Porsche, which was once rated by Hurun As the most popular car brand for China's high-net-worth individuals, recently encountered a crisis of trust due to the problem of allocation reduction, triggering the collective protection of car owners.
On April 30, Porsche China issued a letter to the owner of the car, saying that due to the shortage of chips, some vehicles in the short term will replace the steering column with the electric adjustment function with the manual adjustment steering column, and plan to restore this function by modification after the shortage of related chips is alleviated; because it is still impossible to predict the arrival time of the chips related to the electric adjustment function, porsche headquarters decided to cancel the recovery and replacement plan with the electric adjustment function steering column at the end of the first quarter.
At the same time, Porsche China apologized for the "steering column" reduction, but this has not been recognized by many consumers. Mr. Dai, the owner of the Cayenne, told the Beijing News Shell financial reporter: "Porsche China said to compensate 2300 yuan voucher, and then asked us to communicate with the Porsche Center, and there was no written thing to the owner, except for the apology letter on April 30. The Porsche Centre also did not have any written explanation, only emphasizing a 2300 yuan + 11300 yuan voucher scheme. ”
The relevant person in charge of Porsche China responded to the Beijing News shell financial reporter: "At present, we are actively working with Germany to find the best solution. ”
The promise was not fulfilled, and the steering column defaulted on the reduction, which angered the owner
On April 24, a Porsche owner launched a complaint on the Black Cat complaint platform, saying that the Porsche Cayenne contract he purchased stipulated that the model was equipped with an electronic steering column as standard, and the purchase of the car promised to make up the electronic steering column and signed a supplementary agreement, and now told that the electronic steering column could not be replaced and cancelled, and only 2300 yuan of vouchers could be lost.
Official Porsche compensation. Photo courtesy of the owner of the car interviewed.
Subsequently, the collective complaint gathered more and more Porsche owners, and as of the evening of May 1, 103 car owners had participated in the collective complaint. Mr. Tan, the owner of panamera, told Shell Financial Reporter, "The number of affected car owners should exceed 20,000, and there are about 500 or 600 people in our rights protection group at present." ”
"When I bought the car, I didn't know that there was a lack of electric steering columns, and I knew when I picked up the car, and I signed an installation agreement with the dealer at that time and promised that it would be reloaded later." Ms. Qi, the owner of the 2022 Cayenne coupe, told Shell Financial Reporter, "From mid-March to early April this year, the owner was successively notified of the cancellation of the electric steering column and only paid the voucher. According to Ms. Qi, the compensation across the country is not uniform, she is the owner of the Car in Hangzhou, the Porsche Center in Hangzhou generally pays 13800 yuan vouchers, and Guangdong and some regions still pay 2300 yuan vouchers after the fermentation of public opinion.
In fact, many activist car owners have similar experiences to Ms. Qi, but the difference is that they know through online channels that Porsche has cancelled the electric steering wheel steering column. "I am buying a car in a different place, before picking up the car, I inquired about the lack of electric steering columns, asked about sales, and said that the 4S in the country can be installed (belonging to the recall) in the later stage; the car was not signed on the day of the car." Mr. Dai said helplessly.
Porsche Notice. Photo courtesy of the owner of the car interviewed.
As for the 2300 yuan voucher, Ms. Feng, the owner of the 2021 Panamera, said that the Porsche Center sales staff told her that the compensation was determined based on the price of the chip.
Another Cayenne owner, Mr. Chen, said that when he booked a car, the 14-way seat function contained the adjustment function of the electric steering column, which was now directly cancelled unilaterally by the official and changed on the website. "My car has not yet arrived, and the reply from the sales to me is that I am not sure if there is one, and I have to wait for the real car to arrive at the store."
The original configuration sheet of the car. Photo courtesy of the owner of the car interviewed.
In Ms. Qi's view, Porsche has deceived consumers, "when picking up the car, it is said that the chip is missing, in fact, it is not just a chip, the motor assembly of the manual steering column and the electric steering column is not the same, and the Porsche Center did not clearly state when picking up the car." ”
The difference between an electric steering column and a manual steering column. Photo courtesy of the owner of the car interviewed.
On April 27, the online launch of Porsche's first pure electric crossover multi-purpose car Taycan Cross Turismo, a large number of rights protection car owners poured in, "Porsche suspected of sales fraud", "Porsche return my electric steering column" and other IDs once brushed the screen; then the incident continued to ferment.
On April 30, Porsche China responded positively to the incident for the first time. First, Porsche China has admitted to replacing the steering column with an electric adjustment function with a manual adjustment steering column and canceling the later restoration replacement plan.
Secondly, Porsche China explained that the impact of the continuous shortage of chips, the individual configuration of some models has been seriously affected, including the steering column with electric adjustment function, in the second half of last year, Porsche headquarters in order to ensure the timely delivery of vehicles, some models equipped with electric adjustment function of the steering column replaced by manual adjustment of the steering column, while planning to wait for the relevant chip shortage to ease, through the modification to restore this function; but it is still impossible to predict the arrival time of the relevant chips of the electric adjustment function. Therefore, at the end of the first quarter of this year, Porsche headquarters was forced to decide to cancel the resumption of the steering column with electric adjustment function.
Finally, Porsche China said that it has quickly set up a task force, led by Porsche Headquarters and Porsche China, to jointly study all possibilities with relevant suppliers, hoping to find a solution as soon as possible.
However, Porsche rights owners do not recognize the letter to the owners, they believe that the letter from Porsche China has no meaning, one is not a clear solution, and the other is that they have been shirking their responsibilities. Shell financial reporters learned from a number of Porsche rights protection car owners that their demands are roughly three, one is to reload and re-provide warranty, the second is to compensate cash, and the third is to return the car.
"The King of Profits", China is Porsche's largest single market
Since 2015, the Chinese market has been Porsche's largest single market in the world. In 2021, Porsche delivered 301,900 new cars worldwide, an increase of 11% year-on-year; of which 95,700 new vehicles were delivered in the Chinese market, an increase of 8% year-on-year, and global sales accounted for 31.69%.
At the beginning of this year, Hurun Report released the "2022 Hurun Zhishang Premium - Brand Tendency Report of China's High-Net-Worth Individuals", saying that in the most favored car brands for high-net-worth individuals, Porsche also won the first place in the most favored cars and sports car brands.
However, in the view of Porsche rights owners, the "steering column" reduction has a different treatment of domestic and foreign users. "The new cars mentioned by North American owners do not have chips but have electric steering columns, while the new cars of Chinese owners have neither chips nor electric steering columns." Mr. Tan said, "We didn't know when we bought the car, and when we picked up the car, we knew that the electric steering column was missing, and we signed a document similar to the notification letter at that time." As for North American car owners, Porsche has prior notice. ”
Mr. Tan said that in the case that North American car owners do not lack electric steering columns, only chips, Porsche compensates them with 500 US dollars; while Chinese owners lack both electric steering columns and chips, but only compensate 2300 yuan for vouchers.
In 2021, Porsche still set a new revenue record against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising raw material prices and supply chain shortages continuing to impact the global automotive industry. In 2021, Porsche's full-year revenue was €33.1 billion, up 15% year-on-year, profit from sales of €5.3 billion, an increase of 27% year-on-year, net cash flow to €3.7 billion and Porsche's return on sales of 16% in 2021.
Hong Sheng, vice president and chief financial officer of Porsche China, once said in an interview with Shell Financial Reporter that Porsche has maintained high profitability and achieved a return on sales of 15%. At Porsche's Global FY Conference, Porsche CFO Maxger also stressed that "Porsche will continue to adhere to the strategic goal of staying unchanged for many years, that is, to achieve a return on sales of at least 15% per year in the long run." It is reported that Porsche's delivery volume accounts for 1/30 of the total sales volume of the Volkswagen Group, but the profit accounts for 1/4 of its overall sales, which can be called the "profit cow" of the Volkswagen Group.
In February this year, the Volkswagen Group publicly announced that it would ensure that The Jet would be listed independently, and the latest developments will be announced as soon as this summer. The Volkswagen Group is currently worth around 112 billion euros, and if Porsche can achieve an independent listing, Porsche's valuation could be between 60 billion and 85 billion euros, or it may become the largest IPO in European history.
Behind the independent IPO is the urgency of Porsche's electrification transformation. According to Porsche's plan, Porsche will launch 5 pure electric models in China this year, and officially launch the pure electric Macan in 2025, and the 718 car series also plans to electrify all of them; by 2025, porsche new energy models will account for 50%; by 2030, sales of new energy models will account for more than 80%.
However, in the context of the key node of electrification transformation and the increasing importance of the Chinese market, Porsche has exposed the allocation reduction incident in the Chinese market and encountered a crisis of trust. Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, said that although the Porsche allocation reduction incident is objectively affected by the chip shortage, it should not be subjectively treated differently between Chinese car owners and overseas markets, which directly damages the interests of consumers, and the brand reputation and image will be affected to a certain extent.
"If the negotiation really fails, some rights protection car owners may consider taking legal procedures." For the subsequent rights protection, Mr. Tan said.
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