Porsche Angered China by Withholding $80 in Wages

Last week, a labor dispute involving Porsche sparked widespread outrage in China, topping the trending list on Weibo, the country’s equivalent of Twitter. The driver alleged that a white Porsche staff assaulted him, leaving his face bloodied, when he sought to recover $80 in unpaid wages. The incident also resulted in him losing his job.

The incident occurred on November 21. The truck driver, Mr. Liu, had taken a job through the freight platform Huolala(货拉拉), a service similar to Uber but designed for cargo transportation. The order is destined for the Porsche Pudong Marketing Center in Shanghai, included a request to move goods from the third floor to the ground floor before transport. Since Huolala only covers transportation services, Mr. Liu negotiated an additional fee of 600 RMB (approximately $82) for the loading work, on top of the transport fee.

However, when Mr. Liu delivered the goods to the Porsche Pudong Marketing Center, the staff refused to pay the agreed-upon handling fee, offering only the transportation fee listed on the Huolala platform. To make matters worse, they filed a complaint against him, which resulted in his account being blocked, preventing him from receiving new orders.

In a video posted online, Mr Liu shared that he suffers from kidney failure and is burdened with hundreds of thousands of RMB in medical debt. Income from driving was the lifeline of this 48-year-old patient. However, following the complaint, his account was suspended, effectively leaving him unemployed.

When Mr Liu went to the Porsche Pudong Marketing Center to demand his wages, he claimed he was assaulted. He further alleged that a white employee participated in the attack, a detail that struck a nerve with many in Shanghai—a city with a painful history of foreign occupation and concessions.

Two full days after the incident, on November 23, Porsche’s official account issued an apology statement. However, the statement made no mention of the driver being assaulted. Porsche claimed that the individuals involved in the dispute were not its employees but contractors from one of its suppliers,
Avantgarde Shanghai. Meanwhile, the supplier released its own statement, describing the incident as a “minor physical altercation” and denying that the driver had been assaulted.

The driver stated that his lip was split during the assault, with bloodstains clearly visible in a video he posted on his personal Douyin account, China’s version of TikTok. According to a report by Red Star News on November 24, the driver paid 500 RMB out of pocket for medical examinations. A formal injury report issued by the Shanghai Public Security Bureau confirmed “facial injuries caused by assault” and a “laceration on the lower left lip.” It was only after this evidence came to light that he received 2,000 RMB in compensation, about only $275.

Instead of defusing the situation, Porsche’s so-called “apology” backfired, fueling even greater public outrage in China. As of the morning of November 25, the scandal remains the top trending on Weibo.

There’s little doubt that Porsche’s handling of this crisis in China has been unconvincing and insincere. However, this does not necessarily reflect a lack of expertise within Porsche’s public relations team. The company boasts some of the world’s top-tier PR and media teams in Europe. Porsche’s newsroom was awarded“Newsroom of the Year 2015” in the German Prize for Online Communication competition by the trade journal “pressesprecher”. It also received the Econ Award from Econ Verlag publisher and the Handelsblatt newsgroup. Josef Arweck, the Director of Corporate Press at Porsche AG, has stated, “Porsche stands for transparent, up-to-date, and current information.”

However, now, with the eyes of the whole China on Porsche, it took the company two days to issue an apology that lacked transparency and appeared to deliberately avoid addressing the facts.

Differential treatment between Chinese and Europeans will be the final nail in Porsche’s coffin in China. For any automaker, brand value, pricing, and technology are the pillars of its competitiveness. Yet, Porsche has already lost all three in its most crucial market.

First, according to Porsche Newsroom, in 2023, China remained the world’s largest single market for Porsche for the eighth consecutive year. However, in Chinese culture, one of the harshest criticisms of a merchant is being “为富不仁（Rich and cruel）”—exploiting and bullying the poor despite having ample resources. While Porsche’s competitors strive to enhance their brand image through philanthropy, Porsche has tarnished its reputation by withholding a mere $80 from one of China’s most vulnerable workers and issuing a half-hearted apology. This incident isn’t just a PR disaster; it’s a catastrophic failure in brand value.

Second, Porsche’s struggles in China didn’t begin with this scandal. According to Reuters, Porsche’s sales in China plummeted by 29% in the first nine months of 2024, with the Taycan, its flagship electric sports car, seeing a staggering 50% decline.

The Taycan starts at 1.038 million RMB in China and offers a 0-to-100 km/h acceleration time of 3.9 seconds with a top speed of 230 km/h. Meanwhile, Xiaomi, a Chinese automaker, has introduced the SU7 Max, an electric sports car priced at just 299,000 RMB. The SU7 Max accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.78 seconds, with a top speed of 265 km/h. At one-third the price, Xiaomi has delivered a faster mass-production sports car, effectively stripping Porsche of its pricing and technological advantages in the Chinese market.

Now, for just a $80 wage, Porsche has managed to squander its final edge in China: the trust and prestige of its century-old brand.

Adding to its troubles, Porsche’s stock has already hit its lowest point since it began trading over two years ago, according to Bloomberg. While Bloomberg attributed this decline to market concerns about the US will hike tariffs on imported cars after Donald Trump returns to the White House. However, Porsche’s own missteps in China tell a different story. Arrogant pricing, outdated technology, and a racist management culture have proven more than capable of steering the brand toward self-destruction—even without external pressures.