A Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle stands on display at Seoul Motor Show in South Korea on March 28, 2019. Photo: VCG

Tesla China has told the Global Times that it will support consumers who were "misled" by a group purchasing platform and didn't receive their cars to protect his rights from being violated by the platform, and that it will do whatever it can to provide consumers with legal assistance. The company was responding to a recent heated debate on Chinese social media after the US electric carmaker terminated a contract with a buyer who took part in a promotional group purchase. 

"If the consumer would like to re-order via Tesla's official channels, we will make up for the loss of their time and energy accordingly," Tesla China noted, adding that direct-sales are always the safest way for consumers to make purchases.

In July, a popular e-commerce platform known for team purchases, Pinduoduo, together with Yiauto, a Chinese car dealer group, launched a group buying promotion of the Tesla Model 3 cars on Pinduoduo. 

The cars purchased in the promotion cost just 251,800 yuan (about $36,270) - considerably cheaper than a car bought directly from Tesla's official channels where the same car is priced at 291,800 yuan. Even after deducting the 20,300 yuan subsidy of new energy vehicles, the price of the promotion was still lower than purchasing from Tesla's official channel. Only five Model 3 vehicles took part in this promotion activity. 

A Tesla Model 3 buyer from Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei Province, ordered the car and paid for it, but was told Tesla China had refused to deliver the vehicle because it had a right to "unilaterally rescind the contract if it involves resale," and re-emphasized that the official Tesla website was the only formal channel for buying Tesla cars.

On Monday, the buyer from Wuhan told the Global Times that he has sought legal advice to safeguard his rights. 

"Tesla did not obey the contract," the buyer said, adding that a member of staff from Tesla told him he could not use his name to buy the vehicle. "I think Tesla discriminates against me." 

However, a customer from Shanghai, who took part in the same promotion, successfully received their car on Sunday according to media reports. Tesla staff responded to this fact by pointing out that a Pinduoduo employee made the order by using the Shanghai customer's information throughout the entire purchasing process which is why the Shanghai customer was able to receive the car, cs.com reported on Monday. 

The key issue is to judge whether Tesla's "resale" terms are applicable in such a case, Zhao Zhanling, a legal counsel at Beijing-based Internet Society of China, told the Global Times, noting that such terms would be legitimate. 

"If the customer made the order on Tesla's website while Pinduoduo or other platforms paid for the Wuhan customer, such behavior cannot be considered a violation of Tesla's resale terms. Neither did Tesla forbid the third party from paying for consumers," Zhao noted, adding that as long as the consumer made the order and finished the payment, Tesla should honor the contract.