This director is vindictive.

Chapter 611 Why did my simple giveaway ignite such a frenzy among netizens?

Although Lei Jun is rich, he is not the same kind of person as Chen Mo, who "spends money without batting an eye".

As a shrewd businessman and successful investor, he is still calculating at heart—he has to meticulously calculate the rate of return on every penny he spends.

Ask him to throw hundreds of millions into a lottery like Chen Mo did? The old foxes on the board would be the first to jump up and slam their fists on the table: "That money would at least make a splash if you threw it in the water!"

After all, listed companies have to account to shareholders for every expense they make; they can't just throw money around as they please.

More importantly, Lei Jun himself was also hesitant—giving away too little would be ridiculed as "stingy," while giving away too much would be painful. In the end, Dami Technology earns its money through hard work selling hardware, which is completely different from Chen Mo's "light asset" business of making movies.

Chen Mo naturally wouldn't force the issue.

It wasn't even his own business to begin with; the fact that he offered advice was already more than enough.

As for what happens outside, what does it have to do with Chen Mo? Anyway, netizens aren't criticizing Chen Mo.

In fact, Chen Mo's matter was like a match that ignited a long-suppressed powder keg!
Previously, the scattered complaints online were just netizens venting their frustrations, not really causing a stir—after all, what difference does it make if ordinary people grumble a bit? Manufacturers can raise prices or cut corners as needed; who cares if consumers complain? But this time is different. Who is Chen Mo? A national-level tycoon, a big spender in the entertainment industry. His move to "give away all foreign goods" is a slap in the face to those who consider themselves "proud of domestic products"!

Netizens were instantly outraged: "Even Chen Mo can't stand it anymore, how can we possibly tolerate it?!"

They will think, "Indeed, they were right."

Then more discontent erupted.

As a result, many domestic brands have begun to complain bitterly.

Legally, these companies have top-notch legal teams and are not afraid of ordinary consumers seeking redress.

However, public opinion can be terrifying at times. More importantly, although Chen Mo didn't say anything, he did use Tesla and Apple products instead of domestic brands when distributing benefits. But for many people, that was enough.

What Chen Mo thought was not so important at this moment; what mattered was what they thought.

As a result, some public opinion began to escalate.

Some people directly compared the 300 Teslas at Chen Mo's lottery draw with the list of complaints about domestic cars: "It's not that we're groveling to foreign brands, it's that some 'national enterprises' are treating consumers like韭菜 (leeks, a metaphor for being exploited) to be harvested!"

More complaints and details were posted online.

For example, there might be unilateral delays in delivery, such as customer service calling to urge full payment while the delivery date remains uncertain, or after-sales issues where defects are found upon delivery, with compensation being minimal and inadequate. It's important to remember that this is a car worth hundreds of thousands, not something worth tens of dollars.

You were promised three months to pick up your car? You're lucky if you wait six months! What's worse, while the car's still on the production line with screws being tightened, customer service is already calling you nonstop, demanding full payment. "Dear customer, not paying will affect production!"

What's going on? Now buying a car is like crowdfunding to manufacture cars?

You bought a brand new car for hundreds of thousands of yuan, only to find the seat stitching had ripped into a centipede-like pattern when you opened the door. The after-sales service waved their hand and said, "We'll compensate you with 2000 points, that's the most we can offer!"

Netizens were outraged: "Is this enough to buy super glue and fix it yourself?"

For example, a leading electric vehicle manufacturer has repeatedly lowered its prices, but it has also repeatedly reduced its features, and some of its past news has been dug up again.

The supposedly high-strength steel crash beam turned out to be so thin it could be used as a paper cutter!

The older model had ventilated seats, but the new model has become a "teppanyaki set meal" (meaning it's not ventilated).
The self-driving camera that used to be standard equipment now requires an extra fee to unlock its "electronic eye skin";
The most amazing thing is the battery pack – the "Ningwang" has become a "basic version", with the battery life reduced by 20%!
A car owner discovered a strange noise coming from the brakes and went to complain, but the dealership called the police, accusing him of "disturbing the peace." In the surveillance video, even the man in the hat was bewildered: "He was just holding up a sign saying 'Please return the car,' and that's considered causing trouble?"

A netizen commented: "I suggest car manufacturers just switch to running government offices—'Who here accuses this official?'"

More details have been uncovered, and even the press conference itself was full of flaws; the promotional poster even had a small line of text at the bottom: "Image generated by AI."

Even Chen Mo was completely baffled. The key point is that all of this was real and actually happened.

"Is it really that outrageous?" Liu Yifei and Chen Mo were both taken aback after reading the news together.

These things are still relatively unfamiliar to them, since they don't usually drive themselves and are often not very clear about these things.

Moreover, these kinds of consumer rights protection issues don't happen to public figures like them.

"I'm not sure either. Actually, generally speaking, this is just growing pains, it's unavoidable. Some things might not be as exaggerated as people say, but some things might be even more exaggerated than what people are saying." Chen Mo shook his head.

"Have you forgotten about that company 'FutureDrive'? As soon as new energy vehicles came out, hundreds of companies rushed to build cars, all in the name of 'PPT car manufacturing'."

"Tesla had a lot of problems at first too, but they gradually matured and became more standardized. However, the official standardization of domestic new energy vehicles is only just beginning, otherwise there wouldn't have been a forced recall of hundreds of thousands of vehicles," Chen Mo said calmly.

He wasn't as extreme as some netizens, after all, their perspectives and levels of understanding were different.

However, while Chen Mo remained calm, the domestic car manufacturers and some domestic brands affected by public opinion were not.

Because these "minor issues" began to be magnified.

Although the impact on revenue may not be immediately apparent, the stock market has already shown the most direct reaction.

The first to be affected were the new energy-related sectors, which had been the hottest in recent years, and they all began to decline. Stocks in Hong Kong and the A-share market saw significant drops.

Many people previously thought that the effect of Chen Mo's fan club was only temporary.

But it fell on the first day, remained green on the second day, and still didn't recover on the third day.

For listed companies, shareholders may not care about public opinion, but they can't help but care about the stock price!

After all, no matter how noisy the public opinion is, it won't affect their vital interests, but the stock price is entirely related to their vital interests.

In no time, Chen Mo's ancestors for eighteen generations were all privately insulted by some people.

After all, if Chen Mo hadn't pulled that stunt, people would have just cursed him online, and they would have continued doing what they always did.

However, once Chen Mo's fan meeting was held and foreign brands were given away, it immediately became the spark that ignited the fire.

Lei Jun hasn't made a final decision yet, and on the other hand, as the saying goes, competitors are enemies.

Soon, a backstabbing attack from a peer added fuel to the fire of this wave of public opinion.

A well-established automaker suddenly announced that it will assume responsibility for spontaneous combustion caused by quality issues with the three-electric system (battery, motor, and electronic control system) (a new car can be directly replaced in the event of spontaneous combustion), and will fully compensate for accidents caused by malfunctions in the intelligent parking assist function. Moreover, these two benefits cover both new and existing customers, regardless of the warranty period, and are declared a "lifetime" guarantee. This direct manufacturer guarantee is rare in the industry and immediately drew attention to the conflict between technological confidence and the assumption of responsibility.

In the past, electric vehicles would spontaneously combust due to issues with their three core electrical components, and if they were involved in a collision, the only recourse was to argue with the insurance company. A car costing hundreds of thousands of yuan could be gone in an instant. However, this established automaker suddenly announced this measure, making it the first of its kind in the industry.

Suddenly, they were like fireflies in the pitch black, standing out brightly!
Then other car manufacturers were dumbfounded.

The saying goes, "It is not scarcity that is a concern, but inequality."

Look, others can keep such promises, but what about you?

"This is good for consumers, and hopefully other car companies will do the same."

"Instead of boasting, you should learn to take responsibility!"

"Instead of spending money on public relations and shifting blame every day, why not just be direct!"

"Previously, when problems arose: Dear customer, this was due to improper operation on your part~"
Now there's a problem: Dad, we'll get you a new car right away!

"As expected, the after-sales service of a roll is worse than the configuration of a roll!"

Some brands' claims of "military-grade quality" are less practical than someone else's simple "It's on me if it breaks!"

Then, the feedback from the capital market is the most direct.

The stock price, which had already been down for several days, continued to fall.

This measure is indeed good for consumers, but it may not be so good for car manufacturers.

After all, the costs are completely different.

Sometimes things are just so magical. In fact, the other party must have been preparing for a long time to hold a press conference at this time, but many netizens actually attributed it to Chen Mo.

This change is, to some extent, a consequence of Chen Mo's fan meeting.

Chen Mo looked completely bewildered, but despite the surreal scene, everyone applauded and cheered, which in itself spoke volumes.

That is, their dissatisfaction is written all over their faces, and they desperately want change!

Of course, in reality, Chen Mo also made it in time.

Because the official safety standards for new energy vehicles for next year have already been released.

The new policy explicitly requires that new energy vehicles must meet the requirements of "not catching fire and not exploding"!
However, this new safety standard will not be implemented until July of next year.

So, to put it bluntly, GAC Toyota's promise is, in a sense, just a matter of bringing forward the deadline.

As one netizen put it: "In the end, some car companies treat the 'national mandatory standards' as the 'minimum passing grade'—without policies to whip them into compliance, they dare to use consumers as human crash testers! With this kind of behavior, they still boast about 'national pride' all day long? Bah!"

"Let's wait and see how other automakers react!"

"Next year, the purchase tax will be halved. If you buy a car this year and it will be delivered next year, then the question is, will Mr. Lei make up for the extra cost?"

As the situation escalated, more and more car manufacturers and some domestic brands began to take action.

Because they are not without competitors.

(End of this chapter)