BMW Mini apologizes for ice cream slight

Facing continued public fury, BMW Mini apologized again on Friday morning for what appeared to be different treatment between Chinese and foreign visitors during the ongoing Auto Shanghai 2023.

At 9 am on Friday, Mini China issued a second apology via Chinese social media Weibo amid mounting discontent from Chinese media and customers over alleged discrimination against Chinese visitors at its booth during the Shanghai auto show.

A video clip went viral on Chinese social media on Thursday that showed staff from the brand refusing to give free ice cream to a Chinese female visitor by saying that the promotional gift had run out, but a foreigner was offered ice cream a few moments later. The video also showed several foreigners eating ice cream near the Mini booth.

The person who made the recording questioned in the video if Mini's staff was treating foreign visitors and Chinese people differently.

The short video soon sparked huge controversy and became a hot topic on Chinese social platforms.

Mini China posted a short apology soon after on Thursday.

"We sincerely apologize for our problematic internal management and staff members' dereliction of duty, which have caused unpleasant feelings," said the post.

The company also promised to improve management, strengthen internal training, and strive to provide good service and experiences to all.

In Friday's announcement, Mini China, the brand's Chinese Weibo account, explained that the foreigners who received free ice cream in the short video are actually company employees, while the ice cream for visitors had run out at the time.

"We feel at home here in China. The growth and success of BMW in the country has created prosperity in both China and Germany," Oliver Zipse, chairman of BMW AG's board of management, was quoted as saying to media ahead of the auto show, which started on Tuesday and runs through April 27.

"China is one of BMW's most important markets. This incident could erode consumers' affection toward BMW and might further lead to investors' decisions to sell BMW stakes," Yang Delong, chief economist with First Seafront Fund, was quoted as saying by Economic View, a financial media outlet under China News Service.

BMW issued its sales results in the first quarter earlier in April, according to which more than 194,000 vehicles under the BMW and Mini nameplates were delivered in China.