According to the report of Caixin, there is a latest progress in the matter that Ideal MEGA has been maliciously attacked by water troops. According to the message from the Hengshui police in Hebei, during the investigation of cases related to water army companies and public relations companies, it was found that during the listing period of MEGA, there were three to four auto companies suspected of participating in the suppression. The Hengshui police have conducted inquiries to many people, among which a middle-level employee of Xiaopeng Automobiles was involved and is currently under investigation. Other several auto companies have not been announced yet.
It is understood that Ideal MEGA was listed on March 1, and the new car is positioned as a pure electric MPV, with a price of 559,800 yuan. The car has been highly expected by LI AUTO, and the official once expected the monthly sales of the new car to reach 8,000, but contrary to expectations, the new car was immediately subjected to malicious P-charting and other things after its listing, which also affected the sales of Ideal MEGA. Data shows that the sales of Ideal MEGA in March were 3,229 vehicles.
On March 11, after LI AUTO’ founder, Li Xiang, finally spoke out, saying that Ideal MEGA has been maliciously P-charted, and there are organized illegal and criminal acts in this event, and it has been dealing with it through legal means. At the same time, it was also pointed out that after careful consideration, it has decided to start to fight back and use light to fight back against darkness. It is hoped that more people can jointly create and convey beautiful designs and unique creativity.
It is worth mentioning that after Li Xiang spoke out, both Huawei’s Yu Chengdong and the founder of Xiaopeng Automobiles, He Xiaopeng, commented on Li Xiang’s post. He Xiaopeng commented that “Fight back with light against darkness, support! Last year, we also experienced a huge lesson at the end of the year, and for the first time understood what the meaning of the commercial battlefield is like and the significance of national defense capabilities.” Yu Chengdong of Huawei commented that “Always choosing light is the right value! If the value of an enterprise is damaged, there will not be a beautiful future! I hope that together with the industry, we will use practical actions to insist on always choosing light and fighting back with light against darkness!”
Today, in response to the fact that its employees are accepting the matter of Ideal MEGA being maliciously P-charted, Xiaopeng Automobiles has also urgently issued a statement in response, saying that the Hebei police are recently carrying out operations to crack down on online water troops, and Xiaopeng Automobiles is also actively cooperating with the police in the investigation of suppliers. The case is in the stage of investigation, please do not believe or spread rumors, and do not affect the investigation of the public security organ. In addition, it also said that it strongly supports the police’s operation to crack down on online water troops. At the same time, it pointed out that since the listing of Xiaopeng X9, it has also been widely maliciously attacked by online water troops, with more than 5,000 related negative reports. In response to such water army attacks, Xiaopeng Automobiles has collected evidence and reported to the public security organ, and the public security organ has accepted it. If there is updated information, we will also disclose it to the public in a timely manner.
In fact, the failure of Ideal MEGA after its listing has a considerable impact on LI AUTO. Just looking at the secondary market alone, since Ideal MEGA was listed, the stock price of LI AUTO has fallen by more than 50% since then.
To this end, LI AUTO has also made a series of adjustments. On March 21, LI AUTO’ CEO, Li Xiang, issued an internal all-staff letter, in which Li Xiang pointed out that due to the chaos of the MEGA’s rhythm, the sales team has significantly reduced the time and energy to serve users of the L series, and even the position for the main model, Ideal L8, has not even been placed in the store. Next, it will give up the comprehensive blooming sales strategy and focus on the large retail centers in the top cities for product experience and test drives, and accelerate the construction of super charging stations in these cities. At the same time, it also reflected on the excessive focus on sales, and said that it will return to the promotion of user value and put user value first.
In addition to internal reflection, LI AUTO has also carried out organizational structure adjustments in multiple departments in April. LI AUTO’ series of operations are undoubtedly related to the failure after the listing of Ideal MEGA to a certain extent.
In fact, similar events often occur in the automotive industry, including online rumor-mongering, malicious dissemination, and the chaos of “online water troops.” The communication effect and negative impact of online water troops often cause serious damage to auto companies. In the face of online rumor-mongering and malicious dissemination and other phenomena, more and more auto companies are going into business. Previously, including Tesla, LI AUTO, NIO, Xiaopeng Automobiles, Leapmotor, ARCFOX, ZEEKR Automobiles, and VOYAH Automobiles and other auto companies have pushed the legal department to the front stage, and welcomed the malicious smearing information on the network with a more proactive and tough attitude.
It is not yet known which auto companies are related to this event, and this still needs to be announced by the subsequent official.
