A merchant on Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo previously raised widespread concern by selling a Tesla Model 3 at a steep discount. Now, Tesla is refusing to sell it to them.
According to Sina Tech, Tesla has refused to deliver the Model 3 to Pinduoduo group buyers, with delivery specialists from Tesla claiming that the activity is not in line with Tesla's delivery policy.
The information provided by an owner from Wuhan showed the Tesla delivery specialist's reason for refusing delivery is: Our company suspects that this order was placed on your behalf by Pinduoduo or other merchants. This actually constitutes a concealment of the real order information from our company, our company announcement has already stated that Pinduoduo's group purchase activity is not authorized, you should ask the merchant who paid for the car to deliver the vehicle or refund.
If the Tesla Model 3 in this promotion is delivered by the merchant, it may be illegally advertised because the merchant states in the promotion information that the model is new.
If the merchant delivers the vehicle, the vehicle is actually a used car and does not fit the advertised "brand new" description, requiring triple restitution to the consumer.
The Tesla Delivery Specialist asserted that Pinduoduo and the merchant's actions violated the no resale clause expressly agreed to in the terms of the Tesla vehicle order, and that Tesla would cancel this order based on the contractual buyer's default clause.
In response, Pinduoduo said that it had been confirmed from the consumer that the vehicle was an order agreement between the consumer himself and Tesla.
The consumer himself and does not have any desire or intention to resell, and there is no "malicious intent" in his purchase and use of the car, Pinduoduo said.
Pinduoduo expressed regret, supported consumers to defend their rights in accordance with the law, and will actively implement the delivery of vehicles.
In July, a store called Yi Auto on Pinduoduo posted a "Tesla China-Model 3 2019 standard range rear-wheel-drive upgrade" group buy for 251,800 yuan ($36,000), which is 40,000 yuan cheaper than the official guide price of 291,800 yuan.
In response, Tesla released a statement denying any cooperation with the store or with Pinduoduo on the promotion.
Tesla said it has not had any kind of consignment sales service with Yi Auto or Pinduoduo, nor has it sold any Tesla-manufactured vehicles to Yi Auto or Pinduoduo in connection with the group buy.
Tesla also said that it reserved the right to pursue the legal responsibility of the relevant parties, and would not be held responsible for any disputes or damage to the interests of consumers arising from the above promotional activity.
The store, on the other hand, stated that the car was a genuine Tesla and the subsidy was real, but there were only five in total.
