Apologies after being "besieged", is Porsche missing a core or a lack of heart?

Because of the reduction, another car company was collectively complained by the owners.

Recently, in the official Porsche Weibo "New Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo China Premiere" live broadcast event, a large number of Porsche owners expressed their dissatisfaction with Porsche by swiping the screen: subtitles such as "Porsche deception", "Porsche return my electric steering column" and "Porsche robbery or not return your 2300 flying scrolls" look quite funny.

In this regard, many netizens ridiculed: the comment area is more exciting than the live conference!

The number of complaints exceeded 100, and the processing rate was zero

There must be a reason for the incident, and the original cause of the matter is this: Recently, many car owners complained on the black cat complaint platform that Porsche deceived consumers, saying that the new car they bought was officially reduced for no reason.

According to the contract documents posted by many complaint car owners, Porsche previously told the owners that due to the serious shortage of semiconductor production capacity, it is necessary to temporarily adjust the product configuration on the vehicle, adjust the original electric steering column to temporarily use the manual steering column, and promise that the owner will be notified immediately after the electric steering column procurement is complete, and the installation will be free of charge.

But soon after, the measure of installing electric steering columns for free was canceled, and the compensation plan was to give the owner a 2300 yuan voucher.

In this regard, a complaining owner indignantly said: "On March 16, 2021, when I ordered the car, I selected a deluxe component upgrade, which contains components with memory functions, and the exhibition car also has a steering wheel automatic adjustment device with memory function, from the time of setting to picking up, it has never explained that this function is missing, until December 15, 2021, when picking up the car, I was told that due to chip shortage, the electric adjustment of the steering wheel of the vehicle was used first, and signed a notice, which clearly stated, After the subsequent arrival, the steering wheel is freely modified with the memory function and the steering wheel is adjusted. But now the official does not upgrade for free, and only provides 2300 yuan voucher compensation. ”

"I bought a Porsche Cayenne at this company in November 2021, and when the vehicle was delivered, it said that due to chip shortages, the promised electronic steering column would be reloaded at a later time. Between January 2022 and March 2022, I kept asking over the phone when the sales would be able to give me a dressup, and the sales kept telling me to listen to the notice until April 26, 2022, when I asked about the sales again, she told me that the electronic steering column was permanently gone, saying that it was the latest notice from Porsche headquarters that some compensation could be given. I disagreed, I only asked that the steering column of my vehicle be fitted with the original steering column. It was disappointing for Porsche, who had seriously deceived consumers. Another user also said when complaining.

It is understood that the electric steering column is the steering wheel electric adjustment device, that is, the "electric adjustment steering wheel" as understood by the public, which is the basic configuration of Porsche's "comfortable entry" function. After the cancellation of the electric steering column, the million-level luxury car can only manually adjust the high and low position of the steering wheel.

The price reduction is not reduced, and the voucher is much lower than the original assembly value is compensated, and the consumer will naturally not agree, so there is the dissatisfaction of the owner when the Porsche live broadcast brush screen.

Many Porsche owners said that they could not accept compensation for the 2300 yuan voucher and required Porsche to fulfill its promise to install an electric adjustment steering column, or compensate 30,000 yuan in cash, otherwise it would be returned unconditionally.

As of press time, there were as many as 114 collective complaints about "Porsche canceling the electronic steering column" on the Black Cat complaint platform, but the collective processing rate remained at 0.00%, and the latest complaint was issued on May 6, 2022.

It is reported that porsche involved in the reduction of more than 20,000 vehicles, involving the main types of Cayenne, Taycan, Paramela, and a small number of Macan.

"Apologies for being lonely"

In the face of the collective "siege" of consumers, on April 30, Porsche finally released a "Porsche Letter to Chinese Car Owners" to apologize.

The letter said of the reasons and solutions for the reduction: "In the second half of 2021, we learned from headquarters that in order to ensure the timely delivery of the vehicle, the steering column equipped with the electric adjustment function of some models was replaced by manual adjustment to ensure that the steering wheel position adjustment function can 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. In the first quarter of this year, Porsche headquarters decided to cancel the subsequent replacement plan, which caused dissatisfaction among car owners. We have quickly set up a task force, led by Porsche Headquarters and Porsche China, to work with relevant suppliers to study all possibilities and hope to find a solution as soon as possible. ”

The whole letter consists of four paragraphs, sprinkled with more than a thousand words, but the official did not give practical solutions to the demands of the car owners, but more of a complaint and seeking the understanding of the owners, how to see the lack of sincerity.

Consumers didn't buy the letter, calling it "a bunch of nonsense." "Porsche's statement did not solve any substantive problems, and it was a last resort throughout. The compensation is a voucher rather than cash, and it will eventually be consumed in the 4S store, which is the difference between this and no compensation. A Porsche owner said.

More netizens ridiculed him for "apologizing for being lonely"...

Can the shortage of chips be a legitimate reason for Porsche to hurt consumers?

Lack of core or lack of heart?

Throughout the industry, in the global chip shortage environment, due to the lack of cores to reduce the allocation is not an isolated phenomenon. Many car companies, including BMW, Audi, Tesla, Ideal, Euler, etc., have had no choice but to reduce the allocation of some models because of lack of cores. However, in order to prevent consumers from being harmed, their way of dealing with it is to issue an announcement and give a solution at the first time, whether it is a direct price reduction or a reload schedule, and clearly inform consumers.

For example, BMW has cancelled the automatic parking assistance system, mobile phone wireless charging and WiFi hotspot function of some models, and reduced the price of the model. It was not until the chip problem eased that BMW announced that it would continue to install the corresponding configuration and restore the price in the later stage.

Audi, which is also a luxury brand, informs consumers in advance of the shortage of chips. Some of its domestic Audi models produced after July 5, 2021, can only provide a remote control key and a mechanical key tooth at the time of delivery, and after the production capacity is restored, the Audi sales division will issue the remote control key in time, and the dealer will deliver the second remote control key for the user.

For another example, the ideal car as a new force in car manufacturing in the absence of chips, in the case of pre-delivery of the car, the ideal ONE model that lacks two millimeter wave radars will be delivered to the user first, and then reloaded with parts later.

Porsche, on the other hand, canceled the reload promised in advance and only compensated for the low voucher, which is a "breach of contract" from a legal point of view.

"The notice issued by Porsche as the operator shows that the operator acknowledges the fact that the vehicle has been reduced and promised to reload it afterwards. If the consumer agrees, it constitutes a change to the original contract and is legally binding on both parties. The notice is an important legal evidence for consumers to protect their rights. Since the two parties have agreed to reload, they should continue to perform according to the agreement. If the consumer chooses cash compensation, the amount of cash compensation should also be equal to the full cost of the reload. The compensation plan for the 2300 yuan voucher unilaterally proposed by the operator is suspected of breach of contract or is not fair and reasonable. A lawyer at a law firm in Beijing pointed out.

Even more intriguing is Porsche's differentiated attitude towards domestic and foreign consumers. In Porsche's official statement, the objective global chip shortage is the root cause of its reduction of electric steering columns, but it is understood that some of Porsche's overseas models will not only be compensated, but will continue to be equipped with electric steering columns, which is very different from Porsche's official and sales response to Chinese consumers "permanently no longer assemble electric steering columns" and only compensate with 2300 yuan vouchers. This has created a perception of Porsche's "differential treatment" for domestic users, and it should be known that the models sold by Porsche in China are imported.

In response, a staff member of the Porsche China Customer Center responded: "Individual markets for individual models, such as the Cayenne model in the North American market, cannot be manually adjusted due to certification requirements, and other affected models in other markets are uniformly equipped with manual adjustment of steering columns." ”

In short, for markets and models with certification requirements, Porsche has the means to normally assemble electric steering columns on the car, while in turn, for markets and models without certification requirements, it will reduce the allocation. It seems to be forced to be helpless and excusable, but this does not change the fact that Porsche "treats it differently".

In addition, it is worth noting that it is reported that the owner needs 30,000 yuan to install an electric steering column separately in the Porsche 4S store. In other words, the owner can install this configuration through the Porsche 4S store. So the question arises: why does Porsche officially claim that it is impossible to refill the electric steering column due to lack of cores? Is it that it cannot be reloaded without a chip, or is it completely unintentionally reloaded? The answer is probably known only to Porsche itself.

For Chinese Porsche owners, they may not care about the electric steering column worth 30,000 yuan, after all, owners who can afford to buy Porsche are not short of money, they care about Porsche's sincerity. "Car owners just need car companies to give practical solutions, not just rushed things with vouchers, car owners need Porsche's sincere attitude." A Porsche owner said.

In fact, Porsche's performance in the Chinese market has been good. According to the data, in 2021, Porsche delivered 301,900 vehicles worldwide, of which 95,700 vehicles were delivered in China, an increase of 8% year-on-year, accounting for more than 30%, China has become the world's largest single market for porsche brands for 7 consecutive years; in the first quarter of 2022, Porsche delivered 68,400 vehicles worldwide, and the delivery volume in the Chinese market reached 17,700 vehicles, accounting for no low proportion.

Since the importance of the Chinese market to Porsche is self-evident, and the continuous growth of Porsche's sales in China is inseparable from the recognition and trust of Chinese consumers in their brands, Porsche should at least treat each other with sincerity in the face of the trust of Chinese consumers. Imagine if Porsche continues to come up with a solution insincerely in the world's largest single market, but instead uses word games to perfunctory, it will only break the hearts of Chinese consumers in the end. And once its brand image collapses, the consequences will be more than worth the loss. In any case, we expect Porsche to give a reasonable and feasible solution as soon as possible!