Introduction: It is hard to see the determination and ability of Dong Yudong to lead Euler to the world, either in terms of attitude or action. Perhaps this time, with a “price of four billion” and follow-up measures to compensate car owners, the storm can be stopped from expanding temporarily. But this is only a temporary concealment of danger. If no action is taken on the essence of the matter, perhaps this trust bomb will be detonated at any time in the future.
Recently, a large number of Euler Cat users have reported through multiple channels that the brand’s chip uses an old Intel 4-core A3940 chip released in 2016, which is a far cry from the Qualcomm 8-core professional car standard chip promoted in its sales material. The actual response speed of the vehicle is slow, the operation is stuck, and it cannot be compatible with many mainstream applications.
The Intel Atom x5 E3940 chip runs Linux system based on X86 architecture, while Qualcomm 8155 chip runs Android system based on Arm architecture. Currently, most of the applications in China are developed based on the Android system, so the Qualcomm 8155 chip has overwhelmingly more applications than the Intel Atom x5 E3940 chip.
Intel has abandoned the continued development and maintenance of the Atom platform, so the Atom x5 E3940 produced in 2016 has actually become an abandoned chip product, with almost no possibility worth looking forward to in terms of subsequent user experience or application development.
Double standard is hypocritical
Regarding the matter of Euler’s chip replacement, many car friends believe that this is a very serious fraud behavior, misleading many consumers and infringing on consumer rights, which has caused serious dissatisfaction.
In November, a Euler Cat user experienced navigation lag during driving. Upon inspection, it was found that the on-board chip of the actual vehicle did not match the promotion. As soon as the incident was exposed, it immediately caused a lot of discussion, but the official has not been able to give a satisfactory response.
After numerous unsuccessful negotiations between the two parties, this matter has already caused a lot of dissatisfaction. After a deep report on Euler Cat’s chip replacement on CCTV Finance Channel, it has pushed Euler Cat to the forefront of public opinion and exposed it to everyone’s scrutiny.
Article 8 of the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China” stipulates: “Operators shall not make false or misleading commercial propaganda on the performance, function, quality, sales status, user evaluation, honors and so on of their products, deceive or mislead consumers. Operators shall not help other operators to conduct false or misleading commercial propaganda by organizing false transactions and other means.”# Dong Yudong Apologizes to the Public for Eula Car’s Microchip Issues
Dong Yudong, the newly appointed general manager of Eula Auto, no longer hid after being investigated by CCTV, and made a public apology to the public, saying “We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused by the Eula Cat’s microchip issues and sincerely apologize.”
Dong Yudong promised to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident and handle related matters properly, and would give consumers a satisfactory response. Unfortunately, the new plan has not yet been released. Even though a response plan was later implemented, customers’ anger has not decreased. A user on our official Weibo, “Jin Gang New Energy,” stated that they will continue to safeguard their rights.
What has angered many people the most is that Eula Cat has been attempting to play word games with the public. When asked about the use of Qualcomm chips in the Eula Cat, the Eula Cat’s official response was “The intelligent service processing platform on the Eula Cat’s parameter configuration table uses Qualcomm chips for the remote control module.” This answer is like saying “We didn’t say that, it’s your problem.”
At the same time, many consumers have reported that the system on their vehicles will force a software program upgrade, and after the forced upgrade, information about the Qualcomm chip mysteriously disappears. This is undoubtedly a challenge to the car owner and a hiding of the truth by Eula Cat.
In addition, consumers have confirmed with Eula cars sold overseas and found that all overseas versions of Eula cars are equipped with the Qualcomm 8155 chip. Such a bold double-standard is truly shocking.
“The Cost of Four Billion”
On December 9th, Eula Automobile released its latest statement, offering Eula Cat owners who took delivery before the statement release date and those who had placed orders just before the statement release date an additional value of 7,200 yuan in equity packages, as well as a lifetime warranty for the entire vehicle and 10,000 yuan worth of charging rights for the first owner.
Some people accept Eula’s handling of the situation, while others refuse. For the accepters, Eula has paid the price they should have and received compensation. Among the refusers, there are doubts about the solution, determination to safeguard rights, and questions about the chips.
As of now, Eula has made a total of five official responses, and in the fourth response, they explicitly stated that the method of replacing the car’s microchip is not feasible. Not only is it impossible to replace the car’s microchip, but Eula Auto’s executives have also clearly stated to the media that “we cannot afford to compensate victims on a three-to-one basis”.## Towards the World or Into the Abyss
During the Shanghai International Auto Show, Dong Yuedong, the General Manager of the Ora brand under Great Wall Motors, gave an interview in which he introduced the positioning of the Ora brand. He stated that with the rise of the “she economy”, Ora needs to follow the trend and practice the brand vision of “the world’s favorite women’s car brand”.
Leaving aside the evaluation of the brand positioning, does Ora value consumers? Does it respect consumers? Does Dong Yuedong have a clear plan and respect for the brand reputation?
From the incident to date, Dong Yuedong made a public apology and gave a “commitment” after Ora was named by China Central Television, but regardless of official responses, internal responses, and solutions, it is clear that Ora did not truly realize how weak its protection of the rights and interests of car owners and consumers was in this matter; it even referred to the incident as a brand’s painful period of ascension.
After the apology, Dong Yuedong did not appear in public, and Ora’s attitude towards the matter continues to disappoint. Although some people may see the huge compensation as a very cost-effective deal, in fact, it is just hiding a bomb.
It is difficult to see Dong Yuedong’s determination and ability to “lead Ora towards the world” in both speech and action. Perhaps this time, with the “four billion yuan cost” and follow-up measures to compensate car owners, it can stop the escalation of the incident. But this only temporarily hides the danger. If action is not taken on the essence of this matter, this trust bomb may be detonated at any time in the future.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.