50 Stunden Autoentführung in Shanghai

When Uncle Fa received a call from his daughter, it was just a little past ten o'clock. Uncle Fa and his wife were busy in the kitchen. The loud news on the living - room TV drowned out the gurgling sound of water from the rice - washing basin. For Uncle Fa, who was over fifty, the TV was still his main source of information.

It was sunny in Shanghai that day. Although the temperature of over 30°C was a bit abnormal, staying in the house protected from the heat and looking at the bright weather outside made people feel refreshed. However, this good mood didn't last long.

The phone rang urgently, and his daughter's tone was even more anxious. She hurriedly asked Uncle Fa if the new car he ordered in August had arrived at the store and been invoiced.

Uncle Fa was confused. Then his daughter on the other end of the phone dropped a bombshell: "Shanghai has tightened the subsidy policy for trading in old cars for new ones. After October 12th, you have to win a lottery to get the subsidy."

Hearing this news, Uncle Fa had a gut - feeling that things were going wrong. It was already the morning of October 11th, more than 12 hours had passed since the policy was announced on the evening of the 10th.

At 9:27 p.m. on the 10th, a time when salespeople got off work and consumers rested, a bombshell was quietly dropped into the already turbulent market.

An announcement issued by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce showed that from October 13th to December 31st (based on the invoice date stated on the "Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sales"), a subsidy activity for car scrapping and replacement will be carried out in the way of "individual consumers signing up, public notary lottery, and successful applicants obtaining eligibility". Individual consumers who obtain eligibility through the public notary lottery can submit applications for scrapping and replacement subsidies as required. Applications from individual consumers who do not obtain eligibility through the public notary lottery will not be accepted.

All of a sudden, there was an undercurrent in Shanghai. WeChat messages, voice calls, and phone calls flooded in from all directions. Confusion, shock, eagerness, and panic poured from the client - side to the dealership through the optical cables, and then the reassuring and urging messages, mixed with excitement and exhaustion, flowed back along the same channels.

Customers prepared money overnight, discussed countermeasures with their families and salespeople, while salespeople were busy checking inventory, making return calls, and urging the supply of goods to arrive as soon as possible... Under the 50 - hour countdown that had already begun, a city - wide car - snatching frenzy kicked off.

01

Phone Calls from Salespeople

After the editor posted on the Moments, Xiao Lin, a car salesperson from Hongmeng Zhixing, sent messages to several customers he was following up with. It was already late at night. As a service - industry worker, Xiao Lin rarely contacted customers actively at this time. But tonight was different. The sudden adjustment of the Shanghai replacement subsidy policy didn't leave much time for the market. Immediate information dissemination was particularly important at this moment.

After several rounds of communication, Xiao Lin finalized a few customers.

On October 11th, the first Saturday after the National Day, although people had to work on this day due to the make - up shift, at the store, Xiao Lin still received customers who should have been at work. "My customer took a day off, came with a bank card, swiped the money in front of me, and managed to get the invoice."

According to Xiao Lin, previously, this customer had placed an order for a Shangjie H5 and paid a deposit. The expected delivery time was within this year. According to the original plan, the customer could get a subsidy of 20,000 yuan by trading in an old car that met the scrapping requirements. For a car like the Shangjie H5, which was priced between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan, 20,000 yuan was an irresistible discount.

However, the sudden tightening of the policy might make the "duck in hand fly away" in an instant. To secure the 20,000 - yuan subsidy, the customer rushed to the store that day. Fortunately, it was still early, and there were still a few cars in stock for this model. Finally, "the customer returned the old - ordered car and bought a ready - made one, just changing the appearance and interior color." It was learned that Xiao Lin also returned the customer's deposit for the originally ordered car: "After all, the customer is buying a car from me."

Another lucky customer was a hesitant Roewe customer. "There were no ready - made cars for this model. Fortunately, a batch of three cars was on the way. So I quickly asked him to place an order."

According to Xiao Yang, a Roewe salesperson, on the second day after the policy was announced, a batch of Roewe RX5 PLUS cars arrived. So he quickly contacted customers who were interested in this model and informed them of the relevant policy. "When he came to place an order at noon, the car hadn't arrived yet. He went back around two or three o'clock. His car was unloaded at the store at 5:30 p.m. I'll invoice it for him tomorrow. He has already paid in full."

Xiao Yang said that on the 11th, there were sales for all models in the store, and everyone was rushing to buy ready - made cars.

However, while some were happy, others were sad. Compared with new customers who flocked to 4S stores to grab ready - made cars during the last two - day window period, potential customers who had already paid the money and were waiting for their cars to be produced were getting impatient.

Without contacting the salesperson, after lunch, Uncle Fa and his wife rushed to the 4S store where they had ordered the car. In September, the old car that had accompanied Uncle Fa for several years had completed the scrapping process. Since they didn't have a car at the moment, they had to walk there.

Even though the distance was not long, by the time they reached the store, there were several obvious sweat stains on Uncle Fa's military - green short shirt tucked into his trousers. When the author entered the store, Uncle Fa and his wife were talking anxiously with a bewildered salesperson with a straight face. On the table, there was a car - ordering contract carefully wrapped in a document bag. Soon, the salesperson got up and called the manager for help.

From talking with Uncle Fa, it was learned that he ordered a Han L at the end of August. When paying the deposit, the salesperson orally promised that the car would be delivered within 15 - 20 days. "I'm an old driver and have changed four or five cars. Previously, cars were usually delivered around this time," Uncle Fa said regretfully when talking about the oral promise. "Later, when I was browsing short - videos, I saw people saying that such promises should be written in the car - ordering contract. I asked the salesperson, and he said the contracts were all the same and there wouldn't be any problems."

Unfortunately, even after the old car's scrapping process was completed in September, Uncle Fa didn't get his new car. "My daughter was worried about me and asked me several times when I could pick up the car. I asked the salesperson a few days ago, and he said the car could be picked up in a few days. I thought I'd be lucky enough to get it today, but they said it had just been shipped and would arrive on the 18th or 19th."

Uncle Fa, who had waited for more than 50 days and was about to miss the 20,000 - yuan scrapping subsidy, was particularly dissatisfied with the dealership's actions. At first, Uncle Fa proposed that either the manufacturer or the dealership should compensate for his losses. However, his suggestion was rejected. From 12 noon until around 5 p.m., finally, Uncle Fa made a compromise and chose a ready - made car of the same model with lower mileage. "Actually, it's not about the money. But the national subsidy is to encourage consumption, and the sales service is not good. I was actually forced to buy this one because the car I wanted didn't arrive."

Besides canceling the order and choosing a ready - made car, some consumers chose to give up the replacement subsidy directly. A salesperson from Jikr said that after informing the customers who had placed orders, some customers chose to continue waiting for their cars to be produced.

02

Tasting Sweetness under High Pressure

The situation was quite different for salespeople.

The sudden subsidy policy caught the market off guard. They had to process a large amount of information in a short time: confirm inventory, invite customers, give test - drive explanations, deal with issues left by old customers, and follow up with new customers, etc.

Since the policy was issued on the 10th, working overtime and staying up late had become the norm for salespeople. Among the stores visited, except for Xiaomi and Tesla, which had very few ready - made cars and were less affected, new - energy brands such as Li Auto, NIO, Ledao, Hongmeng Zhixing, and Jikr, as well as traditional car manufacturers like Audi, Mercedes - Benz, Roewe, Volvo, and Volkswagen, were all busy trying to get invoices within the limited time.

"We've also been affected to some extent. For example, customers who were supposed to pick up their cars this year were originally sure to get the subsidy. They've already factored this money into the car price. Now, due to the delivery cycle, they may not be able to get the subsidy, which must be disappointing for them," said Xiao Li, a Xiaomi salesperson. "But there's nothing we can do. We don't support car returns either. Moreover, the delivery cycle of Xiaomi cars is generally long, and we won't make oral promises to customers about when the cars can be delivered."

It was learned that since the commission for each transaction was relatively small, and Xiaomi salespeople had many customers and the delivery cycle was long, they wouldn't actively call customers to inform them of the policy. "If you want to know, we can help you interpret it. But as front - line salespeople, since some customers won't get their cars until next year, interpreting the current policy doesn't make much sense."

For brands with a shorter delivery cycle, dealing with disputes from previously ordered customers was an inevitable part. Just like Uncle Fa's situation, the objective fact of the sudden policy change was hard to reverse, and the customers' losses were inevitable. So, who should bear this loss? From the customers' perspective, it was an unexpected disaster, while for the dealerships or brands, it was also unreasonable to bear this price difference.

However, caught between customers and the policy, sales companies were bound to be attacked from both sides. And in this situation, front - line salespeople, who had the dual identities of company employees and customer - contact persons, were the first to bear the brunt of all the complaints.

"Of course, we also want to help you solve the problem, but this problem wasn't caused by us, and we really can't do anything about it," said the salesperson, smiling awkwardly and trying to calm the angry Uncle Fa down.

However, the sudden policy change didn't only bring bitterness. Besides the pressure from old customers, the huge potential of new customers made salespeople under high pressure taste great sweetness.

"Why didn't you come yesterday? The cars were selling like crazy!" When the author went to the Hongmeng Zhixing store at noon on the 12th to inquire about the inventory of the Zhijie R7, Xiao Lin's first reaction was to ask this question.

It was learned that after the policy was announced, on the 11th, all car - sales stores in Shanghai were bustling, and almost all the ready - made cars were sold out. After some inquiries, the author learned that as of the afternoon of the 12th, there were only eight ready - made Zhijie cars left in Shanghai, including seven R7s and only one S7. The newly launched Xiangjie S9T only had ready - made cars in the Beijing area. The Wenjie M5 had sufficient inventory, and most stores had a lot in stock.

With the sudden policy change, it all came down to the inventory of ready - made cars. For dealers with insufficient new - car reserves and some new - energy brands, the display cars suddenly became hot commodities.

At a Volvo dealership, the newly launched XC70 was placed in the core area of the store. Since this model had many versions and optional items, it also adopted a pre - order and production - scheduling sales model. While reducing the cost of stocking, it also meant a shortage of ready - made cars.

"There are no ready - made cars for this model now. There's only this display car. You can buy it if you want, but there's no discount," the Volvo salesperson introduced. Generally, due to their special display nature, display cars are usually sold at a discount. But in this urgent situation, taking advantage of consumers' eagerness, the Volvo display car was still sold at the original price.

Other brands that were so popular that they had to sell display cars included Ledao, Roewe, NIO, and Audi.

Both Ledao and NIO adopt the brand - direct - sales model. When visiting the stores at noon on the 12th, it was learned that there were not many ready - made cars of the Ledao L90, and most of them were display cars. For example, there were only 3 display cars left for the Ledao L90 Max and Ultra versions, and for the L60, there was 1 display car and 2 ready - made cars. At the NIO store, thanks to the national unified allocation, the inventory was relatively sufficient. Among them, the NIO ET5T still had 800 ready - made cars in stock. The Firefly, due to its small inventory and more suitable price, had all its ready - made cars snatched up, and there was only one limited - edition version that was just