A Chinese Tesla owner took possession of his brand new Model S last week by immediately smashing the windshield of the $170,000 car.
Chinese e-commerce entrepreneur Yu Xin Quan destroyed the car’s windshield after months of delivery delays to protest “Tesla’s arrogance,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
The dissatisfied customer wanted to be one of the first Tesla owners in China when he placed his Model S order last October, but became incensed with the California automaker earlier this year after other Chinese customers began receiving cars while Yu’s had yet to be built.
In the months since, the entrepreneur became the vocal head of a group of Chinese Tesla owners facing order delays as a result of legal, production and logistical issues. Founder and CEO Elon Musk personally met with the group for an appeasement attempt in April, but Yu was not satisfied.
The company then offered Yu a host of concessions, including free installation of charging equipment in his home and use of showroom vehicles until his Model S arrived, but Yu refused the offers.
“I feel like I just married a woman who has been married,” Yu told the Journal.
Destroying luxury items like expensive cars in protest is not uncommon in China according to Business Insider, which reported similar incidents befalling Chinese Maseratis and Lamborghinis in the last few years. Growing demand among Chinese consumers, an inefficient civil legal process, and a sense of entitlement among Chinese elites are presumed causes.