After a BAIC Arcfox electric car caught fire, employees pried off all the brand logos on the car and covered it with black cloth. The official statement later emphasized that the battery did not catch fire. Honda closed two fuel vehicle factories in China and transformed towards new energy.
These two seemingly unrelated things are actually what will happen in the era of electrification. Enterprises cannot always grow in a straight line, and products cannot always be error-free. What is more important is the attitude when facing changes and mistakes.
A Jihu car caught fire, and an employee pried off the logo and covered it with black cloth
Event overview : According to media reports, on July 24, a Polar Fox Alpha S caught fire near Moganshan Road in Hangzhou. After the firefighters brought the fire under control, Polar Fox Auto staff put their clothes on inside out, forcibly removed all the Polar Fox logos on the car without the consent of the owner and the firefighters, and covered the car with a black car cover.
In the statement, Polar Fox Automobile stated that after preliminary on-site investigation and combined with background data, it was found that the voltage, temperature and insulation data of the vehicle's power battery were normal before the fire. After the fire was extinguished, no abnormality was found in the vehicle's power battery and no signs of burning. The fire department is investigating the specific cause of the fire, and Polar Fox Automobile will announce the identification results as soon as possible.
Polar Fox also stated that during the accident handling process, the improper handling behavior of the staff brought a very bad feeling to the car owners and the friends who care about Polar Fox. While expressing apologies, Polar Fox will also strengthen internal management and training to prevent such improper behavior from happening again.
Comment : Bowing and apologizing after making a mistake is a low-cost operation that cannot convince car owners and the public.
The most ironic thing in the whole incident is not prying the LOGO, but that Jifu mentioned that "it is necessary to strengthen training for staff on improper operations."
In our opinion, prying the logo may not be the employee's personal behavior, but rather the behavior after the company's "training". Let's ask, how much sense of belonging does this employee have to the brand that he suddenly took the action to help cover up the brand? If the relevant operations were not mentioned in the training or if they were temporarily instructed, would the normal employee's first reaction be to pry the logo and cover it with black cloth? Unbelievable.
What this conveys is the wrong values of fraud and lack of responsibility.
As a new brand backed by BAIC, Magna and other luxury brands, Jihu Automobile should have a bright future, but its actual market performance is not good. There are of course many reasons behind this.
However, as a company with a strong background, it should at least appease users, take responsibility, speak out sincerely, and improve the problem after the incident. However, what Polar Fox did was to remove the logo in an attempt to cover up the truth, and came to the "conclusion" that "the battery did not catch fire" before the investigation came to a conclusion.
Honda closes two fuel-powered vehicle plants in China
Event overview : Recently, the media reported that Honda is about to close two factories in China. The Guangzhou factory will be closed in October, and the Wuhan factory will stop production and close in November. The parts production and research facilities in the factory will be retained.
According to the plan, Honda Motor will reduce its annual gasoline vehicle production capacity in China from 1.49 million to 1.2 million by closing factories and other measures.
Comment : From an objective perspective, it is not surprising that top joint venture brands in the fuel era, such as Honda, lag behind in the new energy era. Resting on their laurels is a comfort zone in corporate operations, and only a crisis can prompt them to break out of their comfort zone.
Declining market share, a wave of dealer closures, and factory closures are the current situations facing Japanese joint venture brands, including Honda.
At the same time, with the efforts of Chinese brands, Japanese cars are also beginning to decline in Thailand, their second home. Subaru and Suzuki have closed their factories in Thailand, and Honda has announced a 50% reduction in production capacity in Thailand.
From the perspective of subjective initiative, it is reasonable to shut down, suspend operations, and transfer when the situation is not good. Hold back for now and then strike again after adjusting the strategy. It is not yet clear who will win. For example, while Honda is closing two fuel vehicle factories, it plans to build two new electric vehicle factories this year.
Joint venture car companies have indeed fallen behind in recent years, but we expect joint venture brands to be equally successful in the era of electrification. It is precisely because of the existence of various participants that Chinese brands can continue to make progress.
