A braking test of the ultra-luxury Zunjie V800 MPV turned into a national argument this month, and sent its maker’s stock to a trading halt.
Chedongxi reported on 8 October that a Dongchedi-affiliated account bought three Zunjie V800 units between 1 and 3 October and ran closed-course 100 km/h-to-zero emergency stops. All three brake-pedal brackets snapped at the same spot and in the same pattern, which the outlet called evidence of a non-random fault. The terms “Zunjie V800 brake bracket fracture”, “JAC shares smashed to limit-down” and “Dongchedi foot force” all climbed the trending charts.
What the test showed
According to the footage, the first car’s bracket broke on its third full stop, the second on its fourth, and the third after barely 3 km of running and just its second hard stop. After fracture, the pedal detached and foot braking failed completely. The car could only slow by shifting to P, stretching the stopping distance from roughly 38 metres to about 140 metres. The outlet also tore down the V800 and two rival brand brake systems, saying the V800’s pedal sits about 130 mm from the pivot axis, farther than the others, and that its pivot zone uses only a single support plate versus two or three on the competitors, with a possible weld mark at the fracture.
A divided public
Opinion split. Some readers called it a design and manufacturing defect demanding a JAC investigation and possible recall. Others questioned the method, noting the recorded peak pedal force of 4,589 newtons is far beyond normal driving and that the test involved repeated violent stops outside any standard cycle. The outlet’s sensor logged 4,589 N at peak and 1,612 N at the moment the third car broke, while viewers noted most people max out near 400 N and the national standard sits at 500 N. Some suspect the 4,589 N reading was a video-encoding artefact rather than a true sensor value. A number of users asked for a qualified third party to pick cars at random from dealerships and publish a state-recognised report.
JAC closed the day at 24.72 yuan, down 10.01 per cent, with a market value of 55.7 billion yuan and about 6.2 billion yuan wiped out. The company told media it is aware of the matter, still testing, and will issue an official statement once it has results, adding that production and operations are normal and every vehicle passes quality control before leaving the plant. Harmony Intelligent Mobility said it has not received brake-pedal feedback and delivery timing is unchanged. As of publication, neither Zunjie nor JAC has released a formal conclusion.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Chedongxi report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://chedongxi.com/p/377358.html.