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Chapter 2633 The Opponent's Panic

Today, Chinese automakers have made a complete breakthrough in overseas markets, and with each additional car sold, Japanese automakers feel increasingly anxious.

This sentiment permeated the headquarters of automotive giants in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, spreading from boardrooms to the cubicles of marketing and public relations departments.

They weren't unfamiliar with competitors; they were nervous for a while when Hyundai entered the global market.

However, Hyundai relies on lower prices than Japanese brands to capture the low-end market, and its user base does not overlap with the core customers of Japanese brands at all.

However, Chinese automakers are different. They don't rely on pure price wars, but rather compete head-on with them in terms of technology, quality, and fuel efficiency, and they've driven prices down to a level that the Chinese automakers simply can't compete with.

Fuel consumption is a particular concern for Japanese automakers.

As is well known, fuel efficiency has always been one of the most prized selling points of Japanese cars in the global market.

This is the golden brand that Japanese automakers have gradually etched into the minds of global consumers over the decades since the first oil crisis.

If you ask any owner who bought a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic in the 1980s, when they talk about the car, "fuel-efficient" will definitely be among the first three words they use.

As a result, once the thermal efficiency data of China's self-developed engines was released, the technical departments of Japanese automakers looked at the bench test reports again and again, and found that all the data were comparable to, and some even exceeded, those of Japanese engines of the same displacement.

An engineer from Toyota's engine division stared at a comparison table for a long time during an internal discussion, and finally muttered in Japanese, "Baka yarou! If this data isn't fabricated, then our engine advantage is gone."

"It seems that Japanese cars have really met a formidable opponent."

"President, we absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait to die."

"You're right! We really need to fight back."

……

Japanese automakers couldn't understand where this Chinese private car company, which didn't even exist a few years ago, came from, nor could they figure out who developed these technologies.

At an internal technical seminar of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, an engineer made a conjecture.

Is there a European technology alliance providing support behind China's automobile industry?

But this guess was quickly overturned, because Europe was also dismantling Chinese cars, and after the dismantling, they were equally bewildered.

BMW's technical department disassembled a Qinglong sedan. After the disassembly, the technical head wrote in the report, "The design concept of the engine combustion chamber overlaps with our current research and development direction to some extent, but the specific implementation path is completely different, ruling out the possibility of technology leakage."

It's hard to understand, but the market has been lost, that's a fact.

Japanese automakers have shifted their response strategy from technical analysis to the battle of public opinion.

They began spreading negative information about Chinese automobiles through various channels in overseas markets.

The tactics used in this information are exactly the same as those used by European and American automakers to suppress Japanese automakers in the past.

First came questions about quality, then implied plagiarism, and finally escalated to a distrust of Chinese manufacturing as a whole.

They are very familiar with this style of play because decades ago they were the ones being beaten.

Now that it's in a different location, it's just as convenient to use.

Suddenly, a number of articles appeared in some Southeast Asian car magazines.

One article was titled: "Chinese Automobiles: The Next Industrial Bubble from China?"

The article vaguely implies that the exterior design of Chinese cars has been copied from several Japanese models, that there may be infringement risks in the reverse engineering of core components, and that the product durability has not been tested in the market for a long time, making consumers feel like guinea pigs when they buy them.

The article contains no specific technical comparison data, nor does it list any of the copied car models or patent numbers. Instead, it uses a lot of "maybe," "it is said," and "industry insiders believe" to package its hints and speculations as objective analysis.

Another review published in a Malaysian automotive magazine had a more direct title: "You get what you pay for... Why the low prices of cars in China aren't worth the risk."

The article describes China's car pricing strategy as "predatory dumping," claiming that such low prices are achieved by exploiting workers and cutting corners, and that people who buy these cars will regret it sooner or later.

The domestic market is now China's home turf for automobiles, so naturally, they haven't been idle either.

Some so-called public intellectuals in the automotive industry have suddenly started appearing frequently in newspapers and on television, repeating the same few phrases over and over again...

Plagiarism, shoddy workmanship, IQ tax, industrial waste.

An old expert who sat silently in the back row at a car mass production launch ceremony in China has reappeared for an interview after some time.

This time, the veteran expert changed his story, no longer mentioning that the production line did not exist.

After all, the whole country saw the scene of three production lines starting up at the same time.

Instead, they adopted a more insidious approach.

The old expert sat on the sofa in the studio, his expression still that of a highly respected person. "The so-called export achievements of Chinese automobiles are just a flash in the pan. Relying on low-price dumping to seize overseas markets is unsustainable. Moreover, the strategy of low-price dumping will sooner or later attract anti-dumping investigations from abroad. At that time, the entire Chinese automobile export industry will have to take the blame for Chinese automobiles."

The host then asked, "So, what do you think of the quality of cars made in China?"

The veteran expert waved his hand. "I haven't driven one, so I can't comment. But I can tell you a common sense fact: building cars takes time and experience. Even if a company that's only been around for a few years can produce a car, its durability and reliability haven't been tested over a long enough period. Consumers buying it now are essentially doing a durability test for the car company. Are you buying a car, or are you becoming a guinea pig?"

"Doesn't the fact that Japanese automakers are so on high alert prove the success of Chinese automobiles?"

"Then how can you prove that Japanese automakers are on high alert? Did the Japanese automakers tell you themselves?"

"As the saying goes, you have no right to speak without investigation. Professor, have you ever considered test driving a Chinese car?"

"No way! When it comes to cars, I only trust imported cars."

"..." At this point, the host was also disgusted by the shamelessness of this old expert.

Someone even published a long article in a financial newspaper with a sensational title: "Is China's data on the three major components of automobiles suspected of being falsified?"

The article claims that bench test data and actual road test data are completely different things, and that the fuel consumption data published by China Automotive is based on ideal laboratory conditions, which cannot be achieved in real-world driving conditions.

The article concludes with the statement: "It is recommended that regulatory authorities intervene and investigate."

The article did not provide any third-party testing reports as evidence; the only "evidence" was the statement of an anonymous "industry insider."

What these articles and interviews have in common is that none of them provide any concrete evidence.

There were no test reports, no comparative test data, no patent infringement analysis, no summary of user complaints—nothing at all.

However, the wording was extremely vicious, completely erasing the technological accumulation and process improvements made by China's automobile industry over the past few years, and directly labeling it as industrial waste.

The brilliance of this tactic lies in the fact that it doesn't give you a rebuttal argument; it only gives you an emotion. If you say he's spreading rumors, he'll say, "I never said it was definitely true! I was just raising reasonable doubts."

But in the reader's mind, the phrase "reasonable suspicion" becomes "there's something wrong with this car."

Suning read through an internal briefing compiled by the marketing department, which contained all the recent malicious reports.

The briefing was quite thick; the marketing department had compiled a table listing the source, author, publication date, and main points of each negative report, along with a copy of the original article.

After reviewing the report, Su Ning put it on the table and pressed the internal phone to call the legal director over.

After the legal director came in, Su Ning pushed the briefing over, saying, "Collect all the signatures that can be found, without missing a single one. Gather the evidence and file a lawsuit directly."

The legal director picked up the briefing and flipped through a few pages, his brow furrowing more and more with each page.

The director is a veteran team that worked with Suning since the early days of Mingju Real Estate. Back then, Mingju Real Estate fought many lawsuits involving various contract disputes, land disputes, and false accusations. The legal team is seasoned and experienced.

But after reviewing the briefing, the director looked up and said, "President Su, this involves a wide range of issues. There are newspapers, magazines, TV programs, tabloids of dubious origin, and websites registered overseas. Collecting evidence from so many sources, verifying signatures, and determining legal responsibility will be a huge undertaking. The overseas websites are particularly difficult to investigate and hold accountable; some use pseudonyms, their registered locations may be tax havens, and even the actual operators cannot be found."

“We have to fight this, even if it’s difficult.” Su Ning’s tone left no room for negotiation. He put his pen on the table, leaned back in his chair, and looked at the general counsel. “The purpose of this lawsuit isn’t just to win. I want everyone who wants to jump on the bandwagon and smear us to see that anyone who smears China Automotive will be waiting for a summons. I don’t care how much money they pay; I want the court judgment to clearly state in black and white… These people are lying. A judgment in the newspaper is more effective than any advertisement. If you don’t sue them, they’ll write it again next year. If you sue them, they’ll think twice about whether they have enough money to pay before they even put pen to paper.”

The general counsel did not ask any further questions.

He took the briefing directly back to the legal department and immediately formed a special litigation team, drawing on several lawyers from the department who were most skilled in defamation and commercial discrediting cases, and also hiring two law firms he had previously worked with to jointly handle the case.

The team's work plan was laid out on the large whiteboard in the legal department, with priorities and progress milestones marked with different colored markers.

The first step is evidence preservation, including original newspapers, program recordings, and webpage screenshots. All evidence must be notarized by a notary public.

The second step is to send out a lawyer's letter, giving the other party an opportunity to voluntarily delete the article, apologize, and pay compensation.

The third step is to file a lawsuit directly against those who refuse to apologize or compensate, pursuing civil litigation procedures to sue for defamation and commercial discrediting.

……

Lawyer's letters were sent from Beijing to all parts of the country like snowflakes.

The legal department sent the letters simultaneously by registered mail and express delivery to ensure that each lawyer's letter had a signed receipt.

People who received the lawyer's letter reacted in different ways.

Some newspaper editors panicked and called the legal department of Tianchao Group on the same day they received the lawyer's letter, saying, "It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding! Our article was indeed not thoroughly verified. We are willing to issue a correction statement. Can we please avoid going to court?"

The general counsel replied according to the rules set by Suning: "A correction statement can be issued, but it must be published in the same position and length as the original, and the compensation must still be paid. If you agree, we will sign a settlement agreement; if you do not agree, we will proceed with the litigation process."

"Understood! Our newspaper will correct the statement immediately."

Some public intellectuals, after receiving the lawyer's letter, pretended to be nonchalant and immediately boasted to their companions, "This is a propaganda intimidation tactic by China Auto, and I will not yield."

"Awesome 666!" His companions all gave this public intellectual a thumbs up.

"..." The public intellectual immediately put on a Gao Xiaosong-like expression.

But when the public intellectuals got home, the first thing they did was turn on their computers and delete all the things they had posted before, one by one.

The public intellectual thought he had deleted the content quickly enough, but the legal department of the Chinese automotive industry had already commissioned a notary office to notarize and collect evidence of his webpages. Each page has a screenshot archived with the notary office's seal across the pages.

Deleting it won't help; the evidence has already been secured.

The most interesting thing is that one person simply refused to accept the lawyer's letter. The courier knocked on the door three times but he didn't open it. In the end, the package was returned to Tianchao Group.

The general counsel, upon seeing the returned package, remarked, "Perfect timing."

Next, the general counsel had someone take the returned delivery slip to the notary office to have it notarized as a refusal to sign for the package, and then directly submitted the summons to the court.

It's important to know that refusing to sign for a document is legally equivalent to service of process. If you don't even accept a lawyer's letter, don't blame the summons for being harsh.

After the court accepted the case, the summons was posted directly on that person's door.

Later, a neighbor took a picture and posted it online, which became a long-standing joke in the circle.

Throughout the entire litigation process, Suning remained silent.

He did not give any media interviews, did not respond to the rumors in any public setting, did not issue any statements, and did not hold any press conferences.

A reporter cornered Suning at an industry conference, handed him the microphone, and asked, "Mr. Su, what are your thoughts on those negative reports?"

"Leave it to the law."

"President Su, don't you think this is too domineering?"

"When these public intellectuals accept funding from external forces and slander domestic brands, have they ever considered the iron fist of law and justice?"

"..."

……

While the Ministry of Justice of China was handling the lawsuits, the automobile factories of China continued to operate as usual, with production lines running 24 hours a day, and export vehicles being loaded onto ships one after another.

The Kunyu No. 1 and Kunyu No. 2 roll-on/roll-off ships alternately travel between Tianjin Port and major ports in Southeast Asia, with their holds fully loaded with export versions of the Zhuque SUV and Baihu off-road vehicles.

Moreover, domestic sales also suddenly surged.

Suning knew that the court's judgment was more effective than a thousand words from him.

Those who criticize Chinese cars as industrial garbage on television will have their words rejected word by word in court judgments.

Those who imply in newspapers that China's automotive data is falsified will have their implied information classified as "unfounded and false statements" in court judgments.

This kind of slap in the face doesn't rely on a loud voice, but on a judgment stamped with the court's red seal.

Moreover, Suning will not withdraw its lawsuit just because the other party apologizes.

An apology is acceptable, but first, the compensation must be transferred to Tianchao Auto's account, and then an apology statement of the same length must be published in designated media. Neither of these two steps can be omitted.

...(End of this chapter)