Aftermath: And I Hope You'll Find Your Freedom, For Eterniti …
After we wrote a bit about that new supercar company called Eterniti, and the people behind it, while Twitter was infested by odd operators, my phone started to ring in Beijing.
“Don’t you know who Kenny Chen is?” If you’ve spent some time in the auto biz in China, you can’t avoid that.
“Didn’t you hear that he bilked people out of their down-payments on cars?” We had heard such nasty rumors.
“What are you writing about him being a Porsche dealer and Aston Martin importer? The guy had to leave China and is not invited back.” We had heard that also.
That was the reason why our initial report on the matter was unimpressed when it came to Chen’s resume, and it was also the reason for the quotes around “CEO of Aston Martin China.”
But rumors are rumors. And one does not repeat rumors in vain. Especially when they are nasty.
Instead, we sent out emails to Porsche and asked to confirm or deny that “GruppeM or any entities associated with Kenny “Jen-Te” Chen still operate franchised dealerships for Porsche.” Likewise, we asked Aston Martin: “Are GruppeM or any entities associated with Kenny “Jen-Te” Chen still the exclusive importer for Aston Martin cars to China?”
Porsche responded and emphatically denies that Chen is still selling any cars for them in China. We have yet to hear from Aston Martin. Whatever they will answer shall be reported here when we have it.
The project may be backed by “an international group of investors with collective experience in high-level luxury and sports car brands, retailing, importing, car components, motorsport and driving,” as Autoexpress wrote last week. However, there are people in China that don’t give members of the team high notes in customer satisfaction.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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