Yangtze River Business Daily reporter Huang Cong
The luxury car brand Maybach certainly did not expect that it would attract the attention of the whole network due to the complaints of car owners.
Recently, a Maybach owner in Jiangsu spoke out on the online social platform, saying that the Maybach GLS480 off-road vehicle purchased for 2.15 million yuan was found to be abnormal noise in the central control and water leakage in the A-pillar after picking up the car. When the owner proposed to change the car, the Mercedes-Benz 4S store gave an estimate of 1.35 million yuan to 1.5 million yuan. The owner said, "This means that I will drive for 10 days and will lose 800,000 yuan." ”
After several unsuccessful negotiations with the 4S store, the owner began to post videos on his personal social account to protect his rights.
On October 11, Mercedes-Benz officially made an official response, saying that it would cooperate with dealers to seek a reasonable and legal solution with the greatest sincerity and on the basis of facts.
Mercedes-Benz's disregard for consumer rights has occurred recently. On September 20, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation announced that a few days ago, Mercedes-Benz recalled 523,100 vehicles at one time.
It should be noted that the announcement shows that this recall was carried out under the condition that the State Administration for Market Regulation initiated a defect investigation.
Some people in the automotive industry said that Mercedes-Benz's recall is a passive recall, which is a manifestation of evading social responsibility.
According to the data, as of the end of the third quarter, Mercedes-Benz Group had delivered a total of 1,763,200 new cars, down 5% year-on-year, of which the Chinese market fell 10% year-on-year to 512,200.
Visual China Diagram
The leakage of 2.15 million Maybach new cars has attracted attention
Recently, a Maybach owner reported on the Internet that "the new Maybach car is about to be demolished" The news has attracted attention.
According to the owner's self-report through the video, he spent 2.15 million yuan on July 1, 2024 to buy a new Maybach GLS480 in full at the Suzhou Yuanxing Mercedes-Benz 4S store, and found that there was an abnormal sound in the central control position two days after picking up the car.
On July 11, the owner sent the car to the 4S store for new car testing, but the 4S store did not find out the cause of the abnormal noise. On the way back, the owner found that the co-pilot's A-pillar was leaking, and sent the vehicle back to the 4S shop for repair.
When this person proposed to change the car, the Mercedes-Benz 4S store gave an estimate of 1.35 million to 1.5 million yuan, which made him disagree, "This means that if I drive for 10 days, I will lose 800,000 yuan." ”
At the end of September, the owner began to post a video of the three-color rain cloth covering the roof of the problematic vehicle through his account, which attracted widespread attention.
Subsequently, a large number of imitators of the "three-color rain cloth" Maybach appeared on the Internet, and even the Mercedes-Benz series models were not spared.
According to reports, the relevant person of the 4S store said on October 8 that the car did not meet the conditions of "three guarantees", but it could be discussed to repair the damage.
An official Mercedes-Benz customer service staff member said that Mercedes-Benz will have a special person to follow up in the future, and if the owner of the car concerned needs it, he can also call the customer service directly for feedback.
On the afternoon of October 10, the owner of the Maybach told the media: "This Maybach leakage car incident, I am also extremely helpless. After more than 3 months of fruitless communication, the brand was indifferent and even called the police, and was forced to put this fact on the Internet. Regarding the follow-up of Mercedes-Benz on the Internet, the official customer service number of the brand, I made more than 30 phone calls to complain, but I never got any call back and reply. At present, only the after-sales manager of the 4S store contacted me, but he asked for a visit. This manager was the one who called the police to chase us at the store at the time, so I didn't dare to reply to him. ”
The owner also said that the matter has not been resolved, and his request is that Mercedes-Benz officials come forward to apologize and compensate 80 yuan as a mental damage fee, and did not ask for "one refund and three compensations". In addition, the car is subject to a refund and return.
On October 11, Suzhou Yuanxing Mercedes-Benz 4S store believed that the owner's behavior had affected the normal operation of the store, and hoped to cooperate with the manufacturer to formulate a comprehensive solution to protect the legitimate rights and interests of customers within a reasonable and legal framework. Its commitment will be actively promoted, not shirked, and responsible to the end.
On October 12, Mercedes-Benz officially made an official response, saying that it would cooperate with dealers to seek a reasonable and legal solution with the greatest sincerity and on the basis of facts.
Regarding the estimate of 1.35 million to 1.5 million yuan, Mercedes-Benz said that according to the local second-hand car market situation in Suzhou, combined with the good or excellent condition of the model in Suzhou, and based on the recommended purchase and retail prices of the car 300, Shuding and Auto Street platforms, the preliminary information of 1.35 million to 1.5 million yuan was quoted to customers for reference.
During the year, 1.24 million vehicles were recalled
After 3 months of defending the rights of the owner, Mercedes-Benz officials finally responded publicly. In fact, Mercedes-Benz's disregard for consumer rights has occurred recently.
On September 20, the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued an announcement showing that a few days ago, Mercedes-Benz (China) Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. and Beijing Benz Automobile Co., Ltd. filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulation in accordance with the requirements of the "Regulations on the Administration of Recall of Defective Automobile Products" and the "Implementation Measures of the Regulations on the Recall of Defective Automobile Products".
According to the announcement, from November 27, 2024, Mercedes-Benz will recall some imported A-class, B-class, CLA and GLA vehicles with a production date between August 30, 2011 and April 3, 2019, a total of 241,900 units, and some domestically produced GLA vehicles with a production date between March 13, 2014 and October 12, 2019, a total of 281,200 units.
According to the data, the total number of Mercedes-Benz recalled cars this time reached 523,100, which is the largest number of recalls in the Chinese market since 2024.
Mercedes-Benz said that some vehicles within the scope of this recall have insufficient moisture-proof performance of the wheel speed sensor shell material, and when the vehicle is used in a hot and humid environment for a long time, the wheel speed sensor may malfunction, resulting in the suspension of some functions of the electronic body stability system (such as ESP, ABS, etc.), which has potential safety hazards.
It should be noted that the announcement shows that this recall was carried out under the condition that the State Administration for Market Regulation initiated a defect investigation. Affected by the investigation, Mercedes-Benz (China) Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. and Beijing Benz Automobile Co., Ltd. will check the wheel speed sensor for the vehicles within the scope of the recall free of charge through Mercedes-Benz authorized dealers, and replace them if they belong to a specific part number range to eliminate potential safety hazards.
Some people in the automotive industry said that Mercedes-Benz's recall is a passive recall.
There is a huge difference between active recall and passive recall, active recall reflects the integrity and sense of responsibility of the enterprise, which is the performance of the company's responsibility for products and consumers, and passive recall is the embodiment of evading social responsibility.
According to reports, since 2024, Mercedes-Benz has issued 15 recall announcements on the official website of the State Administration for Market Regulation, including as many as 5 in August. The cumulative number of recalled vehicles during the year is as high as 1.24 million.
In the Chinese market, Mercedes-Benz's sales are also much lower than before.
On October 10, the latest sales report released by the Mercedes-Benz Group showed that the group sold a total of 594,600 new cars in the third quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 3%.
Mercedes-Benz Group said that the decline in sales was mainly due to the decline in sales in the Chinese market. The company delivered 170,700 new vehicles in the Chinese market in the third quarter, down 13% year-on-year, the largest decline in the world.
As of the end of the third quarter of this year, Mercedes-Benz Group has delivered a total of 1,763,200 new vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 5%. Among them, Germany fell 13% y/y to 149,700 units, and China fell 10% y/y to 512,200 units.
However, in terms of sales volume, China is still the largest single market for Mercedes-Benz Group in the world, accounting for 29% of the group's total sales.
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