China's Market Regulator Urges Tesla to Ensure Product Quality- PingWest

China's Market Regulator Urges Tesla to Ensure Product Quality- PingWest

China's Market Regulator Urges Tesla to Ensure Product Quality

3 hours ago

Beijing (PingWest)—China's market regulator on Wednesday urged Tesla to ensure product quality in the country, following an incident at the Shanghai auto show that drew wide social media attention.

On Monday, a disgruntled customer clambered on top of a Tesla vehicle in protest over the company's handling of her complaints about malfunctioning brakes in one of its cars.

Videos that went viral showed the woman wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "The brakes don't work" and shouting similar accusations.

The car owner had a car accident due to speeding and requested a return, Tesla explained, adding that she rejected any form of third-party testing and Tesla's remedial plan.

On the same day, Grace Tao, vice president of Tesla China, told the press that Tesla will not compromise. "Maybe it's a necessary process for the development of a new product," said the VP.

The response drew a wave of criticism from China’s state-run media, prompting the company to issue an apology.

“We apologize deeply for having not resolved the problem with the car owner in a timely manner,” Tesla wrote on its official account on Weibo on Tuesday. A team had been set up to handle the protester’s case and “would work with any government investigation”.

On Wednesday, a regulator in the city of Zhengzhou, the protesting customer's home, demanded that Tesla share data related to the brake incident, which a representative at Tesla's store there said it would do, local state media reported.

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