The debilitating issue of how Tesla handles customers in China came to the fore this week when police detained a woman after protesting at the Tesla booth at the Auto Shanghai 2021 protest. The woman was dragged off the show floor after jumping on top of a Tesla Model 3, where she screamed about a brake issue for which the company was criticized with its cars made in China. Tesla has since said it will do self-service over its service and operations in China.
The woman, whom police only referred to as “Zhang”, according to Reuters, was detained due to ‘disruption of public order’. She had earlier argued over the brake issue, after being involved in an accident. She is apparently being held for five days.
A female Tesla owner climbed on top of a car’s roof at the Tesla booth to demonstrate her car’s brake performance at the Shanghai Motor Show. The stall increased its safety after the incident. pic.twitter.com/ct7RmF1agM
– Global Times (@globaltimesnews) 19 April 2021
Video of Zhang on top of Tesla went viral on Monday in China’s largest social networks, and on Twitter where the state-run tabloid Global Times shared a section.
Tesla’s China division initially said on Chinese platform Weibo that Zhang collided with her car because she was driving too fast, but acknowledged that it was still not ‘fulfilled’. [its] wish ”to gain“ assurance and understanding from consumers. ”
This reaction provoked an already fiery reaction to the protest. Another state-run news agency, CCTV, called for an investigation into the alleged brake problems, while a third, Xinhua, said Tesla ‘shows no sincerity in solving the problem. ‘Government agencies also spoke. The Commission on Political and Legal Affairs of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China told WeChat that Tesla must respect Chinese consumers and comply with local laws and regulations, according to Bloomberg, while the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said “businesses should not be arrogant and unreasonable,” according to Reuters.
The reaction was so intense that Tesla issued a second statement on Tuesday apologizing for not handling Zhang’s complaints earlier. It also capitulated slightly on the brake issue, saying in the same statement that it would now review its service and operations as a result of the protest and the setback.
Tesla has been making cars in China since opening a new factory outside Shanghai in early 2020 – the first in the country to be fully owned by a foreign carmaker. Although the factory already accounts for a large portion of Tesla’s global sales, the company has complained about the quality of the cars it manufactures there. Tesla was reprimanded by various government agencies in China earlier this year for handling customer complaints about the quality of its cars. In response, the company said that it “sincerely accepts the leadership of government departments” and that it “deeply considered it” [its] shortcomings. ”
Tesla’s response to pressure from the Chinese government is a harsh response to how it behaves in the US, where CEO Elon Musk regularly teases regulators.