In a highly public display of dissatisfaction, a disgruntled Chinese Tesla (TSLA) owner has destroyed the front windshield of his brand new Model S to protest what he called “Tesla’s arrogance.”
The WSJ reports that minutes after taking delivery of his white Tesla on Friday in Beijing, Yu Xinquan, an e-commerce entrepreneur from the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, took a wrench and smashed the windshield of the one million yuan (about $173,600) vehicle.
“It’s a protest against the company,” Mr. Yu said in an interview. “Tesla’s arrogance made me angry.”
Yu was upset that his car was delivered too late, saying he expected to be one of the first in China to take delivery of the Model S when he placed his order last October and made a down payment of 250,000 yuan ($40,195). He became furious at Tesla earlier this year when he discovered that his car had yet to be manufactured in the U.S. even as Tesla started delivering cars to customers in China.
Tesla’s explanation was that it wouldn’t ship to customers outside Beijing and Shanghai on the basis of “first come, first served” because of a lack of service centers and charging considerations. However, the customer argues that nobody from Tesla told him that when he placed the order.
To ameliorate the situation, Tesla offered to Mr. Yu the use of one of its showroom display vehicles or he wait for another month to get a new car from the U.S.
But Yu rejected the proposal, telling the Journal that driving a display car is just not the same.
“I feel like I just married a woman who has been married,” he said.
Car smashing like Yu’s are not a one off event in China. Last year, a wealthy Chinese businessman hired a demolition crew to smash his Maserati Quattroporte with sledgehammers to send a message to carmakers that better after-sales service in China, especially for luxury cars, is desperately needed.
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