42,000 yuan "hole" front cover questioned, Xiaomi SU7 Ultra caught in a pre-sale turmoil.

Xiaomi's car division is currently embroiled in a 'cancellation' controversy.

Recently, some users of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra have raised concerns about the optional carbon fiber dual air duct front hood and requested a refund. On May 12, a locked order user who ordered the SU7 Ultra and opted for the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood, Sun Qi (pseudonym), told Times Finance: "The optional carbon fiber dual air duct front hood requires an additional charge of 42,000 yuan, but its actual function does not match the promotion."

According to the "Answer to Netizens' Questions" officially released by Xiaomi Automobile on February 26 of this year, the carbon fiber front hood is a complete replica of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype, featuring the same aerodynamic design and two through air ducts that enable efficient airflow at the front.

According to a report by Beijing Business Today, a blogger tested the situation by blowing air from a blower onto the hole saw cover, and the tissue did not react. In addition, some car owners found upon disassembly that the so-called "dual airflow high-efficiency guiding" carbon fiber openings neither effectively guide air to the braking system nor generate downforce. Currently, the related video has been taken down.

Sun Qi and some users who pre-ordered the vehicle believe that the actual functionality of the high-priced carbon fiber dual air duct front hood does not match the effects advertised, and they are advocating for a refund. According to Sun Qi and another pre-order user, Xu Guo (alias), there are currently over several hundred people in the related group. Additionally, media reports indicate that nearly 400 car owners (prospective car owners) have collectively requested to return their vehicles.

On May 7th, Xiaomi Auto responded in an official "Q&A with netizens" stating that the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood not only meets the needs of replicating the external shape but also provides some airflow diversion and auxiliary front compartment heat dissipation functions. Xiaomi Auto sincerely apologizes for the previous unclear communication and proposes the following measures: for undelivered orders, a limited-time modification service will be offered; for users who have picked up their cars and selected the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood before the end of this limited-time modification period, 20,000 points will be given as a gift.

On May 13, Sun Qi told Time Finance that he learned from Xiaomi Auto delivery personnel that if users want to pick up their cars, they can communicate to continue production within 60 days; if they fail to communicate and apply for continued production after 60 days, it will be considered as no intention to pick up the car, and the order cancellation matters will be negotiated again at that time.

However, Sun Qi believes that "20,000 points are like happy beans." Sun Qi told Time Finance that the current plan does not specify whether the deposit can be refunded after 60 days. In the case where the deposit cannot be refunded, he does not plan to pick up the car and may consider suing.

On May 13th, Times Finance sent interview questions to Xiaomi Auto regarding whether there are further solutions for Xiaomi Auto, their response to the tests conducted by the aforementioned blogger, and the authenticity of the statements made by the delivery personnel. As of the time of publication, no response has been received.

The 42,000 yuan optional carbon fiber dual air duct front cover is under scrutiny.

"Finally, we have the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood. This is a new luxury car, can you confirm that you can drive it to work? Do you really not need the electric front trunk that we meticulously designed? Do you really want to buy it?" On the evening of February 27, as the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra launch event was coming to a close, Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun introduced the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood configuration and posed this question to the audience present.

The atmosphere on site was enthusiastic, and as soon as Lei Jun finished speaking, voices calling for "want" rose and fell. At the press conference, Lei Jun said: "We didn't have a plan before, but due to the overwhelming response at the end of last year, there was intense debate internally, and I was also quite hesitant. In the end, I decided to help everyone develop it, but the progress is a bit delayed and we need to push the delivery back by two months. It's a bit expensive, a bit expensive."

The carbon fiber double air duct front cover option, which made Lei Jun repeat "a bit expensive" twice, is priced at 42,000 yuan, and the delivery wait time is longer.

According to the official introduction from Xiaomi Automobile, the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood is made using industry-leading hot pressing tank technology, similar to that of many supercar models. It not only requires 6 hours of high-standard manual laying but also necessitates 6 hours of pressure forming in a hot pressing tank. Currently, the original factory carbon fiber dual air duct front hood can only produce one qualified product per day with a set of molds, and the appearance quality, craftsmanship, and raw material costs far exceed those of third-party imitation modification parts.

On February 26 this year, Xiaomi Auto officially mentioned that the carbon fiber front hood is a complete replica of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra prototype, featuring the same aerodynamic design and equipped with two through air ducts that enable efficient airflow at the front. Therefore, when the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra was launched on February 27, this carbon fiber front hood was offered as an optional configuration, and it was clearly stated that the original color carbon fiber is available for the entire range.

The carbon fiber double air duct front hood, which has been highly anticipated, has become one of the selling points of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra and is quite popular among users. According to Lei Jun's introduction during the live broadcast on March 2nd: "I was quite surprised over these three days, 63% of people chose the vented front hood."

Xu Guo told Shidai Caijing: "At first, I watched the Nurburgring video of the SU7 Ultra and thought this car was very cool, its design was like a prototype. However, at the first launch event, the Ultra's form didn't have the hole-punched design of the prototype, so I didn't consider it at that time. During the official launch event, Mr. Lei mentioned that they specially added the hole-punched version to meet our customers' demands. Also, I went to a physical store and asked if I could buy the Max version and then modify the exterior kit, but the staff said the internal structure of the hole-punched version couldn't be changed either, so I finally chose the hole-punched version."

Sun Qi stated that consumers buy this car for three reasons: first, it provides emotional value; second, it supports domestic products; and third, Lei Jun promotes the perforated version in the same way as the perforated front hood at the Nürburgring.

On March 2nd of this year, Lei Jun posted on Weibo stating: "The carbon fiber front hood not only changed the appearance but also modified the internal structure, with dual air ducts directly guiding to the hub, supporting hub cooling." However, 6 hours later, Lei Jun edited the post to: "The carbon fiber front hood not only changed the appearance but also modified the internal structure." The statement "dual air ducts directly guiding to the hub, supporting hub cooling" was removed.

On May 7th, in its official response, Xiaomi Motors emphasized that the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood not only meets the need for replicating the external shape but also provides some airflow diversion and auxiliary front compartment cooling functions.

The solution provided by Xiaomi Auto is as follows:

1. For undelivered orders, we will provide a limited-time reconfiguration service, allowing a return to the aluminum front hood. However, after a successful reconfiguration, the vehicle's production schedule and estimated delivery time will be recalculated based on the time of successful reconfiguration, and the configuration and delivery order prior to reconfiguration cannot be reverted.

2. For users who have already picked up their cars and have locked in the selection of the carbon fiber dual air duct front hood before the end of this limited-time configuration (before May 10, 23:59:59), we will offer a gift of 20,000 points as a gesture of goodwill.

Sun Qi does not agree with this solution: "Compensation of 20,000 points is equivalent to Happy Beans. And reallocation requires queuing again, with a waiting time that may last 30 to 40 weeks."

Sun Qi told Times Finance that he does not plan to pick up the car under the circumstances where the deposit cannot be refunded and is considering suing. "My demand is for Xiaomi Auto to refund the deposit," Xu Guo stated.

"Currently, Xiaomi Auto has not proposed a new solution. On May 13, I learned from a group that some prospective car owners mentioned that the respective delivery personnel stated: Based on the current situation, we will not continue to produce your order. If you wish to continue with the delivery, you may contact us within 60 days to discuss continuing production; if you fail to communicate your request to continue production after 60 days, it will be regarded as you truly having no intention to take delivery, and we will negotiate to cancel the order accordingly." Sun Qi told Times Finance. However, Sun Qi believes this plan does not clearly state that a deposit can be refunded after 60 days.

On May 13, Times Finance sent interview questions to Xiaomi Auto regarding the authenticity of the aforementioned delivery personnel's statements, but no response had been received by the time of publication.

Is there a legal basis for the request for a refund?

Does the request for a refund by prospective car owners have legal grounds? Zhu Yongping, the managing lawyer of Guangdong Datong Law Firm, stated in an interview with Times Finance on May 13 that the basis of the users' request is whether Xiaomi constitutes false advertising. If users make a car purchase decision based on false advertising, it falls under the "significant misunderstanding" situation outlined in Article 147 of the Civil Code, allowing them to claim the contract cancellation and return of the deposit.

According to a report by Hongxing Capital Bureau, citing Lin Wei, a lawyer from Beijing Jingshi (Shanghai) Law Firm: "The criteria for identifying false advertising behavior mainly lie in whether the operator uses advertisements or other methods to make misleading false claims about key information of goods or services. In determining whether it is false advertising, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the overall effect of the advertisement or promotion, as well as the reasonable understanding that consumers may have. If the information in the advertisement or promotion is sufficient to mislead consumers into making a purchasing decision regarding the goods or services, then such promotion is very likely to be identified as false advertising."

In addition, at the beginning of May, the topic of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra being limited to 1500 horsepower also sparked heated discussions. On May 7, Xiaomi Auto responded by stating: "In the previous update we pushed, the 'ranking mode' feature added unlocking conditions, which caused confusion for some users. We sincerely apologize for this. After receiving feedback from everyone, we took it very seriously and have suspended this push."

At the end of March, a high-speed accident involving the Xiaomi SU7 occurred, which sparked widespread discussions both within the industry and externally regarding the safety and promotion of "intelligent driving." Currently, there have been no new developments disclosed about the accident. However, at the beginning of May, Xiaomi changed the promotional page for new car orders, replacing the original term "intelligent driving" with "assisted driving."

According to reports, the delivery volume of Xiaomi cars saw its first month-on-month decline in April. Official data from Xiaomi shows that the delivery volume in April was 28,000 units, a month-on-month decrease of 3.4%. The core model of this event, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, was launched on February 27 of this year and is currently the most high-end model of Xiaomi cars, with a starting price of 529,900 yuan. The day after its launch, the number of large orders exceeded 15,000 units.

On May 10th, Lei Jun posted on Weibo, admitting that the past month has been the most difficult time since founding Xiaomi. He stated: "The past month has been the most challenging period since I founded Xiaomi. My mood has been quite low, and I have canceled some meeting arrangements and business trips, as well as paused some interactions on social media. I have been very busy over the past few years, but this period has allowed me to calm down, think carefully, and I have indeed gained some insights..."

Image source: Screenshot from Lei Jun's Weibo

Fans have expressed support and understanding for Lei Jun and Xiaomi's automotive venture. On May 10th, the owner of the first perforated version of the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra in Fujian posted on Weibo, stating, "The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra allows me to experience the charm of technology and also understand the difficulties behind its research and development."

Ai Media Consulting's chief analyst Zhang Yi told Times Finance: "To be frank, Xiaomi's marketing can be considered very successful. Especially in the era of smartphones, of course, Xiaomi has also achieved certain success in the automotive era. However, I think they might have overlooked one point: there are still differences between the automotive industry and digital products like smartphones. In the automotive industry, the more sophisticated the marketing, the proportional negative effects brought about by a 'flip' are also significant."

Zhu Yongping also mentioned that automakers should pay more attention to the "compliance review mechanism for promotion". Key performance parameters need to be verified through technical, legal, and external testing agencies. For optional components, physical displays or 3D structural perspectives should be provided to avoid the risks of "cloud selling cars" and fully ensure "user informed protection".

Zhang Yi believes that car companies can only win consumers' trust through solid quality. "On the one hand, we cannot deny the key role of capital and marketing in the automotive industry. However, we absolutely cannot cross the red line by compromising on products. I believe that whether it's Xiaomi or Lei Jun, they are essentially working very hard and hope to improve their products and competitiveness through solid fundamentals, laying a solid foundation and accumulating over time, but this indeed requires time and sedimentation."

(Source: Times Finance)

Source: Eastmoney.com

Author: Times Finance