Great Wall Motor CEO Exposes Fake Sales & '0km Used Cars' in Chinese Auto Industry

Chinese Auto Industry Criticism

• 💡 Wei Jianjun, CEO of Great Wall Motors, publicly criticized the Chinese auto industry during a dialogue on Sina.com.
• 🎯 The discussion focused on "How Chinese Automobiles Can Earn the World's Respect," highlighting systemic issues.
• 📌 Jianjun's remarks, though about an "open secret," gained significant attention due to his prominent position as a CEO.

The "0km Used Car" Scheme

• 🔑 The CEO accused the industry of "vicious competition" and using fake data to deceive consumers and investors.
• 🚗 This involves new cars being registered under employees' names with license plates, never driven, and then entering the used car market.
• 📈 These vehicles are sold as "used cars" with 0km mileage, artificially inflating sales figures.

Motivations for Inflated Sales

• 💰 The practice allows for disguised price reductions in the used car market without lowering new car prices, influencing consumer perception.
• 🚀 Inflated sales numbers lead to an increase in corporate value, which helps companies secure more loans, especially those not profitable from actual car sales.
• 💼 This system enables executives to secure high annual salaries and cash out appreciated company stock, even if the company eventually fails.

Public and Industry Reactions

• 💬 Chinese netizens speculated about which companies were involved, with many criticizing the overall industry reality.
• ✅ BYD fans strongly defended their brand, claiming the criticism did not apply to their well-selling vehicles.
• ⚠️ Some commentators accused the Great Wall CEO of hypocrisy or targeting competitors like BYD out of jealousy.

Financial and Regulatory Debate

• 📊 Discussions touched upon BYD's strong financial health and low debt-to-equity ratio, contrasting it with the alleged practices.
• 🏛️ Some argued that the root cause of these issues lies with government subsidies, suggesting the problem would disappear without them.
• 🔍 The prevalence of "0km used cars" from various brands, including suspicions about Leapmotor and even Huawei-branded phones, was a recurring theme.