Every year, CCTV's 3.15 Gala attracts a lot of attention, but it also makes many companies tremble with fear, especially car companies. Although the complaint rate of the auto industry is very high this year, fortunately no car companies are on the list of 315 this year, but many have been exposed in previous years. So what car-related problems have been on the list in recent years, and how were they handled after being exposed?
2010: Cutting corners on truck protection
In 2010, the guardrails of large trucks were shoddy and could not effectively prevent the rear vehicles from running into and colliding with them. On May 1, 2002, the state required large trucks to be equipped with protective devices that could effectively prevent other motor vehicles and non-motor vehicles from penetrating from the rear and lower parts of the vehicle. The standard clearly stipulates that the rear lower protection must have sufficient blocking capacity to prevent running into and colliding with them. Many large trucks do not have guardrails installed. Even though there are guardrails, which are just a thin layer of iron sheet, if you just step on them, the welding points of the guardrails will break, making them useless.
2011: Kumho Tire Raw Materials Adulteration
As one of the world's top ten tire manufacturers, Kumho Tire provides tires for automobile manufacturers such as SAIC-GM, Beijing Hyundai, and FAW-Volkswagen, and has the largest market share in the domestic tire market. However, in order to reduce costs, Kumho Tire adulterated a large amount of raw materials, which reduced the performance of the entire tire and brought great safety hazards to the cars using its tires. On April 15, 2011, Kumho Tire began to recall more than 300,000 tires, which was the first tire recall in China.
Up to now, 6 years have passed since the incident was exposed, and Kumho Tire has completely walked out of this shadow. Liu Yifei and Lee Min Ho were chosen as the dual celebrity spokespersons of Kumho Tire, and it sponsored American professional basketball and rugby, and sponsored well-known automobile events in the industry such as STCC and SFGP. At present, Kumho tires are used in the accessories of Mercedes-Benz and BMW high-end cars.
2012: Chrysler 4S dealers falsely reported configurations
The Jeep Compass sold by Chrysler stated during the sales process that it had tire pressure monitoring and side airbags, but in fact these two key safety features were not present; another so-called imported World Cup special edition Jeep Compass was a domestic modified model, which was sold at a higher price than other ordinary versions under the packaging of the merchant. Chrysler China requires dealers nationwide to notify car owners according to the vehicle identification code, and also requires dealers to sign a confidentiality exemption agreement with these consumers and pay 5,000 yuan in cash as compensation for each vehicle sold.
2013: JAC Tongyue Automobile's steel plates were inferior and Volkswagen gearboxes had hidden dangers
In 2013, CCTV's 3.15 Gala exposed a serious problem that had troubled JAC Tongyue car owners for many years. Many JAC Tongyue car owners found that their cars, which had been driven for more than a year, had bulges on the body. The reason was that the body steel plate rusted. After that, four or five hundred car owners began to jointly defend their rights. At first, the 4S store did not admit that the body rust was a serious and common problem until the steel plate rusted through. In response, JAC Motors has always adopted an evasive attitude - repairing the car owners who came to defend their rights, and not informing the car owners who did not come to defend their rights.
After several years of renovation and upgrading, in 2015, JAC Motors' sales volume exceeded 300,000 units, becoming the biggest "dark horse" in the auto market that year. The reason is that JAC Motors learned from its mistakes, and while strictly controlling the quality, it actively observed the market pulse and launched a small SUV - Ruifeng S3, seizing the golden period of SUVs.
2013: Volkswagen dual-clutch transmission has hidden dangers
Another auto company named by CCTV's 3.15 Gala was Volkswagen. It was said that Volkswagen equipped with DSG had a problem on the road where the vehicle would not move when the accelerator was pressed, but would accelerate when the accelerator was not pressed, which was quite terrifying for consumers. After the exposure, Volkswagen was forced to recall and upgrade the software, but car owners soon discovered that the fault could not be eliminated after the software upgrade. Finally, after the quality inspection intervened and interviewed Volkswagen, Volkswagen extended the quality guarantee period of the DSG transmission and recalled 384,181 defective cars, and the incident was finally resolved.
2014: Haima and other automakers falsified fuel consumption data
During the 315 period in 2014, CCTV revealed that a person labeled as "Haima Company vehicle inspection personnel" said that the fuel consumption parameters could be modified at will when submitting the vehicle for inspection. According to the national light vehicle fuel consumption test method, the inspection vehicle and the sales vehicle must be the same. Several inspection agencies in Jilin, Beijing, and Tianjin have discovered the practice of falsifying fuel consumption data, which is an open secret in the industry. Some car companies applied for vehicles that did not meet the requirements and illegally obtained subsidies of more than 19 million yuan. Manufacturers such as SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC General Motors, and JAC Motors were on the list.
2014: Shandong elderly scooters "unfortunately" hit by gunfire
In 2014, apart from the falsification of fuel consumption data by car companies, the only thing that was related to the automotive industry was the "unfortunate" elderly mobility scooters. Some companies in Shandong used their special equipment licenses to illegally produce four-wheel mobility scooters. The products were shoddy, accidents occurred frequently, and the safety of the vehicles was not guaranteed. Some companies directly purchased small-displacement cars and modified them into internal combustion sightseeing cars. Some 4S stores even purchased the procedures for internal combustion sightseeing cars from these companies and directly sold the small-displacement cars as internal combustion sightseeing cars.
2015: 4S stores overhaul minor problems
In 2015, CCTV's 315 Gala revealed that Dongfeng Nissan, SAIC Volkswagen, and Mercedes-Benz 4S stores would deliberately falsify and exaggerate vehicle failures to make huge profits. A simple car failure (the ignition coil plug is loose, and it can be repaired by restarting the system after plugging it in), but in some 4S stores, you are required to replace the spark plugs and other major repairs, and the Mercedes-Benz repair fee is quoted at nearly 10,000 yuan. Such repair tricks have become a common industry unwritten rule in 4S stores. Faced with this situation, many veteran drivers choose to go to general repair shops for repairs, and only important parts will be replaced at 4S stores at any cost. But it is undeniable that the vast majority of 4S stores are still relatively reliable and much more professional than general repair shops.
Land Rover Aurora gearbox failure
Land Rover Aurora first adopted the 9AT gearbox provided by German parts supplier ZF. Later, there were many quality problems such as reverse gear failure and stalling during driving. Some car owners changed the gearbox twice but still had frequent failures. The Jeep Compass equipped with the same gearbox also had the same problem. As its first domestically produced model, Aurora was just launched in February 2015. In March of the same year, the imported model appeared on CCTV 315, which had a great impact on sales. After the incident was exposed, the manufacturer upgraded the software of the gearbox and the problem was basically solved. However, this incident directly affected its sales in 2015. Reports such as "sales plummeted" and "encountering a cold winter in China" were everywhere. However, with the improvement and upgrading of its products and the efforts in marketing, its performance in 2016 was amazing.
2016: The dark side of second-hand cars: Consumers who expired on Cheyipai
According to CCTV, Cheyipai, a giant in the used car industry, has engaged in deceiving consumers. Although Cheyipai advertises itself as "fast," "transparent," and "no price difference," it actually uses two different login terminals, Easy Exchange and Quick Easy, to cut off the information symmetry between sellers and buyers, causing a price difference between the two parties. This intercepted price difference is given to the 4S store in the name of "channel service fee."
After Cheyipai was exposed, it entered a period of low development: Cheyipai was exposed for manipulating transaction prices, and then faced a huge fine; soon after the penalty decision was issued, Yang Xuejian wrote an internal letter to employees on July 1, saying that the company would lay off employees and close all over-expanded stores, and would also make adjustments to its main business and abandon the B2C used car business. It was not until November 3, 2016 that Cheyipai completed a belated new round of financing. |
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. |
