Mud Slinging in China
Hello dear Wonderers,
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In case you are wondering just how intense the competition in China between car makers has become, the government is having to step in to crack down on online slander. Apparently there is no trick that competitors are not willing to use in their fight for the Chinese customers' love and attention.
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In their desperate struggle to get as many customers as possible to spend money with their brand, Chinese OEMs seem to feel positive messaging focusing on their own products just won't cut it. They are resorting to so-called Black Water Armies of influencers to reinforce negative messaging on their competitors. Apparently the situation got so bad that the Chinese government has decided to get into the discussion with a number of actions ranging from a campaign of its own to changes in the law that increase the penalties that can be handed out.
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Not content to leave all the work to the authorities, automotive companies in China are spending more time and money to protect their brand value. Even big boy BYD is actively filing lawsuits against social media accounts looking for apologies and steep fines. Luckily it does seem to be working as they, and other brands, are beginning to win their first civil court cases against content creators for defamatory content. With fines that are close to a quarter of a million Euros we can expect the trollers to start thinking twice in the future.
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Sometimes the fight even gets quite personal and direct. Li Auto got into hot water when an advertisement for one of their SUVs implied that the truck from Dongfeng used as "collision" partner was completely destroyed. Even though Li Auto insisted that the video only intended to show the robustness of their own vehicle, they were forced to apologize.
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Nikei Asia Link.
Grtz
Pieter
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