China National Radio: BAIC Motors, ignoring safety

China National Radio, Beijing, January 12 (Reporter Jiang Peng) In the past six months, complaints about the product quality and service of ARCFOX, a new energy brand under BAIC, have never stopped. Information from the third-party "Car Quality Network" platform shows that these complaints include product quality issues such as smart keys that cannot be unlocked, high-end driving modes that cannot be activated, battery power loss, and APP that cannot be used, involving body accessories and electrical appliances. The models involved include the two main models, Alpha S and Alpha T. China National Radio further discovered that these models include not only 2023 models, but also earlier 2022 models.

In fact, ARCFOX’s product quality issues were exposed as early as 2022, especially the way it handled vehicle safety issues, which was terrifying.

"Ultimate" care is not ultimate

On June 8, 2022, the after-sales service department of BAIC ARCFOX issued a notice to service providers, reminding them that ARCFOX models may be at risk of ESP pump oil leakage due to internal failure of the ESP pump.

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220608-01 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

As an important component of the vehicle's braking system, the ESP pump distributes reasonable braking force to the four wheels based on sensor data to control vehicle braking. Once oil leakage occurs, there may be problems with the braking force distribution of the four wheels. In extreme cases, the vehicle may lose braking, brake failure and even out of control.

In the notice, BAIC Arcfox also proposed relevant treatment measures, that is, for sold vehicles, during maintenance or during the "Ultimate Arcfox Summer Travel Safety Care Service Season" event, check whether there is oil stain on the bottom of the ESP pump, and confirm the remaining oil in the brake fluid reservoir. After confirming that there is no oil leakage, use a green marker to mark the lower bolt of the pump body.

The "Ultimate Fox Summer Travel Safety Care Service Season" was initiated by BAIC Arcfox on June 10 and will last for two months. The service items mentioned solar films, free car washes and other benefits, but did not mention any brake system-related upgrades or inspections. The only content related to vehicle safety was "one free summer full vehicle health check."

BAIC Polar Fox activity network promotion picture

At the same time, China National Radio learned that this activity is only for consumers who come to the store for vehicle maintenance or participate in the summer travel safety care service season activities. When car owners go to 4S stores to truly enjoy this care, the maintenance operation includes ESP pump oil leakage inspection.

This means that if the car owner does not attend the event, he will miss the critical safety inspection and fail to eliminate safety hazards, which will threaten driving safety and life safety. This kind of so-called ultimate "fox" car owner welfare has become a cover-up for covering up problems, which is a great irony for the BAIC Polar Fox, which boasts of "ultimate safety", and the latter's disregard for the safety of consumers' lives.

Screenshot of the Extreme Fox service

In fact, when there is feedback about product problems, car companies must first weigh the safety hazards, and should proactively inform consumers and face the facts. The terminal should then invite car owners to conduct targeted inspections and repairs on the vehicles. For larger product safety hazards, car companies should take the lead in reporting to relevant departments for recall processing.

Nylon cable ties cannot bear the safety responsibility

On February 25, 2022, BAIC Motors also issued another notice to service providers, also involving vehicle braking safety. The notice mentioned that the corrugated clip of the brake hose is at risk of breaking or falling off, which may cause the brake hose to break after detaching from the bracket and rubbing against the wheel hub.

It is common sense that brake hoses are components used in automobile braking systems. They mainly transmit braking media during automobile braking to ensure accurate transmission of braking force, so that braking is effective at all times. Once they are broken, it may cause the vehicle to fail at high speeds due to its failure, eventually leading to brake failure, causing great safety hazards.

In response to such hidden dangers, BAIC Arcfox proposed in the notice that it would proactively make appointments for customers' vehicles to be inspected in the store. If any breakage or detachment is found, parts will need to be replaced.

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220225-01 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

However, on June 2, 2022, the after-sales department of BAIC Arcfox once again issued a "Notice on Reaffirming the Identification and Replacement of New and Old States of ARCFOX Brake Hose Corrugated Cards" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") to all service providers regarding this issue. The "Notice" shows that BAIC Arcfox divides risky corrugated cards into "new state (vehicles produced after November 2, 2022)" and "old state (vehicles produced before November 2, 2022)".

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220602-01 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220602-01 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

BAIC Arcfox clearly stated that if the brake card is found to be broken or detached, the brake card with the green dot mark, that is, the old state, needs to be replaced. If there is no old state in the spare parts library, the brake hose and corrugated card should be replaced at the same time.

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220602-01 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

There are several questions here. First, if the old state waveform card has the risk of breaking, why does the maintenance plan also need to replace the old state stock card; second, if the new state waveform card has the risk of breaking, why can replacing the new state brake card and hose at the same time solve the problem of the card itself breaking; third, within the four months between the two notifications, when it is not clear whether there are two states of waveform cards, which state of waveform card was replaced for the car owner who came to the store, and is there any risk.

The incident did not end here. The "Notice" reminded that all vehicles that have been inspected must use nylon cable ties to bind the rear wheel brake hose to the bracket, and required that the nylon cable ties be purchased by each service station.

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220602-01 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

Screenshot of Notice No. JSSJ-20220609-02 sent by BAIC Motor to dealers and service providers

In fact, parts purchased by oneself cannot be considered as original parts, and cannot be installed without the owner's consent. Regardless of whether the practice of binding nylon cable ties to ensure braking safety is legal, nylon cable ties are daily necessities with uneven product quality and different prices. This practice without standards makes BAIC Arcfox seem more casual and indifferent to safety issues.

Automobile safety is no small matter, and this is also true for new energy vehicles. However, after discovering safety risks in its vehicles, Jihu Automobile did not directly inform consumers, but instead only checked the vehicles under the guise of maintenance; in the face of design defects that posed safety risks, it asked customers to purchase plastic cable ties to tie and fix the vehicles, which was a crude solution to the safety problem. Such a car company that dares to ignore the safety of its automobile products is indifferent to safety and life, and it is "understandable" that complaints about product quality and service continue to appear without interruption.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.