Crisis Communication Strategy of PT SGMW Sales Indonesia in Managing Protests from the Wuling Binguo EV Early Adopter Community

Abstract

The rapid growth of digital media and the increasingly competitive electric-vehicle (EV) market require companies to respond to communication crises quickly, accurately, and transparently. This study examines the crisis communication strategy employed by PT SGMW Sales Indonesia (Wuling) in responding to protests from the Wuling Binguo EV early-adopter community after the vehicle's price fell by roughly Rp 180 million (about 43%) within approximately seven months of launch, a change that triggered an online petition, negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and user-generated content (UGC) across social media. Using a qualitative case-study approach grounded in the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), data were collected through semi-structured interviews with company representatives and early-adopter informants, observation, and documentation, and analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña model with source triangulation for validity. The findings show that Wuling carried out issue monitoring, cross-divisional strategy formulation, multi-channel implementation, and post-crisis evaluation, applying instructing information, adjusting information, diminish, rebuild, and bolstering strategies. However, the company's response in the early phase of the crisis was perceived as insufficiently fast, which allowed negative public perception to form before official clarification was issued. eWOM, UGC, and the early-adopter community functioned as key drivers of public opinion during the crisis. The study recommends that the company strengthen its issue-monitoring system, accelerate its communication response, and deepen community engagement to protect its reputation and rebuild consumer trust.