Farmers Buy "Internet Celebrity" Tractor and Discover It's a Non-Compliant Product; Manufacturer: It's an Assembled Vehicle, You Can Put Any Brand on It
Recently, farmers have reported that the "Made in Luoyang, China" tractor, which is popular on a short video platform, arrived without a certificate of conformity, invoice, or three-guarantee manual, suspected of being assembled from scrap metal. A reporter contacted a manufacturer selling these tractors, who openly admitted that these vehicles are assembled and "almost like a non-compliant product."
The salesperson also claimed that the engine nameplate and certificate of conformity can be printed by themselves, "You can put any brand on it and specify any horsepower." A model with an actual horsepower of 504 can be labeled as 704 with a new tag, allowing for an extra thousand yuan in profit when resold.
The investigation also revealed that these tractors, marketed under the "Made in Luoyang, China" banner, are actually all shipped from Jining, Shandong Province.
A search on the National Intellectual Property Administration website revealed that the "Made in Luoyang" trademark has never been registered by any company – meaning the seemingly legitimate brand logo on the vehicle is completely fabricated.
Legal professionals stated that this arbitrary labeling and false horsepower specification already constitutes false advertising and unfair competition.
According to relevant provisions of the Criminal Law, producing and selling substandard products with a value of 50,000 yuan or more is a criminal offense. Given that these tractors are being shipped in large quantities through short video platforms, the cumulative sales are likely far more than that amount.
Currently, the local market supervision department has intervened to investigate. For farmers, when purchasing agricultural machinery, they should not only look at the "appearance" and price in videos, but also verify the manufacturer's qualifications and product documentation to avoid spending money on a pile of hidden dangers.