ORA is in hot water lately, ironically, due to the Good Cat. Chinese EV companies rely on one of many selling points to stay competitive; like lower pricing, longer range, and most importantly, better tech. It’s not uncommon to see processor specs on car brochures, boasting the processing speed of the infotainment system, for example.
Like its peers, ORA reserved a section in their brochure and website about the Good Cat’s Cafe OS infotainment system; how it uses a Qualcomm 8 core processor to seamlessly provide a smooth user experience and smart self-driving features. Unfortunately, customers found out their vehicles didn’t have the Qualcomm 8 core processor, instead, they came with a quad-core Intel Atom chip from 2016.
Naturally, ORA removed all traces of the Qualcomm chip from their literature; thankfully, customers were one step ahead with screenshots and old brochures.
The shady moves landed ORA in CCTV’s spotlight; this led the CEO of ORA to make a public apology, promising to conduct an internal investigation. Meanwhile, owners received a letter stating that the Qualcomm chip was a preview of future Good Cats (huh?). Note: All export Good Cats got the Qualcomm chip as promised.
Recently, ORA is handing out 10,000RMB (~ 1500USD) to each Good Cat customer, hoping to make the situation go away; if everyone agrees, then ORA would have to pay out 4 billion CNY (~63 million USD).
Customers aren’t giving in- Chinese law protects consumers from fraudulent practices like this; companies are required to not only refund the cost of the vehicle, but also reimburse the customer with three times the cost of the car.
Will Ora get away with fraud? Or will this be the end of the brand? Stay tuned to Car News China to find out!
Yeah, seems Great Wall has been on a role lately, apparently in an effort to keep up with the elite and surging NEV start-ups, and as a result, the momentum got so great that they began spinning out of control.
Whoa! Slow down!
Hopefully more reasonable heads will prevail, at Great Wall.