Can you cure diseases and prolong life？ Skyworth’s founder’s health product marketing reignites controversy

China Consumer News reports(ReporterWu Bofeng) "Since I started my business, I have been suffering from sub-health problems for a long time. However, since I set foot in the field of new energy vehicles, I took an hour’s nap in Skyworth’s car at noon every day, and all the sub-health problems almost disappeared…" A few days ago, at the 20th Summer Annual Meeting of Yabuli Entrepreneurs in 2024 (Hereinafter referred to as the Summer Annual MeetingThe remarks made by Huang Hongsheng, founder of Skyworth Group and founder of Kaiwo New Energy Automobile Group, have aroused widespread debate.

This is not the first time Huang Hongsheng has publicly promoted the health benefits of Skyworth cars. Earlier, he claimed that the life of Skyworth cars has been extended by 30 years, and every owner can enjoy a 100-year life. During this year’s Beijing Auto Show, he said that Skyworth electric vehicles can relieve high blood pressure, improve immunity and eliminate habitual diarrhea. Skyworth once issued an "Instructions on False Comments on the Internet" on its official Weibo, saying that "the information transmitted on the Internet is taken out of context, maliciously pieced together, seriously misleading the public, and does not match the health technology that the company has always advocated, and does not match the content publicly shared by founder Huang Hongsheng."

In a short period of time, Skyworth’s repeated marketing around the topic of "health" has attracted much attention from all parties in the market.

Beijing’s only distributor office is deserted and suspected.

Skyworth Automobile is a brand-new new energy vehicle brand, backed by Kaiwo Group, dedicated to creating a new generation of intelligent, environmentally friendly and technological new energy vehicle products.

A few days ago, a reporter from China Consumer News called the Skyworth Automotive Client Server hotline to inquire about the relevant "health" function information. The other party said that "the relevant content is not very clear, please consult the local dealer for details". Subsequently, the reporter found in the dealer information of Skyworth Automotive’s official website that there is one Skyworth automobile dealer and two service providers in Beijing, of which Beijing Game Star Automotive Sales and Service Co., Ltd. is the only dealer of Skyworth Automotive in Beijing.

At 4 PM on September 4, the reporter went to Beijing Game Star Auto Sales and Service Co., Ltd., located in the Beichen Asian Games Village Auto Trading Market in Dongsanqi, Changping District, Beijing, and saw that during business hours on weekdays, the store was empty, all the lights in the store were turned off, and only a car-clothed exhibition car was alone in the exhibition hall, in sharp contrast to the busy scene of surrounding car dealers and used car sellers.

Skyworth’s only dealership in Beijing was empty during business hours.Wu Bofeng/photo

The reporter saw in the store that there were several Skyworth EV6 color page information and a sales consultant’s business card on the table, but no other information was displayed. The reporter immediately called the sales consultant and got a reply that "the number is empty".

A nearby merchant told reporters that due to the average operation of the store, the company is basically deserted after noon every day, and it is normal not to open the door all day.

On September 5, the reporter reported the situation to Skyworth Automotive customer service. The other party said that the dealer was applying for a refund. It was recommended that the reporter contact the Tianjin Longxiang Skyworth Experience Center, which is closest to Beijing.

The 10,000 yuan health optional package only has monitoring function.

A salesperson at the Skyworth Experience Center in Longxiang, Tianjin, told reporters: "The boss pays more attention to the concept of car-family integration, so health and wellness are one of the characteristics of our products, and using the vehicle will help human health." According to its introduction, Skyworth Automobile has just launched a health 3.0 optional package, including car health cushions, sleeping pillows and cameras to monitor people’s heart rate. The cost price is about 10,000 yuan. "If you want higher health quality in the car, you can choose to buy this optional package, which can be carried on all Skyworth vehicles," the salesperson said.

The so-called health 3.0 optional package is actually a health monitoring system that can monitor sleep, blood oxygen, heart rate and other multi-dimensional health indicators. Installing tools to monitor life and health indicators on cars is not a professional medical apparatus. It only has monitoring functions and cannot achieve therapeutic effects. According to reports, the system can carry out health warnings by comparing the data collected daily with the collected database. Abnormal data indicates that there is a problem with the body. If there is a serious abnormality or the body is really unwell, you can call an online doctor or an emergency doctor through the car phone.

During the interview, the reporter repeatedly asked Skyworth Automobile and its dealers whether there was any evidence and scientific test basis. All parties of Skyworth Automobile responded to the question on the grounds of "personal feelings".

"Health preservation" is a selling point that misleads consumption and costs a lot.

It is understood that the predecessor of Skyworth Automobile was named Tianmei Automobile, and later obtained the trademark of Skyworth Automobile from Skyworth Group and began to enter the public eye. However, the overall sales of Skyworth Automobile are not ideal, with an average monthly sales of about 1,000 vehicles since 2023. In the crash test results released by China Automotive Evaluation, one Skyworth model only received a one-star rating, out of five stars. Scores in occupant protection and active safety were completely unqualified, and in side column collisions and multiple active safety tests, it scored zero points.

Leaving aside the product aspect, there is a view that even if the statement of the founder of Skyworth Automobile has not been verified, it is only a verbal statement, and there is no need to bear any legal responsibility for it. But is this really the case?

In an interview with China Consumer News, lawyer Zhao Lijie of Beijing Yinghe Law Firm pointed out that the "Anti-Unfair Competition Law" stipulates that "business operators shall not make false or misleading commercial propaganda about the performance, function, quality, sales status, user evaluation, and honor of their products, and deceive or mislead consumers."; the "Consumer Rights Protection Law" stipulates that "business operators provide consumers with information about the quality, performance, use, and validity period of goods or services, which shall be true and comprehensive, and shall not make false or misleading propaganda."

Zhao Lijie also said that when companies promote such functions related to health improvement, they must ensure that the functions they advertise are supported by reliable scientific evidence and actual results, so as to avoid causing legal and trust crises due to exaggerated false claims.