We dug into the black industry chain behind car companies' "orders exceeding 10,000": You can buy a "passionate user" for just 5 yuan.

Wang Wei (a pseudonym) who lives in Shanghai has been worried about selling her car recently.

This new energy SUV was purchased by her just last year. Looking back on the experience of using it over the past year, Wang Wei felt that she had been deceived.

In 2024, after seeing the promotion information of a certain car company about "over 10,000 small orders", as she was planning to buy a car, she thought this new car had "good word - of - mouth and guaranteed after - sales service", and was quite tempted.

When buying the car, the salesperson repeatedly emphasized to her that "the new car had over 15,000 small orders within 3 days of its launch, and if she placed an order now, she would have to wait for 2 months to pick up the car". The salesperson also showed her "screenshots of the car owners' group" and said that hundreds of car owners in the group were praising that "the car system was smooth and the battery life was reliable". The salesperson also promised that "the popular models had many after - sales service outlets, and subsequent maintenance and repairs would be convenient". She believed all these and paid a small order deposit of 500 yuan on the spot.

Less than a month after picking up the car, Wang Wei felt that something was wrong. She found that the car system frequently froze, and the navigation would suddenly crash. Although the official claimed that "the CLTC battery life was 550 kilometers", it could actually run less than about 400 kilometers on a full charge. She wanted to join the car owners' group to communicate with other car owners. When she asked about the "car system freezing" problem in the group, only 2 accounts replied that "they had never encountered it", and the rest of the car owners remained silent.

Later, she tried to privately message several "active car owners" and found that some of them didn't reply to her messages, while others' replies seemed to be pre - set templates. It was not until a real car owner privately told her that nearly 80% of the accounts in the group were "zombie accounts" that were registered in batches by the car company through a black - market team.

At this time, Wang Wei realized that she had been deceived since she saw the information about "over 10,000 small orders". The car company covered up the product defects and low market recognition through false orders: the freezing of the car system and the inflated battery - life claim were technical problems that the car company had not solved.

The low real sales volume led to insufficient coverage of after - sales service outlets and scarce spare parts, which was ultimately reflected in the depreciation rate. When she wanted to change her car, the market price of this model, which was not recognized by the market, was only 60% of the original price, nearly 10% lower than that of models with high real sales volume in the same class. The second - hand car dealer said bluntly: "The real registration volume of this model is too low, the spare parts are hard to find, and subsequent repairs are troublesome. It's not easy for us to sell it after we buy it, so we can only lower the price."

01

The False Carnival Behind "Over 10,000 Small Orders"

Wang Wei's experience is not an accident. In fact, false orders cover up the truth of product defects and low market recognition.

Nowadays, the automotive circle seems to be caught in an absurd data involution: If you say "over 10,000 orders in 72 hours", I'll say "over 20,000 orders in 48 hours"; if you say "over 30,000 orders", I'll even boast that "the orders are approaching 50,000". Whether it's a traditional car company with years of experience or a new - energy startup that has been established for only one or two years, when launching a new car, if they don't claim "over 10,000 small orders", they seem to lack confidence and a marketing gimmick.

However, when the real delivery data and registration data are exposed, this carnival will reveal its ugly true nature. The model that claimed "over 20,000 small orders" last month actually had a monthly delivery of less than 500 units; the new car that boasted "over 30,000 orders" recently only had a registration volume of more than 300 units according to third - party vehicle insurance data. Recently, state - owned media also published articles directly pointing out the increasingly serious problem of inflated order data in the automotive industry and calling for squeezing the water out of the "order bubble".

Why is there such a big gap?

According to relevant self - media disclosures, some advertising companies start planning false data of "over 10,000 small orders" several months before the new car press conference. There are two purposes: one is to create an experience for consumers that the new car is a hit, and the other is to "please the leadership".

Squeezing the Water out of the Order Bubble of Car Companies. Image source | Economic Daily

Advertising practitioners and internal staff of dealers who have participated in the marketing planning of car companies pointed out that "over 10,000 small orders" is no longer just a marketing technique for car companies, but an industrial assembly line with clear division of labor, low cost, and mature operation.

The starting point for the emergence of this black - market chain is the distorted KPI assessment within car companies.

An employee who was in charge of marketing in a new - energy startup revealed: "During a meeting, the leadership clearly stated that the small orders of the new car must exceed 10,000 in the first week of its launch. Otherwise, it would be considered a marketing failure, and no one in the team would get their performance bonus."

Car companies set such KPIs with three core purposes: First, to seize market attention. The slogan of "over 10,000 small orders" at the initial stage of a new car's launch can quickly attract the attention of the media and consumers, standing out in a market crowded with competitors. Second, to support financing or the stock price. Especially for new - energy startups, good order data can give confidence to investors, facilitating subsequent financing or stabilizing the stock price. Third, to drive internal management. The leadership hopes to motivate the team to achieve better results through high goals, preventing the marketing department from becoming lazy.

In order to complete the task, the marketing department didn't think about how to attract real users through product strength. Instead, they immediately contacted advertising companies, which then connected with black - market teams.

The black - market teams have a large number of virtual mobile phone numbers, accounts on code - receiving platforms, and even special "script tools" that can automatically complete the registration and ordering processes on car company apps or mini - programs.

Image source | Unsplash

A black - market practitioner said bluntly: "It costs 5 yuan for each small - order user. There will be a discount for large - scale orders. If the car company needs high - quality orders, such as those with real addresses filled in and simulated consultation records, the unit price is only 15 yuan."

In addition to the large - scale data falsification by black - market teams at the customer data level, car companies also have two more covert ways to supplement orders.

Forcing employees to place fake orders is one of the methods. Many car companies assign "car - ordering quotas" to employees, requiring each department to complete a certain number of small orders. They promise to refund the money later, but employees need to pay a small - order deposit of 100 - 500 yuan in advance, and this money may not be refunded for one or two months. In some cases, it may not be refunded at all under the pretext of performance deduction.

A sales employee complained: "We're not selling cars. We're just helping the company to make up the order numbers. Our salaries are not high, but we have to pay thousands of yuan for car orders in advance. We dare not refuse for fear of being retaliated against."

Another method is to coerce dealers into false "order locking". The car company claims: "As long as you complete a certain number of small - order lock - ins, you'll get a higher rebate and priority allocation of car sources." In order to gain benefits, dealers have to use personal accounts or forged customer information to "lock in orders". These orders will not be converted into real deliveries in the end, but they become the achievements used by car companies for publicity.

02

The Four - Fold Harms of False Orders

The prosperity built on lies is ultimately a time - bomb that will explode sooner or later. The farce of small - order falsification has penetrated deep into the car companies, consumers, and the entire industry, causing great harm.

To put it simply, the harms of false orders are at least four - fold.

First, creating false orders is like drinking poison to quench thirst. In essence, it will gradually undermine the foundation of car companies.

The first problem that may occur is cost out - of - control. According to estimates by third - party institutions, for a car company to create the illusion of "30,000 small orders", the fees paid to black - market teams and advertising companies alone exceed 1 million yuan. Coupled with the "fake - order subsidies" for employees and the "order - locking rebates" for dealers, the total cost may reach two or three million yuan. This money, which could have been invested in the optimization of new models, the research and development of intelligent driving, and the construction of after - sales networks, is wasted on "data falsification".

Image source | pexels

In addition, false orders may also mislead production decisions. The false prosperity of "over 10,000 orders" leads to blind decisions to expand production capacity, while the few real deliveries result in inventory backlogs. To clear the inventory, car companies have to offer price promotions, which directly leads to a sharp decline in the profit per vehicle. In some cases, they even lose money on each car sold.

More fatally, the negative impact of false orders on brand reputation is difficult to eliminate. When consumers find that the "hot - sales data" they believed in is a lie from car companies, it's hard for them to build trust in the brand again.

Second, for consumers, false order information not only misleads their decisions but also damages their rights and interests.

Most consumers refer to the "order volume" and "market popularity" of a model when buying a car. Car companies' false data takes advantage of this herd mentality.

Third, for the automotive industry, "false orders" lead to the bad driving out the good in the market, destroying the industry ecosystem.

Car companies that focus on product quality and operate with integrity are at a disadvantage in marketing and promotion. However, competitors who hype up a model with high fuel consumption and many minor problems into a "hit" through false publicity of "over 10,000 small orders" snatch a large amount of market resources.

In the long run, it's easy to suppress the innovation drive of the entire industry, and even lead the industry into a low - level involution. What companies compete on is not product strength but the ability to falsify data; what they strive for is not technological innovation but marketing slogans. Under such industry malpractice, Chinese brands not only cannot compete with international car companies but also make consumers lose trust in the brands.

Fourth, with the strict overseas ESG review and regulations, "order falsification" is likely to trigger a trust crisis for Chinese brands.

For Chinese new - energy vehicles that are accelerating their overseas expansion, the harm caused by order falsification is even more fatal. Especially in regions like the EU that attach great importance to ESG, this behavior will be regarded as a serious violation of "social responsibility" and "corporate integrity", becoming a huge obstacle on the export path.

Now is a critical period for Chinese new - energy vehicles to go global. According to data from Eurostat, the total import value of pure - electric vehicles in the EU in 2024 was 15.2 billion euros, and more than half of the imported pure - electric vehicles were from China.

Meanwhile, the EU has the strictest ESG requirements in the world. According to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), since 2024, all companies operating in the EU must disclose the "authenticity of information in corporate governance", including the statistical standards and sources of order data and delivery data.

CSRD. Image source | Zhihu

What's more crucial is the attitude of European consumers. A survey by the European Commission in 2024 showed that most European consumers give priority to a company's ESG performance when buying a car. Among them, "data integrity" and "social responsibility" are the two most - concerned dimensions.

Previously, a Chinese photovoltaic company was fined tens of millions of euros by the EU for "falsifying sales data" and was banned from participating in EU public procurement projects for 3 years. As cars are high - value commodities, once punished for data falsification, the consequences will be more serious. They will not only face fines but also be included in the "EU market access ban list". Since the EU is the second - largest export market for Chinese new - energy vehicles, losing this market will cause a heavy blow to car companies.

03

To Radically Cure the Malpractice, Three "Absences" Need to Be Addressed

The malpractice of car companies falsifying the number of small orders, seemingly due to the eagerness for quick success by the marketing department, actually stems from three "absences" in the underlying logic of the industry: There is no unified rule to constrain, no rigid punitive mechanism, and no transparent information channel.

With the superposition of these three factors, the falsification behavior in the industry is destroying the market ecosystem. To solve the problem, we also need to start from these three aspects.

First, there is an absence of a unified order - statistical standard.

Currently, there is no unified definition of "small orders". Some car companies consider a user leaving a mobile phone number as a "small order", some require a refundable deposit of 100 yuan, and others demand a non - refundable deposit of 500 yuan. This vague standard gives car companies room to take advantage of loopholes. If they choose the definition of "small orders" that is easiest to falsify and include false orders in the statistics, they can claim "hot sales" to the public.

Second, there is an absence of a regulatory and punitive mechanism.

Currently, there are neither clear laws and regulations to constrain car - order falsification nor regulatory departments to investigate and punish such behavior. Even if a car company's falsification behavior is exposed, apart from public criticism, there is almost no