The video shows a woman in a t-shirt who says “The brakes are not working” shouting similar accusations at a Shanghai auto show.
A disgruntled customer who invaded the Tesla booth at the Shanghai Motor Show in China by climbing on top of a car in protest, creating a stir on social media and prompting an apology from the company, will be detained for five days, Shanghai police said on Tuesday.
Police said the woman and an accomplice – identified only by their last names, Zhang and Li – “caused chaos” at Monday’s show when they arrived at Tesla’s booth “to express their displeasure over the incident. a consumer conflict “.
Zhang was ordered to be detained for “disrupting public order,” while Li received a warning, police said.
Videos that went viral on Monday showed Zhang wearing a T-shirt bearing the words “Brakes not working” and shouting similar accusations as staff and security struggled to restore calm.
Late Tuesday, Tesla issued a statement apologizing for not addressing the customer’s complaint in a timely manner and said it would conduct a self-inspection of its service and operations in China.
Tesla sells about 30% of its cars in China, which are made at its Shanghai plant. But it’s been the subject of occasional criticism for issues like battery fire complaints.
Monday’s incident led state broadcaster CCTV to call for an investigation into reported braking problems on Tesla cars, while China’s anti-corruption watchdog weighed in with a comment saying such disputes should be resolved in accordance with the rule of law.
“Individuals should not take extreme measures, and companies should not be arrogant and unreasonable,” the Central Disciplinary Inspection Commission said Tuesday evening.
Tesla said Monday the woman owned a vehicle that was involved in a collision earlier this year. He cited “speeding” for the crash, adding in a social media statement that he had negotiated with her over the return of the car, but talks had blocked a third-party inspection.
Zhang and Li could not be reached for comment.
The incident continued to garner social media attention on Tuesday, representing two of the top 10 trending topics on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Tesla came under close scrutiny in China last month when the military banned its cars from entering its complexes, citing security concerns about the cameras in its vehicles, sources told Reuters news agency.
This prompted founder Elon Musk to say that if Tesla used cameras to spy in China or elsewhere, it would be shut down. Earlier this month, Tesla said its cars cameras were not activated outside of North America.