Leapmotor Faces Owner Protest at Chongqing Auto Show

A Leapmotor vehicle owner holding a white piece of paper with black text protested at the firm’s official booth at the Chongqing Auto Show on Saturday, the first day of the event.

The female owner complained that her Leapmotor vehicle experienced a black screen on the day she received it, and the repair process lasted half a month, according to the paper she held aloft. Her vehicle had two important parts replaced and Leapmotor had allegedly promised to let her return it, but then backtracked.

“The problems described by this user have been solved. We pay great attention to user experience and delivery quality. We are actively communicating with the user and will give her a satisfactory answer,” Leapmotor said in a statement.

The owner is asking to return the car and Leapmotor’s stores are communicating and negotiating with her about a compensation plan, according to insiders.

At present, the models of Leapmotor on sale mainly include the T03, S01 and C11. Leapmotor is standing at the key point of pursuing a Hong Kong IPO. It is expected to become the fourth new energy vehicle company to be successfully listed in Hong Kong after NIO, XPeng and Li Auto.

However, there have recently been many complaints about delays in delivering vehicles by Leapmotor on an automobile quality complaint platform in China.

In fact, as early as May 2020, shortly after the launch of Leapmotor’s S01 model, more than 200 car owners issued an open letter against Leapmotor. This open letter lists a number of problems with the Leapmotor S01, such as battery, OTA functions and even power systems.

With the rapid increase in sales of new energy vehicles, recalls, complaints, rights protection and other incidents are emerging one after another. According to data released by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, there were 59 recall statements about new energy vehicles in the country last year, involving 830,000 vehicles.

Compared with traditional fuel vehicle brands, complaints, rights protection or quality problems related to new energy vehicle brands are more likely to attract attention.

At the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, a stunt by a Tesla owner to ensure her consumer rights received significant attention. In the same year, at Guangzhou Auto Show, XPeng encountered a similar incident. Car companies including Li Auto, NIO, Geely-backed Geometry, WM Motor have experienced issues with user complaints and rights protection.

SEE ALSO: Tesla Retracts its Tough Approach over Customer Complaint Drama in Shanghai Auto Show