Just past the May Day holiday, in addition to the epidemic that did not let the Auto people stop, there was also Porsche's "apology storm".
On the first day of the holiday (April 30), Porsche China issued an "apology statement", saying that due to the shortage of semiconductors, it had replaced the steering column with electric adjustment function in some vehicles with manual adjustment steering column, and cancelled the later recovery replacement plan. Porsche China sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience and trouble caused by this adjustment to the relevant customers, and will actively communicate with the customer to negotiate a reasonable solution.
Perhaps in order to reduce the attention of public opinion, Porsche's apology letter chose to be released on the May Day holiday. However, even so, it still attracted a large number of netizens to watch and ridicule: listening to Jun's words, such as listening to a seat; fortunately, this matter has nothing to do with me; sure enough, Porsche does not pit the poor...
The reason for the matter is actually not complicated. Due to the shortage of chips, Porsche has replaced the steering column with electric adjustment function in models such as Panamera, Cayenne, Macan, 911 and Taycan with manual adjustment from the second half of last year, and promised to install it for free for car owners after the chip is sufficient. But in March this year, Porsche suddenly unilaterally broke the contract, announced the cancellation of the free retrofit plan, and only compensated users for 2300 yuan to sell offspring vouchers. Eating an ugly Porsche sparked the anger of car owners. Under pressure, Porsche had to apologize.
An apology letter did not bring the understanding of users and public opinion, but attracted more criticism, which was probably not expected by Porsche. However, in the author's opinion, Porsche is not wronged at all, because the nearly 1,000-word apology letter is actually full of only two words: throwing the pot.
At the beginning, Porsche gave its own explanation for user rights protection: many car owners were confused because they were not clear about the deep reasons for this adjustment (Note: lack of core). At the same time, the brand was also questioned because of the disapproval of follow-up measures and programs. The translation of this sentence is that we can only blame the lack of core when we make this adjustment, and we also give a compensation plan, which you do not agree with. You see, we did everything we had to do. At the end, Porsche did not forget to mention the epidemic situation again, hoping that customers would give more time to try to find a solution. As for when and whether it can be found, Porsche has not given a promise.
In fact, from the second half of last year to the present, how Porsche has worked hard to solve the problem of missing cores, what are Porsche's "follow-up measures and plans", how Porsche intends to solve this rights protection incident, and a series of other issues, Porsche did not give an explanation. Therefore, such an apology letter, in addition to throwing the problem to the "lack of core", did not see Porsche's sincerity and measures.
We know that the "lack of core" in the automotive industry in the past two years is a common phenomenon, before Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and other brands have had "first delivery and then installation" examples, and even the ideal car in the new force, Xiaopeng Automobile also gave users additional compensation. The author believes that if it is only a "temporary reduction", the user fully understands Porsche's approach. The key to the problem is that over time, Porsche not only does not think that it owes the user's configuration, but also feels that this electric adjustment steering column is "owed" by the user to Porsche and can be withdrawn at will. Even Porsche may feel that even if the free retrofit is cancelled in the later stage, what can you do with me? Didn't you just line up to buy a Porsche?
In recent years, Porsche has indeed enjoyed a lot of scenery in the Chinese market. Last year, Porsche China sold 96,000 vehicles, accounting for about 1/3 of its global market; China became its largest single market in the world for seven consecutive years; no bare car could open a Porsche 4S store... Such good market performance and many followers have given Porsche strong confidence, and even the illusion of doing whatever it wants, so there have been repeated acts that infringe on the rights and interests of consumers - such as frequent quality problems: in 2012, a owner of a shenzhen car reacted to multiple brake failures (Porsche first agreed to unconditionally return the car, and then unilaterally broke the contract). After that, a car owner in Changsha also responded to the failure of the high-speed brakes of the vehicle, and held a funeral for his own vehicle after the protection of rights was fruitless; for example, the poor quality of the after-sales service, in 2021, the owner of the car "Brute Force Rabbit" reacted to the Taycan brake "donkey call", did not expect to appear again after the repair (afterwards, Porsche officials sent him an apology message); for example, suspected tax evasion, in 2011, there was a media exposure of Cayenne's price increase of 450,000 but did not issue invoices (if calculated according to the 17% VAT at that time). According to the above price increase, cayenne single model is suspected of tax evasion of more than 70 million yuan in the whole year).
This time, can the arrogant Porsche turn the tide? We don't know yet. However, it is certain that the current public opinion environment is no longer like the traditional media era, any market power thinking will only become a stain on the brand itself, and any behavior that ignores the legitimate rights and interests of users will eventually double the price.