Recently, a controversy caused by the launch of a new product of Zhiji Automobile has attracted widespread attention in the automotive industry.
On the evening of April 8, at the launch of its new L6 model, Zhiji Auto set the Xiaomi SU7 as a competitor, but incorrectly labeled the key parameters of the competing Xiaomi SU7 Max, which immediately triggered a strong reaction from Xiaomi. That night, a spokesperson for Xiaomi posted three posts on social media in the middle of the night, demanding a public apology from Zhiji for the mislabeling of key parameters of the Xiaomi SU7 Max at its press conference. Subsequently, Zhiji Auto issued two articles to further explain the controversy caused by the recent "mislabeling of Xiaomi SU7 parameters".
Some car critics believe that the reason for Xiaomi's official Weibo "breaking the defense" this time is that Zhiji Automobile deliberately rubbed Xiaomi traffic to build momentum for the new car, and there are too many "face connotations".
Xiaomi sent three articles in a row late at night asking for an apology
On the evening of April 8, Zhiji Auto, a high-end pure electric brand of SAIC Group, held a press conference for the Zhiji L6 super smart car in Shanghai. The pre-sale price range of the Zhiji L6 is 230,000 yuan to 330,000 yuan.
At the entire press conference, Liu Tao, co-CEO of Zhiji Automobile, mentioned "Mr. Lei" several times, and made a comprehensive comparison between the L6 and SU7 in terms of three electrics, zero hundred acceleration, chassis and configuration. Some netizens concluded that the whole process of the Zhiji L6 conference was benchmarking Xiaomi SU7.
And on a comparison chart with Xiaomi SU7, it is written that "Xiaomi SU7 Max is a front IGBT+rear SiC (silicon carbide) electric drive", Liu Tao said, Zhiji L6 uses a front and rear dual silicon carbide electric drive.
At 10 o'clock in the evening of the 8th, Pan Xiaowen, product manager of Xiaomi Automobile, quickly posted that Xiaomi SU7 has a full range of silicon carbide, not only the front and rear electric drives are silicon carbide, but even the compressor of the on-board charger (OBC) and thermal management system uses silicon carbide.
Subsequently, at 11:04 p.m. on the 8th, Liu Tao, CEO of Zhiji Automobile, issued an apology, "Due to the error in the research results of the product information, there was an information error at the press conference. Xiaomi SU7 is the same as Zhiji L6, both front and rear motors use SIC silicon carbide modules", and at the same time, "sincerely apologize to Xiaomi Auto and everyone." ”
From the evening of the 8th to the early morning of the 9th, a spokesman for Xiaomi sent three Weibo posts in a row urging Zhiji Auto to apologize.
A spokesman for Xiaomi first said that Zhiji Company mislabeled the key parameters of Xiaomi SU7 Max at the press conference on the evening of the 8th, causing an extremely serious negative impact. In order to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of our company and protect the user's right to know, we make the following statement:
1. The front and rear motors of Xiaomi SU7 Max are silicon carbide. This ensures excellent performance and autonomy of the Xiaomi SU7 Max.
2. As a holding subsidiary of SAIC, Zhiji Company has such a fallacy, whether it is due to its lack of professional ability or intentional rumors and smears. A large number of netizens have publicly reminded Zhiji about this fallacy, but Zhiji has not yet corrected it.
SAIC is a leading enterprise in China's automotive industry, and we respect it very much. Zhiji's behavior cannot match the reputation of SAIC, and we as peers cannot understand it.
3. We welcome healthy competition and exchange, and strongly oppose rumors and smears that distort facts. We have completed the collection of evidence and are ready to use legal weapons to protect our legitimate rights and interests.
We urge Zhiji to immediately make a public clarification and formally apologize to the public who have been misled by it.
Since then, a spokesperson for Xiaomi has issued another article emphasizing that we do not accept informal apologies that are understated by individuals. Once again, we urge Zhiji to immediately make a public clarification and formally apologize to the public who have been misled by it!
Subsequently, a spokesman for Xiaomi said, "There is a limit to our tolerance for Zhiji's recent repeated harassment and smearing." We firmly believe that such an unreasonable, illegal and undignified behavior of Zhiji Company is completely inconsistent with SAIC's corporate culture, values and industry status, nor is it in line with the historical trend of the unity and development of China's new energy vehicles. We will not respond to this matter again. If we do not get a formal public apology from Zhiji, we will take legal measures to protect our rights and interests. We urge Zhiji to make an immediate and formal apology. ”
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that Zhiji has "touched porcelain" Xiaomi for marketing, not long before the L6 press conference, Liu Tao also questioned how Xiaomi would build a car in three years, and Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, responded that the reason why the new forces build cars quickly is closely related to its organizational efficiency and decision-making process.
This may also be the reason why Xiaomi mentioned in the announcement that "Zhiji has repeatedly provoked".
Zhiji's latest response: Please Xiaomi "be merciful"
In the early morning of April 9, Zhiji Auto issued a letter of apology. Zhiji Auto said that in the just-concluded "Beyond All Yearning" Zhiji L6 super smart car press conference, in the process of introducing the Xiaomi's SU7 product power, which has been hotly discussed in the same level of traffic recently, due to the team's negligence in content review, a key parameter was incorrectly labeled, which is clarified as follows:
The front and rear motors of the Xiaomi SU7 Max Edition are both SIC silicon carbide modules, which are consistent with the technology used in the Zhiji L6 and are the top technical standards in the industry. We apologize for the negative impact on Xiaomi Auto due to the negligence of the internal audit, and sincerely apologize to all fans and users!
On the afternoon of April 9, Zhiji Auto once again issued an article emphasizing that Zhiji Auto really has no intention of deliberately discrediting subjectively, and Zhiji Auto has no intention or ability to challenge the sky-high traffic of Xiaomi Auto. As Mr. Lei Jun said, it is very hard to build a car, and the Zhiji brand sincerely accepts the correction, and at the same time, please "@小米公司发言人" as Mr. Lei Jun said, "be merciful"!
Does Zhiji Auto have to bear legal responsibility for this move?
A professional lawyer explained that the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China" stipulates that operators shall not fabricate or disseminate false or misleading information to damage the business reputation and product reputation of competitors. ”
If there is an act of unfair competition, Xiaomi Auto has the right to file a lawsuit or other legal means to protect its rights and interests, and require Zhiji Auto to apologize and eliminate the impact, and can even file a lawsuit with the people's court to claim compensation for the actual losses suffered by the infringement.
According to public information, Zhiji Auto is jointly built by SAIC, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech and Alibaba Group.
On March 1, Zhiji Auto announced that it had received more than 8 billion yuan in Series B equity financing. Bank of China Asset Management, a subsidiary of Bank of China, led the investment, with ABC Investment and Lingang Group participating in the investment, followed by technology companies such as CATL, Momenta and Qingtao Energy. The funds from this round of financing will be used for the development of a new generation of intelligent models, high-end intelligent driving and future intelligent cabin technology research and development, and market channel expansion.
Editor-in-charge: Jiang Saisai
Inspector Zhang Xiaonan
Source: Upstream News, Red Star News, Sina Weibo