produced and delivered to customers in China that have been affected by this incident alone." Li Zhi, a group leader of a Porsche rights protection group, told Caijing Tianxia Weekly, "The configuration list is something that has been written, and Porsche unilaterally cancels it, I think this is no longer a matter of attitude, suspected of deceiving consumers." ”
Porsche live broadcast, rights protection information brush screen
Porsche may not have expected that its two eye-catching luxury cars, the Taycan GTS and the Taycan Cross Turismo, would be "screwed" by a group of activist owners who made their Asian debut and pre-sale online launches.
On the evening of April 27, in the Porsche live broadcast conference, a large number of rights owners with the ID of "Porsche return my electronic steering column", "Porsche grabbed my electric steering wheel" and "robber Porsche defrauded customers" poured in, and even once swiped the screen. At the time, about 17,000 people were watching the livestream. Subsequently, the matter began to ferment rapidly on the Internet.
(Image source: Sina Auto Weibo)
A Porsche rights defender told Caijing Weekly that the live broadcast gifts he spent money to improve the attention of rights protection information have not yet been brushed, and Porsche has ended this live broadcast early.
In fact, this time, the owner's rights protection began a few days ago.
"This is a kind of banditry in disguise." On April 24, a Porsche owner complained about Porsche on the Black Cat complaint website, saying that he spent nearly 1.29 million yuan last December to buy a Porsche Cayenne, "when the 4S shop promised that the missing electronic steering column on the car would be filled later." Because this configuration is the base configuration included in the price, it is now unilaterally no longer provided for reloading. ”
Under the collective complaint of the owner, more and more rights protection car owners have gathered, and the number of collective complaints has reached 93, and this number is still increasing.
Zhang Xin is a Porsche owner in Guangzhou. On December 11, 2021, he ordered 22 Macan models at the Porsche Centre in Panyu District, Guangzhou, with 14 optional power seats with power steering wheels and other configurations.
"On March 30, I learned online that Porsche unilaterally cancelled the steering column of the electric steering wheel, and Porsche official and Porsche Center Panyu never informed me in advance, until I went to ask for confirmation, saying that it would never be configured again." Zhang Xin said that after his multiple confirmations, the missing electronic steering column accessory needed 38,500 yuan to install outside the store.
"I have three demands, one is to ask Porsche to install the original electric adjustment steering wheel on my car as promised by the contract; the second is to compensate for the installation fee; the third is to return the car and refund the deposit according to the contract." Zhang Xin said, "I refused to use the 2300 yuan consumption voucher to perfunctory."
"Finance World" weekly learned that Porsche's reduction of electronic steering columns this time involves all models, including 911, Taycan, Paramela, but the highest proportion is Macan and Cayenne.
"Porsche's unilateral cancellation is a bit of a suspicion of deceiving consumers." Li Zhi, the owner of the Porsche rights protection group, told the "Finance and Economics World" weekly that the current rights protection group he belongs to has expanded from the initial five or six people to nearly 500 people. According to Li Zhi, among the affected Porsche vehicles in China, nearly 30,000 have been delivered to customers alone.
What makes car owners not understand is that buying a car now is like "opening a blind box". "Some owners of newly proposed cars are equipped with electronic steering columns, but some owners are changed to manual steering columns without knowing it." Some consumers said that Porsche's foreign official website had marked that "due to the lack of chips temporarily provided manual steering column", but it was not mentioned in the Chinese official website.
The Weekly Magazine of Finance and Economics asked the Porsche China official in the form of an email on the above issues, but as of press time, there has been no response.
According to Li Zhi's introduction, the current unified plan of Porsche to protect the owners of the rights is to compensate for the voucher of 2300 yuan, and this voucher can only buy some products in the 4S store. For example, umbrellas, water glasses, hats, etc.
In addition, according to the owner of the rights protection car, in addition to the public compensation, some Porsche dealers will "distribute according to the noise", "if you make a fuss, you will give more compensation, such as 10,000 yuan vouchers; but the consumers who do not make trouble are now compensating 3500 vouchers." ”
Compared with Porsche's compensation plan, there are three kinds of demands for car owners, one is that Porsche recalls this batch of vehicles, uniformly arranges to install electronic steering columns in the 4S shop, and promises to extend the warranty time; the second is to return the car; the third is to return the reloaded cash.
However, these appeals were rejected by the 4S store.
"The 4S shop made it clear to the owner that it was impossible to reload it later, and it was not willing to return the car." Li Zhi told the "Finance and Economics" weekly that some 4S stores proposed to let the car be sold to the 4S store according to the price of second-hand cars, which in his view is even more unacceptable. "A Porsche has just been opened for half a year, and it has been damaged by more than 100,000 and 200,000 yuan ."
Since Porsche belongs to the Volkswagen Group, many car owners believe that porsche and Volkswagen's many spare parts can be used universally, and if they pay for a Volkswagen part, it will cost about 18,000-20,000. However, if Porsche certified spare parts are used, it will cost about 30,000 to 40,000 yuan to modify the electronic steering column. In addition to the price factor, self-modification also has warranty risks that may lead to depreciation of the vehicle.
"I asked the owners of several refit shops, and some of them said they didn't want to take over the business. Because the reloading of the steering column requires the connection of airbags and control systems, there are potential safety hazards during the retrofitting process. Li Zhi explained, "If you modify it privately, the 4S shop will refuse to provide protection for the re-vehicle, and the residual value of the modified car will be lower." ”
For the relevant demands of rights protection car owners, on April 29, industry insiders familiar with consumer rights protection told Caijing Tianxia Weekly that the recall refers to a batch design defect, and the recall procedure will be initiated if it directly affects the safety of users. Whether to solve this problem in the form of a recall depends on the relevant departments to judge.
In the eyes of industry insiders, porsche's unilateral change of the manual steering column is not necessarily a direct impact on the design defects of safe vehicles. Without affecting the safety of the vehicle, it is not a mandatory recall and the solution is at Porsche's sole discretion.
"The core point of the owner's rights protection is that Porsche's public promise on reloading has not been fulfilled, making the owner feel that he has been fooled by Porsche." Industry insiders believe that "it is no longer a matter of compensation of 2300 yuan, the key problem is that consumers cannot accept this deception, and consumers have not been properly respected in this wave of Porsche operations." As a Porsche, it is necessary to keep your promises in good faith. If he promises but can't do it, it means that he didn't think it through when he promised, then all the consequences have to be borne by Porsche. ”
Promises were not kept, and Porsche was accused of sales fraud
On April 30, Porsche China released a letter to owners in response to some of the model configuration adjustments.
In the owner's letter, Porsche admitted that some vehicles had replaced the steering column with electric adjustment with a manual adjustment column and cancelled the later recovery replacement plan.
"Many car owners are confused because they don't know the underlying reasons for this adjustment. At the same time, the brand was also questioned because of the disapproval of follow-up measures and programs. Porsche said.
Porsche's explanation is that since 2020, the continued severe shortage of semiconductor production capacity around the world has led to production bottlenecks in the automotive industry. Although Porsche officials have been actively responding, individual accessories of some models have been seriously affected, including the steering column with electric adjustment function.
In the second half of 2021, Porsche officials learned from headquarters that in order to ensure the timely delivery of vehicles, the steering column equipped with electric adjustment function of some models was replaced by a manually adjusted steering column to ensure that the steering wheel position adjustment function could still be realized after the delivery of the vehicle. At the same time, it is planned to restore this function through modifications after the shortage of related chips has eased. Porsche China immediately informed the relevant customers of this solution through authorized Porsche Centres nationwide.
The open letter also shows that Porsche headquarters is still unable to estimate the arrival of chips related to the electric adjustment function. This means that the previous recovery and replacement plan will leave customers in constant uncertainty and indefinite waiting. "As a result, at the end of the first quarter of this year, Porsche headquarters was forced to decide to cancel the resumption of the replacement plan for steering columns with electric adjustment functions. Porsche China immediately authorized Porsche Centres across the country to proactively inform and communicate with relevant customers. ”
But activist car owners apparently didn't buy it, believing the letter to have no real significance.
"The facts stated here are not accurate. For example, they say 'actively communicate with customers', until today, many car owners do not know that their steering wheel is manual, and even customers who order cars these days do not know that their steering wheel is changed from automatic to manual. In the end, I went to some social platforms to find out the truth, and I was very disappointed. Li Zhi told The Weekly Magazine.
Some car owners believe that in the entire sales and delivery process or in the process of production, Porsche has not communicated with customers in advance, and the entire sales process has been suspected of fraud.
The letter merely glorified the problem of its own unilateral reduction and did not propose a specific solution. Global car companies are affected, why other car companies have not proposed unilateral reduction, nor discriminating against Chinese consumers, including many brands in the Volkswagen Group with Porsche, porsche is still arrogant. Li Zhi said.
A Porsche owner in Beijing told Caijing Tianxia Weekly that the Porsche Center under the direct jurisdiction of Porsche Germany and Porsche China in Beijing did not pay attention to the owner's three-point appeal, only according to their provisions of compensation of a few thousand yuan, and now only dealers have room for discussion.
"Now they can't unify a solution internally, which shows that they have certain problems in internal management." Whether it is a German direct management or a Chinese direct management or a dealer group, they are facing the Chinese market, there should be a unified standard, otherwise, this is unfair to consumers, and it is also a great damage to the corporate image. Industry insiders said.
(Source: Visual China)
Porsche rolls over in the biggest market
Will this Porsche rights protection storm become an inflection point in the Chinese market? You know, China has become the largest single market for the Porsche brand in the world for 7 consecutive years.
Porsche's global car sales exceeded 300,000 units for the first time in 2021, an increase of 11% year-on-year. According to the official financial report, Porsche revenue climbed to 33.1 billion euros (equivalent to about 232.7 billion yuan), an increase of 15% year-on-year, sales profit of 5.3 billion euros (equivalent to about 37.2 billion yuan), an increase of 27% year-on-year, and net cash flow increased by 1.5 billion euros to 3.7 billion euros. As a result, Porsche achieved a 16% return on sales in FY2021.
For such a profitable performance, Porsche executives can not hide their joy. "We will remain the same strategic goal for many years, which is to achieve a return on sales of at least 15% per year over the long term." At the earnings briefing in March, Porsche CFO Maxger stressed that "the task force has taken initial steps to safeguard revenue and want to ensure that the company continues to meet high-yield requirements." Of course, the ultimate extent to which this goal is achieved depends on many external challenges that are not controlled by human beings. ”
In addition, Porsche executives claim to have created all the favorable conditions for a successful business model. "Strategically, operationally and financially, Porsche is in a fantastic position."
But in the current situation, this excellent state has obviously faded a lot.
"Porsche's reluctance to reload is to save costs and is linked to Porsche's recent strategy of pursuing a high return on sales." A Porsche owner told the "Finance World" weekly that in the case of global core shortage and increase in labor costs in German factories, Porsche's sales have increased without decreasing, and the profit margin has increased faster than his income, and the core purpose of its allocation reduction is very obvious.
In 2021, Porsche delivered 95,700 units in the Chinese market, an increase of 8% year-on-year and 31.7% of its global sales. In the Chinese market, the Macan and Cayenne SUVs are the best-selling models, with sales of more than 30,000 units, and the sedan Panamera accounts for more than half of global sales in the Chinese market.
On February 22 this year, Volkswagen officially confirmed that Porsche will be listed independently, and promised to provide the market with an update and timetable on the listing at the end of the summer. This means that Porsche may be able to complete an IPO as soon as this year. If Porsche were listed separately, it would be valued between US$51 billion (about 323.977 billion yuan) and US$101 billion (about 641.602 billion yuan).
Such a large piece of cake, everyone will be moved.
Industry analysts believe that if Porsche can be successfully listed, it will be a record IPO of volkswagen group, and volkswagen group will also raise a considerable amount of money to promote electrification transformation. From the current point of view, Porsche's electrification transformation has achieved initial success, its pure electric Porsche sports car Taycan new car delivery volume totaled 41296 units, sales have doubled compared with last year, the sales of this new energy vehicle for the first time more than Porsche "soul" model 911.
But now, the Taycan Cross Turismo new product launch, which was given high hopes by Porsche, has encountered the "largest market" of Chinese car owners online rights protection.
"From the perspective of Porsche, we must first pay attention to this car owner rights protection incident. Because Porsche's market brand image is not easy to build, not to mention that Porsche is still a well-known luxury car brand. Industry insiders told Caijing Weekly, "China is Porsche's largest market, in this case Porsche should cherish its feathers, to be cautious about everything." ”
(Zhang Xin and Li Zhi are pseudonyms in the text)
Written by / Wang Daye
Edited / Mao Shiyang