Tesla locked in group buying dispute with Pinduoduo over discounted Model 3 cars
- E-commerce site Pinduoduo and car dealer Yiauto offered buyers subsidies to purchase Tesla Model 3 cars as part of a promotional campaign
- Tesla, upon finding out that one buyer’s purchase had gone through Pinduoduo, refused to deliver the order, saying its reselling terms were breached
In July, Pinduoduo started teasing a group buying flash sale with Chinese car dealer group Yiauto, which would give five random buyers the chance to purchase Tesla’s China-made Model 3 vehicles at a price of 251,800 yuan (US$36,270) – 40,000 yuan cheaper than the vehicle’s regular retail price – if at least 10,000 people sign up.
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Tesla starts delivery of made-in-China cars
The promotion, nonetheless, went live on July 26 and appeared to have hit its target number of sign-ups. However, last week, a screengrab reportedly showing a Tesla sales representative refusing to deliver a Model 3 vehicle to one Wuhan-based buyer who bought the discounted vehicle through Pinduoduo’s promotion started circulating online. Local media outlets reported that another buyer from Shanghai had received the vehicle after taking part in the same flash sale.
“Tesla China has publicly stated on multiple channels that the official Tesla website is the only formal purchase channel for new cars, and it has never commissioned other platforms or merchants to conduct sales activities,” Tesla said in a statement sent to the Post on Monday, in response to queries about the Pinduoduo promotion.
“Tesla’s actions are not aimed at the buyer but at third parties that offered subsidies,” said Zhang Yanlai, a patent lawyer with Hangzhou-based Zhejiang Kending Law Office. “Tesla has always insisted on a direct sales model, but the intervention of third parties has affected its one-to-one sales channel and diverted its user traffic.”
The carmaker’s insistence on control over the supply of its vehicles puts it at odds with Chinese online consumer culture, where it is common practice for sellers to offer discounts to buyers as a marketing tactic.