Tesla China: company of protesters from the scene at the Shanghai Motor Show

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This week, the Tesla booth at the Shanghai Motor Show was briefly besieged by protesters complaining about problems with its cars, critics who have been persecuting Elon Musk’s company for months on the world’s largest market.

Video footage of Monday’s incident, which later went viral in China, showed a woman climbing over a Tesla vehicle, claiming her car had faulty brakes. The demonstrator – who was wearing a white T-shirt adorned with a Tesla logo and the words “brake failure” – was later removed from security.
The incident overshadowed an announcement made by the American company on the same day, when a senior Tesla executive told the Chinese newspaper 21st Century Business Herald that car manufacturer would start developing some of its vehicles in China from scratch – with new models that would incorporate “many Chinese elements”.

While the vehicles will be designed based on research from Chinese consumers, they will also be sold worldwide, said Grace Tao Lin, Tesla’s vice president of foreign affairs in China.

The news was to mark an important milestone in Tesla’s Chinese expansion plans, which are key to its global strategy. China accounts for one-fifth of adze (TSLA) and is its second largest market after the United States, according to a recent company listing. Musk himself said that China could become the carmaker’s “largest market” in the long run.
But while the company has enjoyed a warm welcome in China in the past – especially after setting up a Gigafactory on the outskirts of Shanghai, its reputation has been hit in recent months with challenges from questions about how they are made. his machines to concerns over the data he collects.

“No way” to compromise

Some of those criticisms came to an end again on Monday at the Shanghai Motor Show, where Tao, the Tesla executive, spoke to the media.

The woman who climbed on top of the car was later detained by Shanghai police for five days for disturbing public order, while a fellow Tesla car owner, who also went to the conference to protest, received a warning. administrative for the same reasons.

Police said in a statement on Tuesday that protesters went to the car show to “express their dissatisfaction.”

The protester who mounted the vehicle, who was identified by the police only as her last name, Zhang, “ignored” the attempts of the conference staff to discourage her, “and forced her onto the roof of a show car, causing damage to the vehicle.” police added.

After the incident, Tao addressed the issue with the local media, saying that her team “proposed a lot of solutions” to resolve the dispute. with that client.

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But the Tao also appeared to be targeting the protester and suggested she could have been hired to perform the stunt. “Her actions were very professional – they could exist [people] behind her, “she told a reporter for Caijing, a financial magazine.

The customer “does not accept vehicle inspections and insists on high compensation,” Tao added. “I think there is no compromise for us.”

The same sentiment was echoed in an official company statement released Monday. Tesla has promised to resolve complaints about its cars, but has warned it will stand firm against what it considers to be unwarranted criticism.

“We value every customer, so we are willing to make a public promise: if there is a problem with Tesla products, Tesla will firmly assume its responsibilities to the end,” the company said in a post on the social media platform Weibo. “At the same time, what we need to explain is: our position is not to compromise on unreasonable demands.”

This annoyed many people in China, who went on social media to express their own dissatisfaction with Tesla’s response.

While some users said they did not agree with Zhang’s strong approach, many praised her, calling her “brave” to confront Tesla.

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incident He also appeared to encourage criticism of Tesla’s Chinese state media.

The state-run Xinhua news agency hit Tesla on Tuesday with a boring comment, “Who trusts Tesla to be uncompromising?” The article called Tao’s response “arrogant,” which showed “no sincerity in approaching the issue.”

The official newspaper, the official newspaper of the Chinese prosecuting authority, also threw Tesla.

“Car companies should be honest in solving problems, dealing with consumer feedback, providing effective communication channels and actively cooperating with investigations to clarify the facts. Otherwise, maintaining a tough stance will affect only both sides, “he wrote in an editorial.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request from CNN Business for further comments. But by Tuesday night, the company had already begun to think.

In a new statement posted on Weibo, she apologized to “car owners” – without naming anyone – and vowed to “conduct a strict self-examination and self-correction, while cooperating with the investigation of government departments. relevant ”.

Growing challenges

Anger comes at a particularly difficult time for Tesla.

In February, Tesla was summoned by regulators to discuss the quality of its Shanghai-made vehicles. Authorities said they were concerned about several problems with the cars, including “abnormal acceleration” and “battery fires”. The following month, reports surfaced that the country’s army had banned its vehicles from entering its complexes due to concerns that the on-board cameras could be used for espionage.
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More recently, the company has faced criticism for a number of issues involving its cars. In February, he was forced to apologize after a video showed one of his staff members in the Chinese city of Nanchang telling a customer that a potential overload of the state grid could have caused problems with his electric vehicle after charging.

“We apologize for the misunderstanding,” Tesla said in a Weibo post at the time. “We have [now] has correctly solved the problem and is testing and investigating the cause of this failure. “

Tesla tried to calm Chinese officials by addressing criticism directly. Last week, Tao told authorities that any data the company collects in China will be stored inside the country’s borders, according to Chinese state media.
Even Musk intervened. Last month, The billionaire CEO appeared for a rare interview with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), praising the Chinese government and predicting that the country could “become the largest economy in the world.” A few days earlier, he practically showed up at a major government conference, saying his company’s cars would never be used for espionage in the country.
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And this week, Musk will attend the Boao Forum for Asia in China, according to a guest list published by the conference organizer on WeChat. Thousands of political leaders and leaders usually attend the influential forum, and on Tuesday it included an address by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The company also seems to realize how high the stakes are, as shown by the quick correction of this week’s course.

“Based on this experience,” the company said in its Weibo post, “we will try our best to learn the lessons.”

– Steven Jiang and Laura El contributed to this report.

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