China’s state broadcaster accused foreign auto brands of overcharging customers in its Consumer Day television programme that multinationals watch each year with increasing trepidation.

中国国家电视台在昨晚的3•15“消费者权益日”晚会上指责多个外国汽车品牌收费过高。跨国企业每年都会怀着越来越紧张的心情关注这个晚会。

Previous victims of the China Central Television special broadcast, which is aired every March 15, include famous brands such as Apple. The California technology giant was forced to issue an apology in 2013 for its alleged failings in relation to its warranty policies.

中国央视(CCTV)以往的3•15特别节目，抨击过苹果(Apple)等知名品牌。2013年，这家美国加州科技巨头曾被迫为自己在保修政策上的所谓过错道歉。

Much of Sunday night’s primetime programme focused on the automotive industry, with CCTV accusing service centres affiliated with Nissan, Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz’s China joint ventures of overcharging for what should have been routine repairs.

昨晚黄金档播出的3•15晚会，主要关注于汽车业的问题，指责东风日产(Nissan)、上海大众(Volkswagen)和奔驰中国(Mercedes Benz)的部分4S店故意虚报和夸大车辆故障，从中牟取暴利。

Jaguar Land Rover was separately singled out for allegedly poor service related to transmission repairs.

路虎揽胜极光(JLR)也被单独报道，被指变速箱故障维修不力。

“We have paid close attention to CCTV reporting on the three … dealers of Shanghai Volkswagen,” a Volkswagen spokesperson said. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers.”

“该公司非常重视……”大众一名发言人表示，“对报道中天津三家4S店的过度维修行为给消费者带来的困扰和影响深表歉意。”

Mercedes Benz said it could not comment immediately on the broadcast, while Nissan and JLR did not respond to requests for comment.

奔驰中国表示它无法对报道内容立即置评，东风日产和路虎揽胜极光未回应置评请求。

The inclusion of so many foreign brands on the programme came after a muted broadcast last year, which was noteworthy primarily for its criticism of Japanese camera maker Nikon

今年的3•15晚会曝光了如此多的外国品牌，而去年晚会则声势相对较弱，主要就批评了日本相机制造商尼康(Nikon)的问题。

Many industry executives and analysts had expected a similarly low-key broadcast this year, especially with CCTV having recently received bad publicity itself for corruption investigations that have snared some of its staff members.

许多行业高管和分析师曾预计，今年的3•15晚会也会像去年一样声势不大，特别是在近来央视本身名声不佳、它的许多员工都因反腐调查被抓的情况下。

No Chinese automakers were put under CCTV’s microscope, reinforcing the perception that the Consumer Day programme tends to pay more attention to foreign brands.

晚会没有报道任何一家中国汽车制造商的问题，加强了人们的一种印象：3•15晚会往往更关注外国品牌。