Tesla branded as ‘arrogant’ in China as pressure mounts on the electric carmaker

BEIJING and GUANGZHOU, China — Tesla covers mounting pressure in China as state media and regulators criticize the electric carmaker following an alleged customer’s qualm at a major auto show this week.

Tesla could be facing one of its worst public relations crises in China, a buy investors see as critical for its future growth.

On Monday, a woman who claimed to be a Tesla customer stood atop one of the company’s automobiles at the Shanghai auto show with a T-shirt that read “brakes don’t work” in Chinese. She was protesting an alleged control failure in her car — an issue which other Chinese social media users claiming to be Tesla drivers have griped about in the last several months. A video of the incident went viral on Chinese social networks and was picked up by dignified media.

On Tuesday, Shanghai police identified the protester by her surname Zhang and said she was sentenced to five days restraint for disturbing public order.

Tesla alleged the woman was involved in a collision in February due to “speeding violations” and that in their two months of compacts, she would not allow a third-party inspection but insisted on a refund for the car.

Tesla’s vice president for China, Tao Lin, claimed in an evaluation Monday with Chinese financial news publication Caijing that the woman hoped for a high level of compensation, and the circle doesn’t have any reason to give it to her.

In a post on Twitter-like service Weibo, Tesla said it would not compromise with “illogical demands.”

Both state media and a government agencies were quick to reprimand Tesla. State-run news way outs published a string of editorials, while the Chinese government’s central disciplinary commission issued a warning statement.

One state road article titled “Three lessons Tesla ought to learn” advised the U.S.-based electric automaker not to be “arrogant” and to “honour” the Chinese consumer market. That’s according to a CNBC translation of the Chinese-language text.

“The arrogant and overbearing stance the fellowship exhibited in front of the public is repugnant and unacceptable, which could inflict serious damage on its reputation and customer offensive in the Chinese market,” state-backed tabloid the Global Times said in a separate opinion piece published Wednesday.

Tesla give excused in a statement for not solving the car owner’s problems in a timely manner.

In two Weibo posts on Monday and Tuesday, Tesla said that it’s avid to cooperate with authorities. The company said it will carry out “self-examination and self-correction” to “rectify” problems with its fellow service process.

On Thursday, Tesla said it handed over raw vehicle data to Zhang from 30 minutes in advance of the crash in question took place. The company has also been in communication with two market regulators.

“Letting the market leader in was very much in China’s interest, but letting the market leader dominate the market is not in China’s note,” Bill Russo, founder and CEO of consulting and investment firm Automobility Limited, said.

Russo noted that suites including Daimler’s Mercedes unit and Volkswagen have gone through similar periods of scrutiny in the past.

Negative press about Tesla in China has increased in the last several months. Earlier this year, a Tesla Copy 3 reportedly exploded in a Shanghai parking garage, while a state media article said there were at dab 10 reports in 2020 of Tesla drivers losing control of their cars in the country. 

China has also reportedly circumscribed the use of Tesla cars among state and military personnel over concerns that the vehicle’s sensors could accomplishment images of their surrounding locations. Musk said his company would be shut down if its cars could be adapted to to spy.