Source: Securities Times

On June 19, Weibo was certified as$BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$“Li Yunfei,” the general manager of the Brand and PR Office, posted on Weibo that recently, a car company used black PR methods to maliciously slander the BYD brand and products. BYD solicits effective clues and evidence from netizens and all sectors of society. After verifying that the facts are true, the providers of valid clues and evidence are rewarded 200,000 to 5 million yuan, while keeping the provider's personal information strictly confidential.

Not long ago, it was also an important participant in the NEV industry$XPENG-W (09868.HK)$/$XPeng (XPEV.US)$It was also attacked by “rumors,” and Xiaopeng Motor President Wang Fengying was rumored to resign. Currently, in addition to price wars and technology wars, the “public opinion war” in the automobile industry is also becoming increasingly intense.

BYD has attacked “black PR” many times

“Recently, we have received reminders from many parties that a car company is using black PR methods to belittle, slander, and maliciously slander our brand and products! Regarding the above and past situations, we are now seeking effective clues and evidence of black PR from a wide range of netizens and all sectors of society, including but not limited to information such as chat records, audio and video recordings, emails, contracts, and payment of fees.” Li Yunfei said.

According to information, as long as the black PR clues and evidence provided by various sectors of society can clearly point to the relevant individuals, black PR advertising companies, or relevant car companies, BYD will compile and report them to relevant departments such as the public security investigation. After verifying that they are true, the provider of valid clues and evidence will be rewarded 200,000 to 5 million yuan, while keeping the provider's personal information strictly confidential.

Why the heavy attack on black PR? Because BYD has been affected by rumors many times over the past few years. In January, the “Qin PLUS DM-i starts at 69,800 yuan” was spread on the Internet, and the rumor was refuted by BYD as fake news. The official guide price for the Qin PLUS DM-i started at 99,800 yuan.

In November 2023, auto blogger Yao*Qiang, who has one million fans, posted a test video on Douyin's “Daqin Army and Shaanxi Regiment”, claiming to test the 100 kilometer fuel consumption of BYD's Equation Panther Auto “Leopard 5” with normal driving methods, and finally came to the conclusion that the fuel consumption of this model reached 18 liters per 100 kilometers. BYD Equation Leopard collected relevant vehicle operation data and found that the car had a large number of abnormal driving behaviors on the test day, including excessive speed and rapid acceleration and deceleration.

In May 2024, in response to the above behavior, BYD stated that Yao*Qiang's abnormal driving behavior harmed road safety, and that falsely claiming fuel consumption results from normal tests also caused serious damage to the reputation of the BYD Equation Leopard brand and Leopard 5 products. In addition to calling the police, BYD decided to formally file a lawsuit against Yao*qiang, demanding a public apology and compensation of 5 million yuan for losses.

According to the reporter's incomplete statistics, since 2019, BYD has been attacked by internet rumors many times. On June 1, 2022, the “BYD Online Reporting Center” published an article stating, “From now on, we have decided to adjust the reporting reward from RMB 50,000 to RMB 1 million to RMB 50,000 to RMB 5 million for a period of one year.”

By 2023, this reporting reward system was continued. On July 24, 2023, the Ministry of Justice of BYD said on Weibo: “If you have any other information on suspected infringement or even suspected of accepting the interests of others to infringe on the rights and interests of BYD and BYD users, please contact @比亚迪新闻打假办公室提供线索. If verified by BYD and approved by the relevant judicial authorities, we will award RMB 50,000 to RMB 5 million as a reward based on the value.” In December 2023, BYD announced that the reporting reward of 50,000 to 5 million yuan will be valid for a long time.

Rumors spread about 4 car companies in 20 days! A number of car companies have taken action to start a “counterattack” against public opinion

Just a few days before BYD issued a “reward order,” Xiaopeng Motor had just emerged from the “president's resignation” rumor. According to media reports, Xiaopeng Motor President Wang Fengying has submitted his resignation to Xiaopeng He, Chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors.

Regarding rumors of her resignation, Wang Fengying denied it in her circle of friends, saying, “The Chinese automobile industry is becoming more and more popular. From rolling technology, volume configuration, and price until today, it is a 'roll of public', all kinds of chaos, and all kinds of rumors. As an old car person for 30 years, I am particularly saddened.”

June 14,$GAC GROUP (02238.HK)$Aian officially established the GAC Aian Online Reporting Center. According to information, the center will accept complaints and reports from netizens, gather clues and evidence of illegal violations such as insults, slander, and slander against GAC Aian, and crack down on online infringement. For reporting leads or evidence verified by the online reporting center as true, valid, of legal origin, and approved by the judicial authorities, GAC Aian will award a maximum reward of not more than RMB 1 million based on the value of the clue or evidence.

Earlier, on June 12, GAC Aian issued a solemn statement saying, “Recently, some false information and malicious rumors about GAC Aian's' layoffs' and 'intensive and fresh graduates cancellation' have appeared on online platforms, causing market misinterpretation and affecting corporate reputation. In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the enterprise, on June 12, 2024, our company officially reported the case to the public security authorities, and the rumor makers will be held legally responsible in accordance with the law.”

At the beginning of June, rumors such as “Ideal Auto becomes a used car after centralized licensing of new cars” and “fraud of Ideal Auto's sales data” spread on social media. June 4th$LI AUTO-W (02015.HK)$/$Li Auto (LI.US)$The Ministry of Justice refutes rumors that there is no falsification of sales, and that there are no cases where new cars are centrally licensed and then used cars are sold or exported abroad.

On May 30, the official account of “Xiaomi Spokesperson” refuted the rumor:$XIAOMI-W (01810.HK)$The car has never been acquired or held$EVERG VEHICLE (00708.HK)$plans and actions.”

As can be seen, in just 20 days, at least 4 car companies were affected by the rumor, car companies also promptly refuted the rumor one after another, and the entire automobile industry paid more and more attention to the public opinion war.

On March 24, 2023, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CB20) and member organizations made a unanimous resolution to jointly launch the “Joint Initiative on Combating Cyber Naval Forces in the Automobile Industry” (hereinafter referred to as the “Joint Initiative”). FAW, Dongfeng, Changan, SAIC, BAIC, GAC, Chery, JAC, Great Wall, Geely, BYD, NIO, Ideal, and Xiaopeng became joint initiative companies.

The specific contents of the joint initiative are: 1. Do not participate in or hire cyber sailors to carry out any negative comments, irrigate, or maliciously discredit them; 2. Jointly boycott companies that hire cyber sailors and counteract service agents; 3. Jointly resist all unfair competition that falsifies false information, attacks and provokes peer relationships; 4. Call on car users to rationally express their opinions in cyberspace, not be misled by bad information, and not harassed by the Navy; 5. Companies that hire cyber sailors to carry out the above malicious acts and corresponding service agents, Chinese car companies chief The Joint Council of Brand Officials (CB20) will assist member organizations to take legal measures to protect their legitimate rights and interests.

More than a year has passed since the launch of this joint initiative, and the phenomenon of cyber warfare and internet rumors against the automobile industry does not seem to have improved significantly. Car companies can only use heavy rewards and other methods to launch a “counterattack” against negative public opinion and rumors that continue to pop up.

editor/tolk