writes / Liu Baohua
edits / Qian Yaguang
designs / Shi Chao
From last year to this year, "volume" has become the word that appears most frequently in the automotive industry, whether at press conferences or on social media. The escalating price war, technology war, and talent war are all specific areas of concern, but now, the most intense concern may be the war of public opinion.
On March 1st, the high-profile ideal mega was launched, but a very disharmonious scene immediately unfolded: the saying that "mega is shaped like a coffin" spread like wildfire, and the word "Dian" was painted on the rear of the mega car, and the parking lot Pictures of a row of megas taking out "underworld effects" are circulating.
If it is just a clever joke, this joke has gone too far. If it is a purposeful guide, there is no more vicious attack than this.
It can be seen from the feedback exchanges between industry colleagues and readers' comments that it is generally believed that there are three types of people who spread this kind of information: First, they really think the shape looks like a coffin and say so, and some of them add fuel to the fire and use photoshopped photos to attract attention; The second is that they do not agree with Li Xiang himself and the ideal corporate culture. They think that Li Xiang's frequent criticism of his peers has been backlashed this time, and he is contributing to the commotion.
The third category is the Internet hazard that many people think of invariably - trolls. Although there is no direct evidence for
, a considerable proportion of responders and readers commented that for such a blockbuster product, such a traffic-rich company, and such a controversial topic, the trolls are late but will not be absent. The
trolls are like the pimples under the glamorous coat of the automobile industry. They break out from time to time, causing the victim companies great pain. Enterprises and industry organizations have also tried to resist and eradicate it, but with little success.
The 2023 March 15 Party a year ago exposed the phenomenon of Internet trolls and their harm, and law enforcement agencies also seized and cracked down on related companies. One year later, the phenomenon of trolls has not improved.
Can the automobile industry be able to completely eradicate this cancer that has made the public opinion environment of the entire industry a mess?
once made Wei Jianjun publicly curse
, "The fundamental reason why it is difficult to eliminate trolls is that every company hates it, and every company cannot do without it. It is the theater effect. As long as one company uses it, other companies will not use it." We are in a completely passive position and are beaten everywhere. The end result is that everyone has it and uses it, and there is chaos. And as competition intensifies, the moral bottom line is getting lower and lower." An industry insider who did not want to be named said helplessly Said to Automotive Business Review. In short,
is a typical mutual harm model, and no one involved in it can survive alone. Most of the employees of several car companies asked by
Automotive Business Review were tight-lipped about the topic of trolls and were unwilling to discuss it in depth. A few people reminded reporters of the commonalities and differences between companies, "It is true that there are trolls, but there are still differences. Some companies wantonly There is almost no bottom line when attacking competitors. Some are just defensive and will not take the initiative to hack friends."
The recently launched Zero Run c10 seems to have encountered the same situation. "When our c10 was launched, there were a lot of people online. It is said that too many chargebacks crashed the website and app. This is completely confusing the right and wrong. In fact, the centralized ordering caused the downtime."
Reporters also saw a certified car owner posting in the circle of car enthusiasts who understand the car Di Zero Pao c10. "Unsubscribing is just someone doing it. I just saw someone ordering seven C10s in different stores, and then canceled them all after the prices were announced." It seems that the troll business has expanded from posting attacks to ordering and returning cars.
"#Are you satisfied with the price of Leappo C10? Not satisfied. ***It's much more reliable." "If it doesn't work for another week, I'll pick it up." Such comments from netizens are also found in the circle of Leapao C10 riders. Everywhere.
An industry insider told Automotive Business Review, “This kind of statement is basically a typical troll’s rhetoric. It clearly praises one and criticizes the other, but without explaining the reason, it just says that you are not good or very bad, and that brand is better.Ordinary consumers do not understand the real situation, and they will inevitably be affected by this kind of information. "
This trend is getting stronger and stronger, and finally some big names in the automotive industry have personally broken the silence.
At the "2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Cafe Automobile Night Talk" in November 2023, Great Wall Motors Chairman Wei Jianjun held a roundtable dialogue Unexpectedly, he bombarded friends and merchants, and even used swear words.
"We are also studying our friends. We follow the rhythm every day and make things out of nothing. It's nothing. He has indeed mastered the logic of the Internet. He is indeed superior. What? Audi buys its power, Toyota buys its technology, invest in this, invest in that, in the end he will be worthy of anything. "
" those unwarranted things are very bottomless and very dirty. He can really use this public opinion. For many cars, he leads the rhythm and says that he will do this every day. Oh, this car and this place are really ugly. This rhythm has come up, and it is like a bunch of trolls. Consumers don’t know this. If you search now, you will find all the negative things, and those unfounded things are very bottomless and dirty. He can really use this public opinion to say that it has become a Rakshasa market. "
Wei Jianjun appealed at the scene that high-quality development does not mean killing one by one. China's new energy vehicle companies should take a long-term view instead of fighting among themselves. We will continue to promote the healthy and sustainable development of industries and enterprises, and revitalize consumption and technology. The important task of innovation and overseas expansion. At the same time, corporate behavior must abide by laws and regulations. Internet information is too confusing and there are too many trolls, which puts a burden on business operations.
Great Wall has always been the most high-profile company in combating trolls. It launched on March 10, 2023 A 10 million yuan bounty was offered to combat "cyber trolls" in a special Internet cleanup operation. By July 14 of that year, nearly 1,000 reports and clues had been received, and some malicious smear campaigns by trolls had entered judicial proceedings. According to the reward plan, the Great Wall provided important clues to those who provided important clues. 26 netizens distributed bonuses.
Whether the legal department can eliminate the navy
The personality of the founder determines the business style of the company. Great Wall’s attitude towards the navy is exactly the same as Wei Jianjun’s, and there have been many cases of breaking up with friends and businessmen.
2018 According to online reports, Geely called on trolls to praise Geely and smear Great Wall on major online platforms. After Geely refuted the rumors, Great Wall officials directly named Geely, saying, "Although Geely Automobile made an official statement on this matter, a certain brand has a large number of trolls." It is an indisputable fact that it specifically discredits all national independent brands, whitewashes itself, and is inconsistent with what it looks like. Our company severely condemns this unscrupulous behavior and will take further legal action to defend its rights. "The two sides set off another round of war of words, which ended with the person who published false information about "Geely hiring trolls" being arrested, and both parties jointly issued the "Joint Statement of Geely Automobile and Great Wall Motors".
In 2020, a "About Changan Automobile Attack on Our Company” document, which states that Great Wall Motors has detected an unusual and organized negative attack, and it is confirmed that it is an offensive negative communication initiated by Changan Automobile against Haval h6/f7 and other models. Great Wall Motors It also admitted that internal documents were indeed leaked.
Chang'an, the other party involved, issued a response to a media interview, expressing its belief that Great Wall was also a victim and not the initiator. The incident eventually ended with high-level executives from both parties shaking hands and making peace.
With these disputes, , coupled with the promotion of the exposure of the 315 Party in 2023, the Joint Conference of Chief Brand Officers of Chinese Automobile Enterprises (cb20) under the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and its member units jointly launched the "Joint Committee on Resisting Internet Trolls in the Automobile Industry" on March 24, 2023. Initiative", the initiative enterprises cover the three major central enterprises, the five major local state-owned enterprises, the three major private giants and the three major new forces.
But only 8 months later, Wei Jianjun's explosive rebuke at the Wuzhen Conference occurred. The reason is still The anonymous person pointed out that this kind of theater effect and mutual harm model is difficult to end through a piece of initiative. If
wants to limit or even eradicate the chaos of trolls, it can only use thunderous legal means to make the perpetrators pay a price that exceeds the benefits.
Since last year, more and more car companies have opened official legal department accounts on social platforms, making it clear that "the Internet is not a place outside the law" and announcing corporate litigation cases from time to time. These cases focus on two areas: false reports and troll attacks.
The legal department’s official accounts on Weibo include Wei Xiaoli, Zero Pao , Jihu , Lantu , Deep Blue , Changan, BYD , Jikrypton , Ruilan Etc., a large area is concentrated on new car-making forces and new energy car companies. It can be seen that the new energy field is the hardest hit area by trolls and false reports.
315 is coming again. The problem of trolls that has not been solved even at the 315 party can be completely eradicated when the automobile legal department goes online collectively and in the new environment where the legal awareness of the entire industry has increased unprecedentedly? If realized, it will open up a new stage of legal operation and fair competition for Chinese automobiles, and provide a clean environment for truly building a globally competitive automobile company.
hopes that when 315 comes in the future, people will no longer mention or think of the word "Navy Army", and let it be called a historical term and disappear into the dust.
