A brand new scathing report about Tesla simply got here out in China. It describes how the automaker is turning into trigger-happy, suing its personal clients and the media whereas auto journalists are being advised to not be unfavorable in regards to the American automaker.
To this present day, Tesla is the one international automaker with a wholly-owned automobile manufacturing facility in China, though Toyota is anticipated to observe in a number of years.
Elon Musk made the deal occur with Chinese language Communist Occasion (CCP) officers again in 2018. Tesla Gigafactory Shanghai grew to become the corporate’s largest manufacturing hub and its largest income and revenue.
Tesla would by no means be the place it’s right this moment with out Gigafactory Shanghai and the Chinese language market.
Now, we be taught that Tesla is keen to go to nice lengths to guard that.
The Related Press (AP) has simply launched an interesting in-depth report about Tesla’s actions in China relating to clients and the media.
The report facilities round a brand new perspective on the extremely publicized battle between Tesla and considered one of its Chinese language clients who claimed a brake defect, however it additionally goes deeper by highlighting a shit in Tesla’s method to criticism in China.
AP discovered that Tesla sued “at the very least six automobile homeowners in China who had sudden automobile malfunctions, high quality complaints or accidents they claimed have been attributable to mechanical failures.”
Tesla additionally sued “at the very least six bloggers and two Chinese language media shops that wrote critically in regards to the firm.”
That is extremely uncommon conduct for an automaker.
The report additionally highlights the shut relationship between Tesla and CCP officers, particularly Li Qiang, the previous occasion boss of Shanghai who’s now China’s premier. He was concerned within the Gigafactory Shanghai deal.
It’s not information that Tesla benefited from preferential remedy in China, however the report goes fairly a bit additional.
AP alleges that native media are instructed to not be unfavorable on Tesla:
Tesla has profited from the largesse of the Chinese language state, profitable unprecedented regulatory advantages, below-market price loans and huge tax breaks. With a number of pointed exceptions, Tesla has loved largely ingratiating protection within the Chinese language press, and journalists advised AP they’ve been instructed to keep away from unfavorable protection of the automaker.
A reporter advised AP:
“We have been advised by our editor that we must always not write negatively about Tesla as a result of it’s a key firm that was launched and guarded by the Shanghai authorities.”
The report additionally explains how Tesla wins about 90% of the court docket instances filed towards the automaker by clients who declare a defect.
Many purchasers complained of Tesla’s lack of communication, resulting in submitting lawsuits.
In the event that they file lawsuits, they lose, and in the event that they complain publicly, they’re those getting sued by Tesla and compelled to pay the corporate and make a public apology.
Electrek’s Take
That’s fairly a report. It gave a brand new perspective on Ms. Zhang’s case. Her case made it to Western media in 2021-2022, however by no means with the extent of element on this report.
The details are she received into an accident. She claimed it was attributable to a brake failure. Tesla claimed it was attributable to a driver mistake.
She felt compelled to protest Tesla over what she noticed as a critical security concern. She was fairly persistent with it. Tesla sued her and received as a result of she had no method to show {that a} brake defect had brought about the accident. She was compelled to pay Tesla and make a public apology.
However we additionally discovered that Tesla claimed that different entities have been backing her regardless of no proof of that in anyway.
I believe there’s room for reflection on Tesla’s half right here. Is that this what it desires to be: an organization that sues its clients and media over criticism?
Like some clients stated within the report, Tesla may have prevented a lot that by merely having higher communications with clients.
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