Zhiji's authorised-dealer shift ended with stores running off with customer car payments

Zhiji, SAIC's EV brand, started with a direct-sales model and then opened authorised dealers to push volume. By 2026 the channel was mostly dealer-run, and the dealers bore the full cost of the price war — single-car losses, inventory overhang and a 57.2% dealer inventory warning index in June.

In July 2026 stores collapsed one after another: Zhiji's Kunming 官渡用户中心 emptied overnight on July 7, its sales staff and manager unreachable, followed by a Zhuhai store posting a closure notice and a Shanghai store whose manager ran off with customers' money and was handed to police.

Customers who had paid in full found they could not get refunds or delivery, and some received cars whose certificates of conformity had been secretly pawned by the dealer, making them unregisterable. A Kunming buyer paid ¥192,700 and the store collapsed before delivery; a 280-member grievance group counted dozens in the same position.

Zhiji promised to 'backstop' customers, advance funds to redeem the certificates and cut delivery through the factory, but the response was slow — a week after the consolation text, owners said no one had called. The brand that had grown deliveries 58% in the first half was now paying for a channel it had let run on trust.

Zhiji let dealers bear price-war losses, so stores collapsed; it promised backstop but moved slowly, leaving customers stranded.

Scaled sales by handing the channel to authorised dealers without supervising their finances or operations

Kept pushing volume through a price war that made single-car losses and pawned certificates inevitable

Publicised a backstop promise that moved slowly, letting stranded customers speak for the brand

A dealer channel that sells the volume owns the customers' money. When dealers lose money per car, the factory's growth rides on their cash — and when it runs out, the collapse lands on the brand.

In July 2026 Zhiji's dealer stores collapsed: the Kunming 官渡用户中心 emptied overnight on 7 July, a Zhuhai store closed, and a Shanghai store's manager ran off with customers' money. Some buyers got no refunds or cars; others got cars with certificates the dealer had pawned. One buyer paid ¥192,700 and never got the car; dealer staff were owed three months' wages. Zhiji promised to redeem certificates and deliver, but owners reported no calls a week later. The brand had grown H1 deliveries 58% to 40,087 units on an unsupervised dealer model — the cost was stranded customers, staff and credibility.