In response to the recent incident of car owners' rights protection caused by the reduction of allocation, on the 30th, Porsche China issued a "Letter from Porsche China to the Owner", apologizing to the owner and saying that it has set up a special working group and hopes to find a solution as soon as possible.
However, in the face of the official thousand-word response, netizens did not buy it, they said that "saying it is equal to not saying", and some ridiculed "fortunately can't afford to buy a Porsche, otherwise it would be more annoying"... What the hell is going on?
A large number of car owners rushed into the live broadcast room to defend their rights!
Why did Porsche get angry?
On April 27, the new Porsche's first pure electric crossover multi-purpose vehicle (CUV), the Taycan Cross Turismo, was launched live in China. But in the live broadcast room, what attracts more attention than the new car is the influx of a large number of rights protection car owners.
Because the comment function was not turned on in the live broadcast, these owners have changed their names to "Porsche suspected of sales fraud", "Porsche also gave me electric steering column" and other names, and relayed the screen by swiping gifts.
It is understood that the incident originated from a number of car owners complaining that the Porsche they ordered was officially reduced for no reason.
When buying a car, Porsche promised to temporarily reduce the vehicle to a manual steering column due to insufficient chip supply, and then upgrade it to an electric steering column free of charge. However, after the consumer picked up the car, Porsche did not honor the original free upgrade plan, and only provided a voucher of 2300 yuan as compensation. The cost of installing electronic steering in 4S stores is as high as 30,000 yuan.
Consumers cannot accept this. "I can't believe that such a big luxury car brand can openly play a rogue!" One Panamera owner said so.
In addition, according to China News Weekly, Porsche has accumulated a total of 135 complaints on the black cat complaint platform, of which 97 have appeared in the last 30 days. The number of car owners who have lodged collective complaints against Porsche has reached 86.
According to a number of Porsche owners, there are currently hundreds of people in the rights protection group, and porsche sales staff have proposed more than 20,000 new cars involved in the above problems when communicating with the 12315 staff, including Cayenne, Taycan, Paramela, and a small number of Macan. Except for the Macan, which is priced at 500,000 or 600,000 yuan, the other models are priced at more than one million yuan.
It is worth mentioning that Porsche's promise to upgrade the electric steering column for free afterwards was to sign an official document with some customers. The letter stated that Porsche guaranteed to work with suppliers to expedite the procurement of the required parts. Once the purchase is complete, the electric steering column can be installed, and Porsche will immediately notify the owner to carry out the free retrofitting.
However, the notification letter for the cancellation of the free reload service came unexpectedly. In the notification letter, Porsche said that due to the unknown time to solve the problem of parts shortage, the vehicle can only be equipped with manual adjustment steering column. In response to this matter, Porsche will provide a goodwill compensation of 2300 yuan voucher.
This makes many car owners very annoyed. And some car owners broke the news that after confirming with the 4S store personnel, the scope of use of the compensated 2300 yuan voucher is only after-sales. The owner said that it takes about 30,000 yuan to restore the configuration of the electric steering wheel first, and the second 2300 yuan voucher can only be used for after-sales maintenance and other consumption deductions. "This is a plan to send beggars, and 'goodwill', who is disgusting?"
In addition, what makes domestic car owners dissatisfied is that Porsche has clearly marked that it will temporarily provide manual steering columns due to the lack of chips, and there is no mention on the domestic official website, which is suspected of deliberately concealing the owner.
On the black cat complaint, one car owner mentioned that he ordered a Cayenne at the Porsche 4S store in Cixi in September 2021. In March 2022, he learned online that the vehicle had been replaced by a global chip shortage and that the electric steering column (i.e. the electricly adjustable steering wheel) had been changed to a manual steering wheel. After confirming with the 400 hotline, I asked the 4S store, and after repeated urging, I was told that the manufacturer cancelled the accessory and changed it to compensate the store voucher of 2300 yuan, which was rejected by him and asked the 4S store to continue to give feedback to Porsche.
Porsche apologizes urgently! Netizens are even angrier
In this regard, on April 30, the Porsche Press Center issued a letter from Porsche China to the owner, apologizing to the owner for the reduction of the electric steering column.
Porsche China said that the global shortage of semiconductor capacity is still very serious. The continued COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the widespread spread of the Opmi kerong virus, has exacerbated the situation. After much coordination, Porsche headquarters is still unable to estimate the arrival time of the 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.
Therefore, 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 the steering column with electric adjustment function. Porsche China immediately authorized Porsche Centres across the country to proactively inform and communicate with relevant customers.
Porsche expressed its understanding of the disappointment of the affected customers with this adjustment and the mood to express their opinions. To this end, a task force has been quickly set up, led by Porsche Headquarters and Porsche China, to jointly study all the possibilities with the relevant suppliers, hoping to find a solution as soon as possible.
In addition, Porsche said that since March this year, the sudden recurrence of the epidemic in China and related prevention and control measures, as well as the epidemic that has continued overseas to this day, have increased the difficulty of communication and coordination. I hope to get the understanding of customers to give more time to try to find a solution.
For Porsche's response, netizens do not seem to buy it, have said that "said is equal to did not say", some think that Porsche domestic and foreign standards are not the same, "foreign refund of 1200 US dollars, domestic 2300 vouchers are really drunk"; and some ridicule "fortunately can not afford to buy Porsche, otherwise more annoying"...
Porsche's largest single market in the world is in China
Porsche official data shows that in 2021, Porsche delivered 301915 vehicles worldwide, of which Porsche delivered 95,671 vehicles in the Chinese market in 2021, an increase of 8% year-on-year, becoming the world's largest single market for the Porsche brand for 7 consecutive years.
In terms of specific models, SUV models continue to be the best-selling models in the Chinese market, with the delivery of new cars in the luxury sedan Panamera up 26% year-on-year, while sales in the Chinese market account for more than half of the total global Panamera sales. The influence of the two-door sports car in the young consumer group is also increasing, and the legendary sports car 911 has increased by 67% year-on-year, achieving double-digit growth for two consecutive years. The mid-engined sports car 718 continues its leadership position in the segment with a market share of 74%. In addition, Porsche's first pure electric sports car, the Taycan, has now launched four spin-off models in China and set a record of 7,315 units delivered in 2021.
By the end of 2021, Porsche will have 140 sales outlets in China. In terms of financial business and changing car business, Porsche financial services contracts signed more than 47,000 in 2021, an increase of 16% year-on-year, financial services market penetration of more than 50%, an increase of 3 percentage points over 2020; Porsche approved the transaction volume of changing cars reached 7501 units, an increase of 54% year-on-year, equivalent to 6 times that of 2016. Among them, 2314 yiped cars were traded as online orders, accounting for more than 30% of the total retail sales.
According to the latest data, in the first quarter of 2022, Porsche delivered 68,426 vehicles worldwide, of which 17,685 were delivered in the Chinese market, although it fell by 20% year-on-year, but it still ranked first in the world's single market.
At the beginning of this year, Hurun Report released the "2022 Hurun Zhishang Premium - China High-net-worth Group Brand Tendency Report", pointing out that the consumption scale of China's high-end market increased by 2% to 1.73 trillion yuan, and in the most favored car brands for high-net-worth people, Porsche also won the first place in the most favored car and sports car brands.
Just announced an independent listing: a "win-win" for the Porsche Piech family?
Just in February this year, the Volkswagen Group is planning to list its "cash cow" Porsche brand independently.
The plan was finally approved by the Supervisory Board of volkswagen group on February 24 and February 25, respectively, local time, and confirmed by Arno Antlitz, director of volkswagen group finance.
Rumors about volkswagen group plans to list the Porsche brand independently have actually spread in the industry as early as the end of last year. However, the official affirmation from the Volkswagen Group was delayed until February 22, before it was confirmed by wolf castle through a press announcement.
According to the announcement, Porsche's plan to list independently is not only "ripe for decision-making", but volkswagen group has reached a framework agreement with Porsche Holdings on specific details.
It is worth noting that Porsche SE has no direct connection with Porsche AG, the car brand owned by the Volkswagen Group.
Porsche Holdings, as a simple holding company, is controlled by the Porsche-Pierch family and owns 53% of the voting rights of the Volkswagen Group through a large number of shares. Porsche Motors, which was founded by the Porsche family, was controlled by the Volkswagen Group as early as 2012.
In addition, the Government of the German state of Lower Saxony, where Volkswagen's headquarters is located, and the Qatar Sovereign Fund are the second and third largest shareholders of volkswagen group, respectively.
Ten years ago, Porsche Cars and volkswagen group "extreme home change" operation, although the Porsche-Pierch family controlled the Volkswagen group, but the family also lost the ancestral inheritance left by Porsche to its descendants.
According to German media reports a decade ago, Porsche patriarch Wolfgang Porsche gave his final speech at the last meeting of the supervisory board before Porsche Motors was swallowed by Volkswagen: "The Porsche brand is still alive, and it will grow stronger with Volkswagen." Then there was an old tear on her face.
Since then, holding the ancestral inheritance in his hands again has become the long-cherished wish of the 78-year-old patriarch.
According to the framework agreement between the Volkswagen Group and Porsche Holdings, Volkswagen will release 25% of the shares of Porsche Automobile Company, of which common shares and preferred shares account for half of each. The Porsche-Pierch family, as the majority shareholder of the Volkswagen Group, has the right of first refusal to purchase shares in Porsche Motors. The remaining three-quarters stake in Porsche Cars will still be held by the Volkswagen Group.
According to estimates from the German press and within the Frankfurt investment banking industry, the Porsche-Pierch family plans to eat the vast majority of its common stock, while preferred stock will be open to public investors. At that time, the Porsche-Pierch family will regain a minority stake in the veto power over Porsche Motors.
In addition, porsche cars, which are independently listed, will also establish an independent supervisory board. Since the Lower Saxony state government and the Qatar Sovereign Fund have made it clear that they will not join the Supervisory Board, the vacant seats will be confirmed by the Porsche-Pierch family.
Volkswagen expects to make a lot of money
Since the listing of the Porsche brand means the dilution of the equity of the existing shareholders of the group, the Volkswagen Group has decided at the shareholders' meeting last year that it will pay a special dividend for the IPO of the Porsche brand. The dividend amount is 49% of the total income from the Porsche IPO. The lack of a positive response from major shareholders, especially the third-largest Qatar sovereign fund, has been one of the stumbling blocks that have previously hindered Porsche's independent listing.
In addition, the Volkswagen Group plans to withdraw 300 million euros to distribute cash or stock awards worth up to 2,000 euros to all German employees after porsche cars have been successfully listed separately.
For the Porsche-Pierch family, the independent listing of the Porsche brand is, on the one hand, an important step for the family to regain control of part of the Porsche brand, and on the other hand, the family can obtain sufficient funds at a million profits through a special dividend, even if this special dividend only covers one-third of the funds needed to purchase 25% of the common stock of Porsche Cars.
The "win-win" of the Porsche-Pierch family winning twice does not seem to be a good deal for the Volkswagen Group, and the only advantage is that Wolfburg can use this move to obtain billions of euros in one go.
The total market capitalization of the Volkswagen Group, including the Porsche brand, is currently around 100 billion euros, while the independently listed Porsche Cars is valued at around 60 billion to 80 billion euros alone.
Previously, the Volkswagen Group announced at the "Battery Day" that it will build six power battery plants in Europe, and the group plans to invest about 20 billion euros in this regard.
According to the estimates of major European investment banks, volkswagen group through Porsche car IPO is enough to withdraw 15 billion to 25 billion euros of funds, even if the special dividend is excluded, volkswagen group can still get 7.5 billion to 12 billion euros of fresh blood.
The money should be enough to satisfy Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess.
In fact, Dies himself is the key to the Porsche-Pierch family's ability to regain control of Porsche cars.
Late last year, at the start of trial operations at Tesla's Berlin factory, Dees, who had always been dissatisfied with the slow pace of Volkswagen's transformation, shouted a radical slogan to lay off 35,000 employees at the Wolfsburg plant.
A stone stirs up a thousand layers of waves.
The lower Saxony state government, the second largest shareholder of the Volkswagen Group, immediately expressed its extreme dissatisfaction with Dies, so much so that the supervisory board deliberately held a special meeting on Christmas Eve to discuss whether Toys should be fired on the spot.
In the end, des, who finally turned the tide and rescued the embattled, is still the largest shareholder, the Porsche-Pierch family.
Porsche flew solo, and there was another winner
Behind the solo flight of the Porsche brand, another winner besides the Porsche-Pierch family is undoubtedly Porsche CEO Oliver Blume.
The Porsche head, who received his Ph.D. from Tongji University, has been known for his independence from the parent company, the Volkswagen Group, since taking over Porsche in October 2015.
Although Porsche has benefited greatly from the platform strategy of the Volkswagen Group, the old meme about "taking apart Porsche is Audi, and dismantling Audi is Volkswagen" has indeed become a discordant sound.
At the very least, this trend of Porsche's gradual Audiization, even popularization, did not deepen under Obermou's rule. On the contrary, the Porsche brand is increasingly unique among the 12 brands of the Volkswagen Group. Of course, the climax of this maverick is the separate listing of Porsche, which may also be the peak of Obermou's own career.
A typical example of Porsche's maverick is the release of pigeons of the brother brands on the road to electrification. As early as 2020, Porsche, Audi and bentley plans to join forces to eat the overcapacity Volkswagen Hannover commercial vehicle plant, and use this factory as a foundation to develop and produce the next generation of luxury electric vehicle platforms around 2025.
This volkswagen matryoshka platform strategy was reaffirmed at last year's "Battery Day" and was dubbed the Prussian "cast blood" of inviolability.
Obermou soon betrayed the "revolution", and porsche moved its planned production base for an electric version of the Macan from Hanover to its Leipzig plant in less than a year, because Porsche did not want its own model production plans to be constrained by Audi and Bentley. For this reason, Porsche even had to pay hundreds of millions of euros in liquidated damages to the commercial vehicle company in Hanover.
Another case of Porsche not giving face to the parent company of the Volkswagen Group is still the battery factory plan announced at Volkswagen's "Battery Day" early last year.
At that time, the Volkswagen Group had set a goal of covering at least 80% of The European demand by 2030 for six battery factories, and all its brands would benefit from unified and inexpensive battery cell standards.
The only exception is naturally Porsche.
Just a few months after Battery Day, Porsche announced the establishment of a joint venture with another German company, CellForce, to develop and produce Porsche batteries.
In addition to the battery supplier problem, even in the new energy vehicle route, Porsche seems to like to be creative. On the one hand, the head of the Volkswagen Group, Herbert Diess, is indeed a major contributor to Volkswagen's electrification, and on the other hand, Diess has repeatedly expressed a scornful attitude towards other new energy routes, including fuel cells.
Porsche's response was to spend 20 million euros in Chile last year for the development of hydrogen-based E-Fuel (i.e. alternative fuels). The reason is that the grand-sounding sports car still needs the surging of the internal combustion engine.
Coincidentally, Cariad, volkswagen group's newly established software subsidiary, is also on Porsche's blacklist. Cariad, formerly known as Car.Software.Org, was supposed to provide a unified solution for software and digitalization across the Group. But Porsche, which was not satisfied with Cariad's slow progress, had already turned its eyes to the Americans on the other side of the ocean.
As early as last November, Obermou had privately negotiated with Apple's Cook. However, the claim that Apple and Porsche have a software cooperation has not yet been officially confirmed.
Although Porsche's independent listing has become a foregone conclusion, the timing of the IPO has not yet been finalized. Even though both volkswagen and the Porsche-Pierch family have expressed the view that they hope to be able to complete all preparations by the end of this year, given the uncertainty in European stock markets caused by the still uncertain situation in Russia and Ukraine and the Expectation of a rate hike from the European Central Bank, it may be a long way from the days when ordinary people can buy a stock in the market instead of a Porsche.
Sources丨Public Information, 21st Century Business Herald (Qian Boyan), China News Weekly, Hurun Report
This issue is edited by Li Yutong