Ping An Property Insurance has refused to insure new Tesla vehicles in some provinces and cities, and its policy has been tightened for those who already have insurance contracts with the company and need to renew their policies, Sina Tech on Wednesday cited insurance channels, car owners, and insurance salespeople as saying.
The provinces and cities involved include Henan, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, as well as Beijing and Shanghai, the report said.
Car owners and insurance practitioners in Guangxi and Hainan said they have not yet encountered such a situation, the report said.
A screenshot of a conversation with a Ping An Property Insurance salesperson shown by a Nanning car owner shows that his vehicle can still be insured with the company, even though "my car was repaired six times in the last insurance year."
The latest development comes after a female owner protested at Tesla's booth at the Shanghai auto show, bringing the company back into the spotlight.
If the report is true, it could mean higher insurance costs for Tesla vehicles in China, which could somewhat undermine the brand's competitiveness.
On April 19, at the Tesla booth at the Shanghai auto show, a female owner stood on top of a car wearing a T-shirt with the words translated as "Brake Failure" in protest, causing widespread concern.
The owner was then forcibly carried away by the staff on site and was sentenced to five days of administrative detention for disturbing public order.
Then a Tesla China executive said "there is no way to compromise, this is a process that new products must go through", and stressed that "their own research shows that 90% of customers are willing to choose Tesla again".
This tough statement was immediately criticized by a large number of Chinese Internet users. The official Chinese media Xinhua News Agency published an article questioning "who gave Tesla the edge to be "uncompromising".
According to the article, Tesla has shown little sincerity in solving the problem. No matter which car company, they must have respect for the Chinese market and sincerely accept consumer supervision.
Late on April 20, Tesla said on Weibo that it apologized for not being able to solve owners' problems in a timely manner.
Tesla has set up a working group to try its best to meet owners' demands in a compliant and legal manner, in an effort to satisfy them, the company said.
