From the end of February to the eve of March 15, Tesla used a series of suffocating operations, such as product chips "stealing the column", official responses to perfunctory consumers, and CEO cynicism, to make the "chip door" incident ferment rapidly. Although Tesla said today that it has upgraded and replaced chips for hundreds of car owners, it is still in a crisis of confidence in the China market.
The whole story of "Chip Gate" incident
First of all, let's review the ins and outs of the "Chip Gate" incident. On February 28 th, Tesla owners reported that they bought domestic models? The vehicle controller code of the standard endurance rear-drive vehicle is 1465773, namely HW2.5 chip, and the vehicle controller code of the vehicle is 1462554, namely HW3.0 chip, as stated in the List of Vehicles with Environmental Protection Information. Therefore, the owner suspected that the vehicle he bought was officially dropped by Tesla.
As soon as this news came out, it quickly spread on social media. Are there many models in China? Three standard endurance rear-drive car owners reported that they found a similar situation, and these car owners also began to complain to Tesla officials and the 3. 15 platform.
On March 3, Tesla issued an announcement on this matter, saying that based on the supply chain situation, some domestic models? The hardware of the standard endurance rear-wheel drive model is HW2.5 chip, and it is indicated that with the recovery of production capacity and supply chain, Tesla will gradually become a domestic model equipped with HW2.5 chip as planned. 3 standard endurance rear drive model d? The owner provides free replacement of HW3.0 chip.
In addition, Tesla also stressed: "If the FSD function is not optional at this stage, use the HW2.5 model? Model 3 and HW3.0? There is basically no difference in driving experience and safety between the three models. " It is worth mentioning that on the one hand, the release of this announcement confirms Tesla's behavior of "stealing the column", on the other hand, it also makes many car owners dissatisfied because of the perfunctory announcement.
Two days later, Tesla CEO Musk responded to the "Chip Gate" incident: "It is very strange that those who complained did not actually choose FSD. Maybe they haven't realized that even if they choose FSD after buying a car, they can still upgrade to HW3.0 hardware for free. " And these slightly ironic statements made the incident ferment again.
On March 10, the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology interviewed Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. on the issue of "distribution reduction" of Tesla Model3, and ordered it to immediately rectify in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Measures for the Administration of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprises and Product Access, effectively fulfill the main responsibility of enterprises, and ensure production consistency and product quality and safety.
After being interviewed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, some imported Model3 owners said that they learned from the Tesla filing information provided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that the version of the chip carried on the car body was inconsistent with the sales promise when buying a car.
On March 18, Tesla announced that at present, all major stores in Tesla have launched replacement services, and have completed the upgrade and replacement of HW3.0 chips for hundreds of car owners.
Both law and emotion should be punished and apologized.
Although Tesla has replaced and upgraded chips for consumers, this incident is based on reason, and Tesla's current efforts are obviously not enough for consumers.
Regarding the "Chip Door" incident, Mr. Qiu, a member of the china automobile dealers association Expert Committee and director of the Beijing Law Firm, said that because Tesla did not inform consumers about the replacement of the chip and changed the delivery content, it was a breach of contract in the contractual relationship, and consumers could choose to return, replace and claim compensation for losses in combination with the contractual agreement and the three guarantees.
It should be noted that Article 55 of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests stipulates that if an operator commits fraud in providing goods or services, it shall increase the compensation for the losses suffered by the consumer according to the requirements of the consumer, and the amount of compensation shall be three times the price of the goods purchased by the consumer or the cost of receiving services.
In response to Tesla's "stealing the column" incident, many lawyers believe that Tesla is suspected of fraud. If the Tesla incident is finally determined to constitute fraud by the court or the Consumer Management Association, then the final consumer has the right. Tesla was asked to cancel the car purchase contract and advocated "returning one and losing three".
In addition, some insiders believe that it is normal for the supply chain to encounter problems during the epidemic, but Tesla should not assemble the wrong version of the parts into the car and did not inform consumers. This is a question of corporate values. At the same time, there are also voices that Tesla's "stealing the column" behavior and Musk's remarks are manifestations of insufficient respect for consumers and the market.
In fact, it is not the first time that Tesla has shown a lack of respect for consumers and the market in China. From the beginning of dealing with the car accident caused by the automatic driving system, the car owner was chilling, to the later "cold treatment" of the spontaneous combustion vehicle, to the repeated price adjustment for seven times in 14 months, and then to the "chip door" incident, Tesla can be said to be the bottom line for challenging domestic consumers again and again.
In fact, since Tesla entered China, various supporting policies and supporting links have created conditions for its super factory to land and realize domestic production as soon as possible. The data shows that in 20 19, Tesla sold more than 42,000 vehicles in China and its revenue exceeded 20.8 billion yuan. But ... compared with the "green light" of its development in China, Tesla's attitude towards domestic consumers and markets is obviously not awe-inspiring.
It can be seen that Tesla should not have a "stealing column" incident intellectually and emotionally, and should not perfunctory and laugh at consumers after this incident. For the current Tesla, it is necessary not only to speed up the replacement of the chips of the problematic models, but also to sincerely apologize to the Tesla owners in China and accept the corresponding punishment.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.