"It is easy to order a car and it is difficult to pick up a car", which has gradually become a major concern of consumers when buying a car.
Although more and more car companies have begun to pay attention to becoming "user-oriented", when it comes to the pick-up link of prospective car owners, dealers have delayed delivery time, increased prices to pick up cars, and reduced discounts... But it seems to have the taste of "cutting leeks".
In the environment of the automobile market, some high-end models or popular models have production capacity problems due to chip shortages, and some new energy models have also increased prices on the grounds of subsidy decline. But what makes it difficult for consumers to distinguish is who is really difficult and who is taking the opportunity to "cut leeks". At the same time, it is not easy to understand the capricious promises of some dealers and car manufacturers.
After booking a car, is it difficult to escape the "pit" of queuing and price increase?
Statistics from the car quality network show that in December 2021, a total of 11,821 cases of effective complaint information of car owners were accepted, an increase of 37.6% year-on-year; in January 2022, a total of 9573 cases of effective complaint information of car owners were accepted, up 18.3% year-on-year; a total of 8728 cases were accepted in February, up 74.4% year-on-year.
Judging from the acceptance of complaints in the past 3 months, they have shown a year-on-year increase. It is worth noting that in the ranking of the top 30 car series (models) with the number of complaints, the geometric car EX3 Kung Fu Niu has appeared in the top three of the list for three consecutive months.
EX3 Kung Fu Niu, a small pure electric SUV owned by Geometry Motors, was officially launched on November 14, 2021. Specifically, the complaints of prospective owners about the Geometry EX3 Kung Fu Cow 2021 Strong Cow have continued since late November last year. Among them, the problem with the most complaints is "the dealer's promise is not fulfilled, and the car cannot be lifted".
According to the case, some users made an intention deposit on September 25 last year, a large deposit on October 5, and an additional deposit on November 7. Before the Spring Festival, the 4S store said that there was no car, called the manufacturer 400 to urge the car, and the 4S store called back to promise that the car could be delivered at the end of February this year. However, the car has not been successfully picked up so far.
Based on the case situation, most car owners ordered the Geometric EX3 Strong Bull from September to October 2021 and agreed to deliver the vehicle in February 2022. However, as of now, the dealer has not delivered according to the contract date, nor has the specific delivery time been given.
More importantly, some car owners said: "Since December 2021, Foshan 4s store has arrived at the store a number of strong cattle models, but because I do not agree to the disguised price increase, so the 4s store has given the car to those users who are willing to increase the price, my ordered vehicle has not yet been delivered," On the whole, the problem of disguised mark-up and car mention still exists in many cities.
The "cutting leeks" model introduced at a low price?
In response to the delivery problem, the geometric car official has not responded. On the official website of Geometry Auto, there is actually no order entrance for Geometry EX3 Kung Fu Cattle.
It is worth noting that the official price of kung fu cattle has also been raised, from the previous 58,800-68,800 yuan to 65,800-75,800 yuan.
In response to this question, the auto headline asked the staff of the Geometry Car 4S shop to get a reply, "The two models of the Geometric Kung Fu Cow have indeed risen by several thousand yuan, and the reason for the price increase is mainly related to the decline in subsidies this year." The reason why the online booking function is turned off is because the previous promotion has ended. ”
As for the users who had previously booked cars, the staff member said that he did not understand the specific reasons for the delay in delivery, "but if you order strong cattle now, you can pick up the car in about half a month." ”
On the one hand, there are hundreds of complaints about "difficulty in picking up the car", and on the other hand, there are replies to pick up the car half a month after the price increase. According to the calculation of the listing time of Kung Fu Niu, since November last year, there have been problems such as delivery queues, price increases of 7,000 yuan, and reduction of preferential margins in 4 months.
From the information disclosed by the owner, it can be seen that Geometric Auto had advertised "1,000 customers in the country to pick up the car within a week of listing" in the early days, and gave some car purchase discounts. Most users said that this is why they chose the Strong Bull model. Therefore, prospective car owners believe that the current behavior of dealers and manufacturers is suspected of "sales fraud" and "hunger marketing".
In the face of sales chaos, consumers have a long way to pay
Judging from the cases of pile by pile, most of the complaints and rights protection are the helpless actions of users.
For consumers, the gap lies in the rising cost of car purchases. Previously, most of the new car sales generally reduced prices and offered more, but in recent years, due to the difficulty of picking up cars, dealers have not only reduced their discounts, but also needed to increase the price of popular models.
Prospective car owners believe that car companies first use low prices to attract consumers, and after obtaining orders, they refuse to deliver cars, and also use other ways to guide users to increase the price of delivery, which is not effective for dealers. But on the other hand, dealers also believe that the shortage of existing cars not only leads to consumer dissatisfaction, but also affects the revenue of car companies and dealers.
Moreover, the problems existing in the geometric kung fu cattle have become a common problem faced by consumers.
For example, delivery problems, recent models that have difficulty picking up cars after booking, including BYD Dolphin, Song Pro New Energy, Xiaopeng P5, Zero Run T03 and so on. And at present, the new energy vehicles on the market, especially the hot models, have a long time to pick up the car.
In October last year, a woman in Hefei, Anhui Province, tried to "jump off the building to defend her rights" because of the temporary price increase when she bought an Audi Q5L car, which once triggered heated discussion among netizens. In addition, the tank brand series models also appeared to increase the price of resale reservation orders, Changan Ben E-Star disguised price increase caused user dissatisfaction... In the end, it ended with the official proposal to eliminate the price increase.
In terms of preferential reduction, at the end of last year, the car purchase discount of Xiaopeng Automobile's three models on sale decreased by different ranges. In addition, Weilai, Nezha Automobile, etc. also gave the deadline for cash discounts.
For the practice of car companies to deliver "not according to common sense", industry insiders said that in 2021, the global supply of chips is tight, and the prices of key raw materials such as nickel, cobalt and lithium have risen sharply, which is the main reason for the obstruction of the supply chain and the extension of the delivery cycle in the domestic automotive market.
In the context of lack of cores and the epidemic, most car companies are under the pressure of chip shortages, rising manufacturing costs and rising prices of auto parts. Some new cars have developed a low-price strategy in order to grab orders, and at the same time, they cannot absorb the excessively high cost, and can only delay delivery in the later stage, or deliver by reducing allocation or increasing price. At the same time, the problem caused by consumers' follow-the-trend psychology and unequal information also gives some car manufacturers, dealers and "scalpers" the opportunity to make improper profits.
No matter what kind of "sales chaos", it is the consumer who ultimately pays the bill. It is undeniable that these behaviors increase the difficulty of consumers to pick up the car, at the same time, damage the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, to a certain extent, deepen consumers' anxiety about the purchase of electric vehicles, and disrupt the order of the car purchase market.