Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 670: Thunderbolt, I was blinded

As the largest professional automotive media in China, Autohome is still very influential.

Especially in the automotive industry, its impact is even less significant.

Soon, this article was reposted by many people on Weibo.

Various negative news about DSG suddenly emerged on many forums.

"When you step on the accelerator, it makes a squeaking sound, and when driving normally, it also makes a clicking sound."

"For the car in Modu, I found the power interruption problem occasionally when the car was new for 1300 kilometers, just like what everyone reported. Later, I continued to drive for a while and found that the power interruption mainly occurred at the moment when the vehicle upshifted and downshifted. If it is slightly larger at this time, In most cases, these accelerators can control the frequency of power interruptions, or when power is interrupted, quickly lifting the accelerator pedal and instantly depressing the accelerator pedal again can solve this problem."

"I have driven 8000 kilometers and have experienced occasional stalling problems more than 5 times. I found that they only occur in 3rd gear. It is almost unbearable."

"Don't take chances. After mine was interrupted once, the gearbox was completely useless."

"My Magotan also stalled. The clutch assembly has been replaced. I went for a test drive on the same day and it still stalled."

"This is obviously a design defect. Why not recall it?"

"My car also stalled, so I went to the 4S store to upgrade the software. How could this be possible?"

……

There are various reviews, but few have good things to say about DSG.

Of course, Volkswagen's response was relatively quick this time.

Less than half a day after the news about Autohome came out, some of the comments below changed.

"What is a design defect? ​​We must be rigorous in what we say. Before there is an official confirmation that DSG has a technical defect, we cannot make a conclusion based on guesswork.

In fact, there is nothing unacceptable about this. Don’t computer software and mobile phone software need new patches after a period of time? I think this is a normal thing. "

"I agree with the point above. Nowadays, the degree of electronic control in automobiles is getting higher and higher, and more and more things need to be controlled by programs. The software is also developed by software engineers. It cannot be in place at one time, so there will be corresponding patches in the future. Upgrading is also normal.”

"I don't deny that DSG had some problems when it was first launched in China, including death flicker and D2 jitter. But now let's see if there are still these reactions? At least it can be said to be much less than before, which shows that Volkswagen still does it. As for the power interruption problem mentioned this time, I think it can be solved through software."

"I feel like this gun article is written at a certain level..."

"People know that Volkswagen's DSG is not perfect yet, but DSG is a new transmission system after all, and it needs a continuous improvement process. We users need to play an active role in this process and be more tolerant."

"Mindset is indeed very important. Just use it if you choose. There are so many people using DSG. You are not the first person to use DSG in the future, and you will definitely not be the last person to use DSG in the future, so you have There is nothing to worry about, haha, if there is a problem, just ask the public to solve it!"

"It is recommended to discuss it from a technical perspective instead of one-sided evaluation of good or bad! Let's discuss it together!"

……

Although both parties were taking action, more car owners soon joined in.

In order to prove that what they said was true, these car owners directly exposed their cars and people on the forum.

The persuasiveness must be much stronger.

So the situation quickly turned against Volkswagen.

"Vondel, this time the public opinion against DSG is fierce and developing very rapidly."

"I think the company needs to attach great importance to it and actively respond to it."

As the general manager of Spring City Volkswagen, Tariq is a little panicked now.

Spring City Volkswagen's sales performance last year was very poor. Not only was it unable to compare with Modu GM, it was also unable to compare with Modu Volkswagen, and was even surpassed by Chery Automobile.

If he continues to lose this year, he feels that he will not be able to keep his position under his butt.

The time spent in China is much more comfortable than returning to Germany. He doesn't want to go back.

So after feeling the offensive of public opinion, he immediately panicked.

"We just had a dispute with Nanshan Group on automatic engine start and stop, and then Autohome published a series of articles on DSG."

"This is obviously the Nanshan Group that is causing trouble, and they are taking revenge on us!"

Strauss's statement was immediately recognized by everyone.

The situation is indeed quite obvious. Although DSG itself does have some problems, they did not just appear today.

Now that this topic is suddenly so hot, it is obvious that someone is behind it.

Think about who Volkswagen has a bad relationship with recently, and who Autohome has a good relationship with, and everything will be answered.

"Even if we know that this matter was caused by Nanshan Group, what can we do?"

"Now public opinion has developed, and many car owners have called to complain."

"Our 800 toll-free number is about to be used up!"

With a dark face, Fondel glanced around at the people attending the meeting.

His mood can be said to be very bad.

Obviously at the beginning, the situation was very favorable to Volkswagen.

Why did such a big change begin to occur in just a few days?

The most critical issue is the DSG issue. Since it was still under warranty, the quarrel was not very intense.

Volkswagen is also doing various analyzes internally, trying to solve the problem from the source.

This way there won't be any more problems.

But before they could fully find the cause of the problem, things got serious.

"Almost all of our current models have switched to DSG. If DSG's reputation is bad, the impact on us will be huge."

"Whether you continue to use DSG or change the gearbox, it is a very difficult decision."

"I think we still need to find ways to appease consumers as much as possible, and at the same time, let the headquarters solve the problem as soon as possible."

As the purchasing director of Volkswagen in Shanghai, Bu Defan also participated in this meeting of Volkswagen China.

Spring City Volkswagen and Modu Volkswagen are both victims of this DSG problem.

This problem was essentially brought over by Volkswagen, so these Germans are also quite nervous now.

“Before we find a complete solution, we really cannot easily admit the problem of DSG, otherwise it will be difficult to end it.”

"Chinese consumers are often easier to deal with. As long as you give them some small favors, everything will be easier."

Strauss's view should represent the views of many Germans in Volkswagen China.

The sales of old cars like Jetta and Santana in China have always been very good.

Volkswagen was so reluctant to discontinue them.

They even changed the name of the replacement model and sold it directly as a brand new model, and consumers accepted it.

He is truly the most friendly consumer in the world.

"The top priority is not what we want, but how we respond to the public opinion that has been stirred up."

"If you keep waiting blindly, you will definitely become more passive when the time comes."

"Although we think this matter was started by Nanshan Group first, other car companies will definitely add insult to injury."

“The longer it goes on, the greater the impact will be and the harder it will be for us to clean up.”

Fondel's mind is relatively clear.

This time the problem is probably unavoidable even if you want to.

Opponents will not let Volkswagen pass this level so easily.

The previous method of diluting the problem through time may not work this time.

"Volkswagen is one of the first foreign-funded car companies to enter the Chinese market and has made an indelible contribution to the development of China's automobile industry."

"Many Chinese employees who worked at Modu Volkswagen and Spring City Volkswagen are now serving in various ministries."

"Their influence on China's automobile industry is very huge. I think we can consider promoting this matter through the power of the joint venture parties."

"Even if we don't suppress it completely, at least we won't let so many companies jump out and besiege us."

Strauss immediately made a very meaningful proposal.

Back then, the main reason why Volkswagen was willing to let Spring City Auto Group become the majority shareholder in Spring City Volkswagen was because it valued the influence of Spring City Auto Group.

Now that Spring City Volkswagen is encountering problems, it is natural that Spring City Automobile Group, the big brother in the Chinese automobile industry, will take action.

Vondel also recognized this very much.

"I will call Zhu Zhengfeng directly later to communicate and see if he can provide some support."

"In each of our joint ventures, we should also communicate well with the people in charge of China, let them exert their influence, and let the media stop tossing."

Vondel agreed with Strauss without any hesitation.

Following this meeting, Volkswagen soon took new actions.

……

……

"Editor Fang, this time Nanshan Group brings a bunch of independent brands to compete with Volkswagen. The situation is a bit interesting."

As the backbone of the NetEase Auto Channel, Lin Jiayan naturally quickly learned about the recent major events in the automotive industry.

The key is that in the past few days, marketers from car companies or people from advertising companies have been contacting NetEase Auto to communicate about soft articles and forum management.

In this way, Lin Jiayan would naturally have more information.

"Both Modu Volkswagen and Spring City Volkswagen have contacted us and hope that our website will not report DSG-related news."

"As long as we agree, they will add at least 1000 million yuan in additional advertising projects this year."

"I estimate that this time not only our website received this contact, but other websites must be similar."

"Volkswagen is preparing to spend money to suppress the DSG issue."

Fang Dawen is not stupid. Lin Jiayan can see things clearly, so he can also see things clearly.

And because he is the person in charge of the channel, he has more information than Lin Jiayan.

"If this DSG quality problem is really initiated by consumers themselves, they can basically achieve their purpose by doing this."

"If it lasts for a week at most, other hot news will cover up this matter."

"But this time they have offended the Nanshan Group, I'm afraid it won't be that easy."

"Autohome and Weibo are obviously not things that Volkswagen can handle."

Lin Jiayan looked like she was watching the fun and didn't mind the big deal.

The more various things happen in the automobile industry, the happier they, the media people, will be.

If everything was calm every day, their life would be difficult.

It's like arms dealers always hope that there will be wars happening all over the world at all times, so that their business will be good.

If everyone was peaceful, they would have no business.

Competition between car companies is a war for Lin Jiayan and others. They can effectively use their publicity platform to gain more benefits.

"Volkswagen should not have gone to Nanshan Engine to increase its popularity some time ago."

"If they don't take the initiative to provoke Nanshan Group, I don't think Mr. Cao will attack them on Weibo."

"It is even less likely that a public opinion crisis caused by DSG's quality problems will occur so soon."

Fang Dawen sees the problem very thoroughly.

Although there is no evidence for many things, he can still see clearly.

"But Volkswagen's DSG is really not very good. It didn't take long before it was launched and there were so many problems."

"On the contrary, there are almost no bad complaints about Nanshan Transmission's products in recent years."

"It is estimated that consumers will be wary of models equipped with DSG in the future."

When Lin Jiayan said this, Fang Dawen couldn't help but interjected, saying: "Not only that, the outbreak of the DSG problem is likely to cause some car companies that are preparing to follow the trend to develop DSG gearboxes to give up this option and continue to use Nanshan gearboxes. Buy an AT gearbox."

"Invisibly, it can be considered as a contribution to the stable development of Nanshan Gearbox."

"But Volkswagen has a headache. The problems with DSG exist objectively, and it is very difficult for them to deny it."

"But I guess they haven't found a complete solution to this problem, otherwise they wouldn't have been dragging it out."

Fang Dawen also watched the excitement and didn't mind the big deal.

Let those giants fight hard.

It would be best if this kind of thing could happen every month, that would be perfect.

……

Issues related to DSG are very popular on the Internet.

In addition to Volkswagen, Nanshan Group, Chery Automobile and other participants, other car companies are naturally also paying close attention.

Everyone is even thinking about how they should deal with this situation.

"Austin, I have communicated and understood with the quality department and after-sales service department that there is a problem with Volkswagen's DSG. This should be a fact."

"Now China's independent brands headed by Nanshan Group are tightly seizing this opportunity to besiege Volkswagen. I think this is a great opportunity to consolidate the position of GM in China's automobile market."

"According to the total number of Volkswagen units in the north and south, their sales last year were still much more than ours."

"If the number of units of both North and South Volkswagen can be reduced by one level, but we can continue to maintain growth, then this year we will not only continue to win the sales championship, but also our sales volume will be more than that of North and South Volkswagen combined."

As the deputy director of the sales department of GM, Su Huasheng couldn't wait to join the battle against Volkswagen.

General Motors has been the leader in the world for N years, and it was only in the past few years that it was overthrown by Toyota.

In addition to Toyota, Volkswagen is GM's main competitor in the world.

One of a kind!

In this case, the people at General Motors naturally hope that Volkswagen will suffer misfortune.

However, Volkswagen, as an automobile giant that entered China in the 1980s, has a huge influence in the Chinese market.

Especially in the northern market, Volkswagen has a good reputation.

Even if General Motors wants to make some small moves, the effect is very limited.

However, this time Nanshan Group joined forces with various independent brands in China to seize Volkswagen's handle and completely ruin DSG's reputation.

This incident gave Su Huasheng hope.

"It's already very lively now. If we continue to participate, can we help in any way?"

Austin naturally hopes that Volkswagen will be as unlucky as possible.

But he was a little confused about what he should do.

"In fact, there is no need to do anything special. As long as our 4S stores use some targeted promotional techniques, it can have unexpected effects."

Su Huasheng didn't dare to make too many harsh moves. After all, both Mordu Volkswagen and Mordu General Motors had a common shareholder, and that was Mordu Automobile Group.

If people from Modu Volkswagen go to Modu Automobile Group to complain, Su Huasheng will probably be criticized as well.

Of course, a dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist.

Even if we are in the same group, we are still competitors.

So as long as no one gets caught, Su Huasheng still wants to do something.

In this way, Zimodu GM's performance will be more outstanding at the end of the year.

Only then will you have better chances for promotion.

"Whatever you think will have the greatest effect, just do it the way you want."

"I only look at the results, not the process."

When Austin said this, Su Huasheng breathed a sigh of relief.

It's better this way, as all the initiative is in your own hands.

……

"Mr. Cao, since the day before yesterday, there have been many cases of car owners returning their cars at Volkswagen 4S stores everywhere."

"Early this morning, related news was directly on the hot search."

"Volkswagen has found a lot of media to suppress these things, but the effect is not very obvious so far."

"Although those media have received money, they don't want to miss such good traffic."

"With this wave of counterattack, I feel that Volkswagen's losses are at least 10 billion."

Counterattacking Volkswagen is a major event during this period, and Zeng Tingting naturally has to report some situations to Cao Yang in a timely manner.

Judging from the current situation, all developments are very much in line with Zeng Tingting's expectations.

Among the business war cases in the automobile industry, perhaps this case can become a classic.

“Has there been any change in sales at Volkswagen dealers across the country?”

No matter what the counterattack is, it will definitely fall on sales volume in the end.

So Cao Yang is very concerned about changes in Volkswagen sales.

"I chatted with Guo Shufu of Yangcheng Huaqiang Group yesterday. The sales volume of their Volkswagen 4S store in Magic City dropped by 7% compared to the same period last month."

"And he feels that this situation cannot be completely rectified in the next few months."

"So I estimate that it will be very difficult for Volkswagen to achieve positive growth in the Chinese market this year."

When Zeng Tingting said this, Cao Yang couldn't help but smile.

Although these actions cannot directly bring down the North and South Volkswagen, the purpose of affecting their sales has been achieved.

This has been enough for Volkswagen to feel distressed for a long time.

Sales are profits!

The current automobile market is not as volatile as in later generations, and the average profit margin of both North and South Volkswagen can reach more than 10%.

In other words, a car worth RMB 20 has a profit of almost RMB 2.

If we buy 2 fewer cars, we will lose million in profit.

According to the current pace, Volkswagen will definitely sell more than 1 fewer cars.

This loss is huge.

Let’s see if Volkswagen and other car companies dare to provoke Nanshan Group easily in the future.

"Keep working harder, we must make Volkswagen admit that there is a problem with DSG."

"Otherwise, people would think that we were using our influence to throw dirty water on Volkswagen."

On some issues of principle, Cao Yang felt that it was necessary to persist.

In this case, if Volkswagen does not admit its problems, it can publicize it as someone hacking itself.

But it would be a different story if Volkswagen officially admitted its problems.

What Nanshan Group and those self-owned brands are doing is asking for help from the people, and it is a just move.

This positioning is quite important.

"I have communicated with the sales directors of several other independent brands. The next step is to find ways to mobilize car owners from all over the world to go to Volkswagen 4S stores to cause trouble."

“You can even use relationships between dealers to get people from Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda and other dealers to promote this matter.”

"In a city, the size of the car market is relatively fixed."

"If Volkswagen's sales can be reduced, some of the diverted consumers will naturally continue to choose models from other joint venture brands."

"To a certain extent, other joint venture brand car companies are the biggest beneficiaries of this incident."

Public opinion offensive is very important, but after all, car sales do not rely on the Internet. In the end, it still needs to be implemented by 4S stores.

Therefore, it affects Volkswagen's sales at the source, causing people to go to 4S stores to cause trouble, and directly leaving Volkswagen stores with no customers, let alone sales.

Once this kind of thing is taken up, more car owners will definitely actively participate in it.

After all, Volkswagen will eventually use the profits of one car to appease its car owners.

Even when some car owners go to cause trouble, they can get a subsidy of several hundred yuan a day from special channels.

Anyway, as long as there is an effect, it doesn't matter whether the method is dirty or not.

"Didn't China TV expose the defective Kumho tires this year?"

"Now Volkswagen's DSG defective problem is so serious, but the other party has not taken any initiative to recall it."

"You can try to contact China Television to see if they can take the DSG issue as an extension of the 315 activities and report it to them."

The relationship between Nanshan Group and Huaxia TV is definitely very strong.

As long as the requirements are not too excessive, they can often be achieved.

This time, if we want to inflict pain on Volkswagen and force them to bow their heads, we will definitely need a variety of means.

Otherwise, it would be a pity if the effect is not enough.

With these instructions from Cao Yang, Zeng Tingting naturally became more unscrupulous in doing things.

Soon, Volkswagen DSG quality issues became more and more serious.

Not to mention the professional automotive media, other portal websites have also begun to report on it on a large scale.

Even some celebrities from Nanshan Film and Television realized the subtleties and began to post relevant content on their Weibo.

As a result, Volkswagen finally couldn't stand it anymore.

(End of this chapter)