One day after insisting on "no compromise," Tesla made a 180-degree turn in its attitude toward an owner who defended her rights at an auto show.
In the late evening of April 20, Tesla said on Weibo that it was deeply sorry for not being able to solve the owner's problem in time.
Tesla has set up a working group to try its best to meet the owners' demands under compliance and legality, in an effort to satisfy the owner, the company said.
On April 19, at the Tesla booth at the Shanghai auto show, a female owner wearing a T-shirt with the words translated as "Brake Failure" stood on the roof of her car in protest, causing widespread concern.
The owner was then forcibly carried away by staff at the scene and was detained for five days 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 gives Tesla its uncompromising edge".
According to the article, Tesla has shown little sincerity in solving the problem. China is one of the world's largest auto production and sales markets, and is also an important market for the world's leading car companies to compete. No matter which car company, they must have respect for the Chinese market and sincerely accept consumer supervision.
On April 20, the Zhengzhou market regulator, which had handled the owner's complaint, said the owner asked Tesla to provide the complete driving data of the vehicle half an hour before the accident, but was refused. The two sides failed to reach an agreement because of their differences.
In the Weibo post last night, Tesla said it respects and firmly obeys the decision of government departments, respects consumers, complies with laws and regulations, and actively cooperates with all investigations.
"We remain earnestly hopeful that the owner will give us the opportunity to seek a better solution to the problem and strive to reach a satisfactory outcome for all parties and truly safeguard the rights and interests of consumers," Tesla said.
"Based on this experience, we will work hard to learn our lesson ...... to sort out and rectify our own unreasonable and non-compliant service guidelines and service processes," the company said.
(Source: CnEVPost)
