Economic Observer Network reporter Pu Zhenyu On January 29, an incident of "blocking and beating a vehicle" in Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang, Guangdong attracted a lot of attention, and due to the "reversal" of the incident, it is still fermenting. The source of the incident was a video

Economic Observer Network Reporter Pu Zhenyu On January 29, an incident of "blocking and beating a vehicle" in Xuwen Port, Zhanjiang, Guangdong attracted a lot of attention, and due to the "reversal" of the incident, it is still fermenting. The source of the

incident was a video posted on the Internet by a Chery owner. The video shows that when a Chery vehicle was queuing up for an incoming ferry at Xuwen Port in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong, it was blocked and insulted by a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle, and the hood was smashed out by the other car owner. According to the video publisher, the Chery car owner is a female car owner surnamed Xu who is over 70 years old. The driver of the Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle was a young man. Subsequently, the Internet almost unanimously supported the female owner of Chery, while blaming the man in the Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle.

html On February 3, as the driving record video of a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle appeared on the Internet, the Mercedes-Benz man who was originally criticized was "understood" by many netizens. A large number of details in the Mercedes-Benz driving records show that the content of the video previously released by the owner of Chery is inconsistent with the facts, and there is suspected of "intentional editing" to mislead netizens. Since then, Chery car owners have become the new target of questioning.

During the negotiation between the two parties, the female owner of the Chery car chose to call the police. The man in the Mercedes-Benz was detained by the Xuwen police for 10 days and fined 500 yuan for insulting and pounding the car. The public does not have much objection to this. At present, the new controversial points are "who stepped in" and "who is lying".

An episode is that on January 30, Ms. Xu went to a Chery 4S store in Haikou to have her vehicle repaired. On January 31, Chery immediately expressed condolences to the car owner and provided a mobility scooter. Many netizens wonder why Chery pays such special attention to Ms. Xu?

According to the reporter from Economic Observer Network, the female car owner surnamed Xu in this incident is not an ordinary car owner, nor is she just an "Internet celebrity", but a "star car owner" who has participated in Chery Automobile's official activities many times. According to the release Videos on social networks have been linked to Chery officials many times. Chery Automobile's performance in this "reversal" incident was that it supported its car owners at first, but is currently silent.

"Reversal" plot

According to one of the earliest video footage circulated on the Internet, a Chery car and a Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle had a dispute over the passing order at the Xuwen Port toll station. A man in the Mercedes-Benz got out of the car and walked away. He went to the Chery car, insulted the people inside the Chery car and smashed a dent in the hood of the Chery car with his fists.

The Mercedes-Benz man's actions such as blocking, insulting, and smashing the car shown in the video triggered a flood of accusations on the Internet. The personal information of the Mercedes-Benz man and his family members was subsequently exposed by netizens. In the end, the man in the Mercedes-Benz was detained by the police for 10 days and fined 500 yuan. But he refused to apologize as requested by the female Chery car owner.

According to a woman in the Chery car, she told the media that her mother, Ms. Xu, who was over 70 years old, was driving at the time. Ms. Xu's identity as an elderly person aroused sympathy from netizens. A large number of netizens poured into Ms. Xu’s Douyin account to express their concern. In just a few days, Ms. Xu’s account gained 250,000 followers.

When the incident was about to reach a happy ending according to the above plot, the direction of public opinion changed overnight. A driving record video from a Mercedes-Benz reveals some new details. A new video released by

Mercedes-Benz shows that initially the Mercedes-Benz and the Chery car merged into the same lane alternately. The Mercedes-Benz first gave way to an off-road vehicle, and then the Mercedes-Benz began to merge into the lane, and at this time the Chery car had a collision. conflict. In the opinion of many netizens, Mercedes-Benz's approach complied with the principle of "alternating traffic" and did not interfere with traffic. Secondly, the Chery vehicle continued to ram forward when the Mercedes-Benz man stood in front of the car, and then the man smashed the car. At the same time, according to online photos taken from the perspective of witnesses at the scene, the driver of the Chery car when the conflict broke out was not Ms. Xu, but a young man.

Soon, Ms. Xu’s “weak persona” collapsed. Netizens who originally supported Chery Automobile complained that they had been deceived, accusing Ms. Xu of misleading the public by hyping herself up as a weakling.Some netizens changed the name of Ms. Xu from "Grandma Xu" to "Old Madam Xu."

html On February 4, some netizens dug up the situation of other Chery owners: Ms. Xu’s Chery vehicle was suspected of cheating due to different license plates on the front and rear. But this is not true. According to the police information report issued by the police in Wulian County (the place where the Chery car involved was registered), Ms. Xu’s vehicle did not engage in cheating. The reason is that Ms. Xu has two Chery cars in her name, and the license plates of the two cars were transferred under her name.

Ms. Xu's "secret cooperation" with Chery

"Grandma Xu is not just an ordinary Chery car owner. There is evidence that Grandma Xu has a certain cooperative relationship with Chery Automobile. According to her personal Douyin of 'Wulian Xu August' According to the account description, she is suspected of having cooperated with Chery many times." Zhan Junhao, founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting and public relations partner of Fuzhou Gongsunce, told the Economic Observer Network reporter.

In the past two years, Ms. Xu has released a series of self-driving videos on her social media account, which has attracted the attention of many netizens. In a video in July 2023, Ms. Xu, 71, drove herself on the Sichuan-Tibet Line. She held the steering wheel and drove the car with a relaxed expression.

According to netizens, during a self-driving tour on the Sichuan-Tibet Line, Ms. Xu’s vehicle had a traffic dispute with a local vehicle. The situation at that time was similar to the plot of the Xuwen Port incident. In both cases, Ms. Xu first exposed the other party online and then asked the other party to apologize. However, this video can no longer be found on Ms. Xu’s social account.

In fact, Ms. Xu is not only a user of Chery Automobile, but also an official "partner" of Chery Automobile. She has participated in official activities organized by Chery Automobile on many occasions. At the launch conference of the Tiggo 8 Champion Family in August 2023, accompanied by Li Xueyong, deputy general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., Ms. Xu represented Chery as a "Tiggo 8 owner" and a "71-year-old car god grandma" new station platform.

When Ms. Xu was involved in a hot incident, Chery Automobile was not willing to be alone. On January 31, Chery Automobile staff expressed condolences to Ms. Xu with flowers and fruit baskets, and provided her with a Tiggo 9 as a mobility scooter. Chery Automobile officially issued a statement saying: "We love our car owner Grandma ourselves" and "Thank you Grandma Xu for your continued trust and companionship in Chery. I wish you a smooth and happy journey ahead." Ms. Xu also responded on her social account: "Thank you Chery for your company and support along the way."

However, some attentive netizens discovered that the man driving the Chery vehicle at the time of the incident has never come forward to speak out. At the same time, Ms. Xu did not choose to call the police at the scene of the incident, but called the police afterwards. Although the reason given by Ms. Xu was "fear of delaying boarding," some people speculated that this move might be to cover up some other things. One theory is that Ms. Xu took her family on a self-driving trip to Hainan this time to once again collaborate with Chery officials for brand promotion. The man driving a Chery vehicle may be related to Chery.

There is currently no definite evidence for the above speculations. Regarding what kind of "cooperative relationship" Chery Automobile maintains with Ms. Xu, a reporter from the Economic Observer Network asked Chery Automobile's Public Relations Department, but received no response.

Chery Automobile’s marketing behavior this time gained a lot of public support at the beginning. Some netizens said, "If I buy a car in the future, I will buy Chery." Another netizen commented, "Chery Automobile's operation not only demonstrates the positive energy of society, but also provides free advertising and publicity for itself."

However, with the "reversal" of events, Chery's attitude changed drastically. Chery Automobile quickly deleted the video posted on its official video account showing condolences to Ms. Xu and providing a mobility scooter. In addition, a large number of netizens flooded into Chery's official live broadcast room and the live broadcast rooms of many Chery 4S stores across the country, frequently asking whether the "5,200 yuan loss assessment" should be appropriate.

According to the video posted by Ms. Xu of reporting for repairs at the Chery 4S store in Haikou, the damage to the hood of her vehicle may be 5,200 yuan. Some netizens believe that the man in the Mercedes-Benz was detained precisely because the estimated loss exceeded 5,000 yuan, and they suspect that the amount of damage was agreed upon by Chery and Ms. Xu.Some netizens said, "Since you have chosen the scooter service, you can just repair the hood of the scooter. Why do you have to replace the hood at such a high price?"

“It is said online that the dealer intentionally set a high maintenance fee of 5,200 yuan, which is misleading.” Chery spokesperson Jin Yibo responded that the Chery brand Haikou dealer provided two maintenance plans, one is repair, the price is 600 yuan; the other is replacement. The hood cost a total of 4,100 yuan (3,200 yuan for parts and 900 yuan for painting, installation and other labor service fees), and the user finally chose to pay 4,100 yuan to replace the cover.

Chery "always walks by the river"

As an old domestic automobile company, Chery Automobile has long been known as a dull and honest "science and engineering man". In the past two or three years, Chery Automobile has consciously adjusted its marketing strategy. An obvious change is that Chery pays great attention to the traffic effect and frequently participates in hot social events.

In July 2023, Li Xueyong and other Chery Automobile Marketing Company executives said in interviews with media including the Economic Observer Network that Chery is combining social hot spots to create new marketing methods, such as Chery’s barbecue in Zibo and subsequent nationwide promotion Festival activities, Yin Tongyue appeared in Zhang Chaoyang's live broadcast room to explain CDC maglev technology, Chery organized a football team to participate in the Village Super League competition, etc.

"Chery Automobile's marketing strategy currently focuses on new media marketing and traffic effects. They cooperate with various Internet celebrities, celebrities or topical figures, and use their influence and fan groups to expand brand awareness and exposure. This kind of marketing The model is a conventional marketing method for many companies, but today’s online public opinion environment is complex and ever-changing, and over-reliance on internet celebrities and influencers may increase public opinion risks for brands,” said Zhan Junhao.

Judging from the past marketing cases of domestic car companies, there are many cases of "reversal" in the end with the help of hot Internet events or marketing cases carried out by Internet celebrities. For example, in 2022, FAW-Audi collaborated with Andy Lau to shoot the short film "Little Man", which was suspected of plagiarism; in 2021, a marketing director of Nezha Auto claimed that he wanted to ask Wu Yifan, who was suspected of rape at the time, to endorse him, and the person involved was fired.

An executive of a domestic joint venture luxury car brand recently said in an interview with a reporter from the Economic Observer Network that the automobile industry has some misunderstandings in the process of embracing new communication forms. For example, some brands attach great importance to new communication forms and traffic and hot spots. However, it has gone in an irrational direction, such as using money to buy fake traffic and blindly focusing on controversial hot spots, regardless of whether these behaviors will ultimately have a positive or negative impact on the brand.

For Chery Automobile, whether it is the Zibo Barbeque or the "Pumping Car", the nature of such social hot spots determines that Chery can only passively wait for the emergence of hot spots. Chery has also made some proactive marketing plans, but there are many cases of doubts and even "overturns" in these marketing campaigns.

In December 2020, at the Chery Arrizo 5plus launch event, an advertising slogan appeared on the big screen on the stage: "All men love Ozawa, no matter whether they have Maria or not." Considering the context, the outside world generally believes that "Ozawa " refers to the new car Arrizo 5 plus, but after the second half of the sentence, there is a suspicion of "tampering with the Japanese adult movie star Maria Ozawa." This slogan was criticized by many netizens as vulgar marketing.

In addition, Chery has also produced the "79 Yuan Eyebrow Pen" of Pengcihua Xizi in recent years, the Lingyun S Milu with a test score of 85.9km/h, crushing McLaren, and the "track-level SUV" with zero-hundred acceleration score of p Controversial marketing incidents such as fake pictures and serial rear-end testing of trucks were actually "empty + neutral".