BYD has sharply increased pressure on automotive bloggers and influencers in China. The company has already become a leader in the Chinese industry by the number of lawsuits against authors publishing negative content about the brand. This is not about isolated cases. According to Chinese media, BYD has filed lawsuits against dozens of accounts and bloggers, and the total amount of claims has exceeded 1 million dollars. In some cases, courts have already sided with the automaker.
The most high-profile case was against the blogger "Long Ge Talks EVs". The court ruled that the author disseminated unconfirmed statements about malfunctions of BYD car batteries, electric motors, and control electronics. As a result, the blogger was ordered to publicly apologize and pay about 2 million yuan in compensation (almost 21 million rubles).
It is noteworthy that BYD has simultaneously created its own system for "hunting" so-called black PR campaigns. The company offers rewards of up to 5 million yuan for information about commissioned publications and coordinated attacks against the brand.
For the industry, this is a highly indicative moment. The Chinese electric vehicle market has become so competitive that the struggle is no longer just for technology and prices, but also for the information space. Especially against the backdrop of slowing sales and a fierce price war within China.
On the other hand, the story raises more and more debate about the boundaries of criticism of automotive companies. BYD claims to be fighting disinformation and false accusations. Critics fear that large car manufacturers may use legal pressure to suppress negative reviews and investigations into car quality.
Read more on the topic:
- Chinese SUVs learned to "freewheel": BYD and Huawei started a new technology race
- BYD embarked on a forced march across China, the main goal - to prove that charging is no longer a problem
- BYD is already overtaking Tesla even outside of China, and this is changing the entire global automotive market