As the first model launched after the reboot of the smart brand, smart #1 received a much stronger market response than expected after its launch on June 6th this year. This is certainly something deserving of celebration for both smart fans and the brand. However, after nearly half a year has passed, many users who ordered the car on the first day of pre-orders still haven’t received their cars. Besides the long wait, users are also dissatisfied with a series of factory policies.
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Why can’t everyone get their car right now?
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How did smart consider its policies?
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Will the national subsidy policy change?
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What compensation will be provided by the official for delayed deliveries?
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What expectations should users who have pre-ordered the car have for delivery?
These are the most pressing questions for users right now. Garage had a deep conversation with the smart official team today. The CEO of smart Global Company, Xiangbei Tong and Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing, and After-sales of smart, Mingxia Zhang, participated in this interview. Below is a summary of the QA results of this interview.
Q1: What caused the slow production capacity of smart, resulting in delayed delivery? Can orders be cancelled?
After the official launch of pre-orders on June 6, orders exceeded this year’s production capacity within twenty-four hours, far beyond expectations. Considering factors such as national subsidies in 2022 and delivery time, the official announcement was released on June 7th at 23:00, which stated that users who ordered the car after June 7th may not be able to receive their cars within the year.
As users blindly ordered the car, the lock-up period was adjusted from July 31st to August 31st.
Previously, insufficient market demand predictions led to a shortage of some key components (carbonized silicon motor chips and headlight chips included in high-end vehicles). However, from June onwards, the production and supply chain teams have been trying to make up for the short supply of supply chains.
At the same time, the factory production progress was affected, and these situations were conveyed to the market, causing delayed delivery.
On November 29th, the national subsidy policy was announced publicly along with the corresponding user rights and protection policies.
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If the actual pick-up time of the booked vehicle is delayed within 3 weeks of the scheduled pick-up time (inclusive), the official will provide users with a free official driving recorder as compensation.
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If the actual pick-up time of the booked vehicle is delayed for more than 3 weeks of the scheduled pick-up time, in addition to the official driving recorder given for free, smart points will be provided to users as compensation every day, starting from the first day of the fourth week until the actual delivery date of the vehicle.– For users who were informed of an expected arrival time this year but experienced delays, smart will take responsibility if the delay results in the user being unable to enjoy the 2022 national subsidy for new energy vehicles.
At the same time, we have reflected on and reviewed our communication policies. We recognize that convoluted sales policies and inadequate communication about relevant policies are issues that need improvement. We sincerely apologize to our users for any inconvenience caused.
Due to the large number of uncertain factors, vehicle arrival times were previously only estimated by the month. Going forward, we will provide users with more specific arrival times to address any concerns.
The management team will visit 29 cities over the next few weeks to listen to user feedback. Additionally, the team will rotate through the 400 service hotline to respond to user calls, applying user-centric operations in practice. We will also organize interested users to visit the new smart fortwo #1 factory.
Q2: Why are there frequent complaints about smart’s delivery process being disordered and unfair? What is the current solution?
To increase transparency in orders and delivery sequence, the 400 service hotline team has been optimized and trained. Furthermore, a “vent your frustrations” section has been added to the app.
Previously, we communicated our “first come, first served” principle based on the order of deposit payments. If deposit payment times were the same, the order would be based on intent payment times. However, the delivery sequence for some orders may be affected by various factors including options selected and the delivery city. Estimated arrival times for different models were also provided, such as “September-October 2022” or “November-December 2022.”
Production planning during the pre-production phase was based solely on deposit payment time.
During the production phase, arrangements were made according to deposit payment time initially, but due to supply problems with parts and to improve production efficiency, principles such as “same-color paint production is the most efficient” and “same-configuration production is the most efficient” were applied to improve production efficiency, resulting in a shorter average wait time for vehicles.
Additionally, we use a very rigorous quality management system, and some vehicles may need to be returned for adjustment due to individual reasons, which may affect the actual delivery sequence. This holds true for particular model, configuration and option cases.During the transportation phase, logistics resources have been greatly affected by the epidemic, to the extent that some cities with severe epidemic situations like Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Beijing have almost no resources available. Although the cars are ready, they cannot be transported to the cities where the users are located, resulting in the inability to deliver them on time, which will also affect the actual delivery order.
During the delivery phase, the epidemic has also affected some stores’ ability to provide delivery services to users. In addition, a few users who have not made an appointment for the delivery center and time in the app may also affect the actual delivery order.
Q3: Some high-end users have reported that smart treats car owners differently, and the fallback policies for high-end and mid-range models are not the same. What is the specific situation, and what is the current solution?
Previously, it was announced that users who selected the Premium model after 23:00 on June 7, and those who selected the Pro+ model after August 31, may not be able to receive their cars in the current year.
In the previously published national subsidy fallback and user rights protection policies, it was stated that for users who were expecting their cars to arrive this year but experienced delays, if they are unable to enjoy the 2022 new energy national subsidy due to the delay in the expected delivery time, smart will bear the responsibility.
Q4: Pro+ users reported that smart made false advertising and changed the tire configuration. What is the specific reason?
We apologize for the misunderstanding and inconvenience caused to users due to this issue. The misinformation was due to a miscommunication in a cross-departmental communication. Although the information on the official platform is correct, some employees and agents conveyed incorrect information to users during communication.
It was not intentional false advertising, let alone the arbitrary changing of product configuration. We deeply apologize for the confusion that this has caused regarding the tire brand equipped with Pro+ models. Although it was a mistake, we will not shirk responsibility!
We provided a compensation plan for users in a timely manner, which is as follows:
- A: Seat heating for Pro+ models, free use for the first owner for life;
- B: Steering wheel heating for Pro+ models, free use for the first owner for life;
- C: A 50% off coupon for Michelin or Jiatong tires for the entire vehicle, only available to the first owner, with a lifetime validity.
Users can choose one of the above three plans as compensation and register through the smart national service hotline 400 066 0077. The corresponding benefits will be granted to users after the vehicle is delivered. At the same time, if similar complaints are received later, the same solution will be used to address them.“`
Q5: Is smart admitting to a design flaw when some people question that the touch-feel gold interior has serious reflection issues on the instrument panel and center console which were modified in the “Heart Move” edition?
Out of respect for user driving habits and preferences, smart values and has promptly conveyed the feedback to the R&D team.
In the past two months, taking into account multiple factors, the R&D team has designed an Inspiration Decorative Pad which has passed the fragrance safety test and avoided the safety airbag in the passenger seat area. It also matches the size of the instrument panel accurately.
We will launch the Inspiration Decorative Pad in the smart Car App Points Redemption area on December 30th, and give 1,000 points to all users who choose the touch-feel gold interior.
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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.