On February 17, the news of a Tesla driving at high speed and rear-ending a bus in Wenzhou, Zhejiang continued to ferment. On the afternoon of February 18, upstream news reporters saw in the webcast room of the Tesla Fujian Experience Center that netizens continued to ask questions about Tesla’s brakes. On the 18th, both Tesla experience centers in Wenzhou responded to upstream journalists saying: “The incident has affected sales, and netizens are asking those questions in the live broadcast room.”
Previously, on January 6, Tesla announced a price cut for all models in China. On February 8, data from the Passenger Federation showed that Tesla sold 66,051 vehicles in January, an increase of 18% month-on-month. Chongqing netizen “Zhou Zhou” who is planning to change cars recently told reporters: “In terms of cost performance, safety is an issue that needs to be considered. Let’s wait and see first.”
In the live broadcast room, “Will the brakes fail?” the question swipes the screen
On February 17, the upstream news reported on “Zhejiang Ruian Tesla’s hurricane rear-end bus police on the street: arrived to deal with it”. The police later reported that the accident caused 1 death and 1 injury. Tesla responded: The local traffic police are investigating the cause of the accident, and we will do our best to cooperate.
Did the traffic accident affect Tesla sales? On February 18, an upstream news reporter called Tesla Wenzhou Fortune Shopping Center experience store, and the staff who answered the phone said: “The incident still has some impact on sales, and netizens in our online live broadcast room are all asking questions about brakes. The reporter called the Wenzhou Tesla Vientiane City experience store again, and the staff also said: “Some of our customers are on the sidelines, which will have some impact.”
On the afternoon of February 18, upstream news reporters saw in the live broadcast room of the real-name certified “Tesla Fujian Experience Center” that when the host introduced the Tesla model 3, netizens kept asking “Will the brakes fail?” “Is there a brake?” “Can it be braked?” The anchor responded to the netizen, saying: “Come here for a test drive, I will drive first, you can see if I can stop, and then you can test drive.” Netizen “Miss Duo” asked: “If the car starts to spin, how do I stop?” The anchor replied: “Just step on the brakes, just step on the brakes.”
Last month, 26,800 new Tesla owners were added across the country
Upstream news reporters noticed that on January 6 this year, Tesla announced a price cut for all Tesla models in China, which stimulated Tesla’s sales. On February 8, data from the Passenger Federation showed that Tesla’s sales in China in January 2023 reached 660.51 million vehicles, an increase of 18% month-on-month. Among them, 26,843 were sold domestically and 39,208 were exported. In other words, the number of new Tesla owners in China exceeded 26,000 in the past month.
On the 17th, Wenzhou Tesla rear-ended a bus that caused 1 death and 1 injury. Afterwards, Tesla responded to reporters that we are also very sad about this accident and understand everyone’s concern about this accident. At present, the local traffic police are investigating the cause of the accident, and we will do our best to cooperate.
Regarding the topic of how much the news of the traffic accident on the 17th will affect Tesla’s sales, the employee at the above-mentioned Tesla Fortune Shopping Center said: “Our sales did not count this data. Whether there is a problem with Tesla or not, we will see. The results of the traffic police’s later investigation, is it human or the car? If there is a problem with the car, what should Tesla do? But if the traffic police think that there is no problem with Tesla, is it human?”
In August 2020, there was also a “brake failure” incident in Wenzhou. Later, it was identified that the owner of the model 3 made a mistake and stepped on the wrong pedal. The court ruled that the owner should apologize to Tesla. In November 2022, a Tesla in Chaozhou, Guangdong Province was involved in a car accident after driving 2.6 kilometers at high speed, resulting in 2 deaths and 3 injuries. So far, the police have not released any more investigation information.
The Wenzhou Tesla rear-end accident also sparked a wave of discussions among the Chongqing New Energy car buyers. On the afternoon of the 18th, Chongqing netizen “Zhou Zhou” who recently wanted to change to a Tesla said: “In addition to the price-performance ratio, Tesla’s safety is also an issue to be considered. I am not in a hurry, and I will wait and see the police investigation.” Netizen “Xiao Wan” who bought the car said: “Take a test drive first to feel it. After all, accidents are very rare.”
Upstream reporter Feng Shengyong