写作| Li Ka-shing
Editor | Leng Zelin
Recently, Porsche has been in the limelight due to the “delisting scandal”. The main reason for this is that the automatic adjustment function of the steering column of Porsche’s new energy vehicle Taycan has been replaced with manual adjustment.
From the initial promise by the official to replace it for free, to later becoming an unequal maintenance coupon, after causing strong dissatisfaction among car owners, the official only verbally expressed that “there has been some progress in the possibility of restoring the configuration.”
Today, when new forces have restructured the relationship between OEMs and users, Porsche’s handling method is obviously not keeping up with the times.
“Discount” Compensation Scheme
Not long ago, a Porsche Taycan owner on a short video platform criticized Porsche in a video. The owner stated that the Porsche Taycan model sold and delivered in China “downgraded” the electric steering column adjustment function, which was previously written in black and white in the consumer’s car order contract.
During the process from car order to delivery, Porsche will sign a supplemental agreement with consumers. The specific content is: “Due to chip shortages, your vehicle may become a manually adjusted steering wheel during delivery. However, after the supply of parts is guaranteed, Porsche will replace the manually adjusted steering column with an electric adjusted steering column for free.”
However, the follow-up was not as good as what was written in the agreement. Shortly after signing the supplemental agreement, Porsche unilaterally cancelled the policy of free replacement of electric power steering columns and only offered a maintenance coupon worth 2,300 yuan as compensation. However, when consumers inquired about the installation of electric power steering columns, they found that the price of this installation item was three times the price of the maintenance coupon, causing a lot of dissatisfaction among car owners.
It is worth mentioning that Porsche had already mentioned on its official website overseas that “manual steering columns are temporarily provided due to a lack of chips,” but this news was never mentioned on its official website in China. Some car owners only learned that their steering columns were manual after the incident fermented. It was only after negotiations with the 4S store that the other party admitted that this was indeed the case.
Moreover, Porsche’s compensation for domestic and foreign car owners has also been “biased”. Some car owners complained on the platform that Porsche’s compensation in the United States was $500, which is about 3,100 yuan, and car owners were notified early. In China, the compensation is only 2,300 yuan, and Chinese car owners have not received proactive notifications from Porsche.
Insincere SolutionsOn April 30th, Porsche (China) released an open letter to its owners, once again emphasizing the global semiconductor shortage and the impact of the pandemic on Porsche. However, this open letter lacked sincerity and only said some comforting words to consumers, without solving the actual problems faced by the owners. It was dubbed by some netizens as “nonsense literature”.
Under pressure, on May 12th, Porsche made a second public statement, saying that Porsche headquarters and Porsche China have formed a special working group and have made some progress in the “possibility” of restoring the electrically adjustable steering column function for certain models through their efforts.
The behavior of “deceiving customers with big stores” is unacceptable.
Regarding Porsche’s behavior, Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said: “Although Porsche’s downgrading event was objectively affected by the chip shortage, subjectively, it should not have a double standard for Chinese car owners and treat them differently from overseas markets. In addition, this event directly harmed consumer interests, and the brand image and reputation will be somewhat compromised.”
In recent years, there have been many car companies that have downgraded their products, but consumers’ awareness of rights protection has been increasing. Especially in the current prevailing direct sales model and user enterprise, some traditional automobile manufacturers may not be aware of the transformation of the relationship between buyers and sellers.
From 2015 to 2021, China has been Porsche’s largest single market in the world for seven consecutive years. In 2021, the sales volume in the Chinese market accounted for 31.69% of Porsche’s global sales volume.
However, obviously, Porsche did not pay enough attention, at least in terms of after-sales service.
The People’s Daily also directly criticized Porsche’s downgrading event: “It was a sham without shame.”
In the current market where users dominate, blindly challenging the new order with “old thinking” will most likely be ruthlessly crushed by the wheels of history, even for a nearly century-old car company.
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.