Founded by Jia Yueting, the Faraday Future (FF), which has only produced 11 new cars in 9 years, has welcomed its first recall.
According to recall information filed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States, FF's recall plan targets all 11 FF 91 2.0 Alliance models produced between March 3, 2023, and December 2023. The main reason for the recall is the issue with the safety airbag warning light of FF 91, which may cause the warning light to malfunction when the vehicle's safety airbag fails, increasing the risk of injury to drivers and passengers in collisions.
"We have decided to proactively recall some of the 2023 FF 91 2.0 Alliance models. In order to address the issue, FF will provide a free OTA upgrade to update the iHUB module software. As of now, we have not received any reports of injuries or accidents caused by this software issue." FF responded by saying that they will arrange personnel to come to pick up the vehicle and redeliver the vehicle in question, And complete the repair work for all affected vehicles within the next 30 days.
FF's first mass-produced car began to be delivered to users on August 14, 2023. The delivery list includes well-known figures such as American real estate tycoon, Netflix reality show star Jason Oppenheim, and renowned singer Chris Brown, among others. Founder Jia Yueting himself is also one of the owners of FF 91.
In addition to the recall plan, the legal dispute between FF and former executive Ding Lei and its affiliated company Chinese Express has also become a hot topic in the industry in recent days. On March 5th, FF announced that FF and its Chinese subsidiaries had filed a lawsuit against former FF executive and founder of Chinese Express, Ding Lei (along with other affiliated companies, hereinafter referred to as "Chinese Express"), with the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong Province, China, for infringement of trade secrets and unfair competition. They requested the court to order compensation for the corresponding losses and further demanded that Chinese Express immediately stop infringing on trade secrets related to FF 91, Including but not limited to stopping the use of the trade secrets involved, designing, developing, producing, and selling products suspected of infringement using the trade secrets involved, selling products suspected of infringement, or providing after-sales services for products suspected of infringement using the trade secrets involved, and immediately stopping the alleged unfair competition behavior.
Chinese Express denied this and issued a statement stating that the company and Ding Lei did not engage in any plagiarism or infringement of FF Company's trade secrets and intellectual property rights, nor did they engage in unfair competition. Chinese Express emphasizes that its mass-produced Gaohe series models are independently developed or jointly developed with suppliers, possess independent intellectual property rights, and have won multiple patent awards.
Ding Lei played an important role in Jia Yueting's car making journey. In 2015, Ding Lei joined LeEco as co-founder and global vice chairman and CEO of LeEco Super Automotive in China and the Asia Pacific region. In 2017, LeEco was in crisis and Ding Lei announced his departure from LeEco Automotive. Subsequently, Ding Lei established his own business and founded Chinese Express in August 2017. Although working for two years, Ding Lei's resume, which has been circulating in the industry, has deliberately deleted this work experience. On July 31, 2019, Chinese Express officially launched the new luxury intelligent pure electric brand Gaohe HiPhi in Shanghai.
At the beginning of the the Year of the Loong, Gaohe Automobile fell into the crisis of production suspension, and FF also ushered in its first recall. As of March 11th, FF US stock fell 10.14% before trading, with a stock price of $0.133 and a market value of less than $6 million, reaching its lowest point in nearly a year. The current performance of the two car companies indicates that in the increasingly competitive automotive industry, the survival space of the tail end companies of the car making forces has been compressed.