Tesla Inc. came under increased pressure from regulators and state media in China on Wednesday, after a dissatisfied customer's protest at the Shanghai auto show on Monday went viral, forcing the electrical car maker to issue a rare apology. The single-out of Tesla in China, which accounts for 30% of the company's global sales and where it manufactures cars at its own factory in Shanghai, comes amid ongoing US-China tensions and retaliation against other foreign firms.
“China will still open up its market to foreign business, but that doesn't mean foreign companies are going to be offered any privilege,” the worldwide Times, a tabloid published by the ruling Communist Party’s official People’s Daily, said in an opinion piece on the “Tesla blunder”.
On Monday, a disgruntled customer scaled the roof of a Tesla at the auto show, in protest of the company's treatment of her concerns about faulty brakes, igniting a social media firestorm that included regulators and state media. Late Wednesday, China's market regulator urged Tesla to make sure product quality within the country, while the official Xinhua press agency said Tesla's apology was "insincere."
“The company's arrogant and overbearing attitude ahead of the general public is repugnant and unacceptable, and it could do significant harm to its image and consumer base within the Chinese market,” the worldwide Times wrote. Tesla, whose vehicles are common in China, declined to comment, but said during a statement that it might share data about the brake incident with regulators after an area regulator requested it.
In videos from Monday's car show that went viral, a lady wearing a T-shirt with the words "The brakes don't work" yelled similar allegations as staff and security tried to revive calm. Tesla apologized to Chinese customers on Tuesday for failing to reply to the complaint, during a timely manner and said it might conduct a review of its service operations within the world's largest auto market.
According to the Xinhua press agency, Tesla's apology fell short. “A business should have the burden of being an enormous company; no company can do whatever it wants,” it said during a Wednesday night commentary. ”If a corporation doesn't correct a drag because it occurs if it doesn't replace a hard senior executive... it'll inevitably make mistakes again,” it said.
Grace Tao, a Tesla vice chairman, told an area media outlet on Monday that “there is not any chance Tesla would compromise” which she suspected someone was putting the customer up for the protest. Tesla was accused of "arrogance" during the interview by state media. Meanwhile, the worldwide Times posted on a casualty involving Tesla that “surfaced online on Wednesday,” raising more Tesla internal control concerns.
Tesla came under scrutiny in China last month, when the military prohibited its cars from accessing its complexes, citing security concerns about cameras in its vehicles. Tesla announced earlier this month that cameras in its vehicles aren't activated outside of North America.
Last month, Chinese internet users started calling for boycotts of brands like H&M, Adidas, and Nike, supported previous claims that they are doing not use cotton from Xinjiang, where some researchers and international lawmakers say authorities use coercive labor to satisfy seasonal needs, which China denies.