Severe security leak appears on Mercedes-Benz China's official website

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai June 25) - Mercedes-Benz's official website suffered an incident yesterday morning where its official website displayed the prices of the Shooting Brake versions of the CLS 300 and CLS350 sedans, originally priced between 768,000 yuan and 968,000 yuan ($123,948-$156,226), as just seven yuan ($1.13), the 21st Century News Group reported today. Before long, a large number of online buyers quickly put down their orders for the vastly under-priced car. However, when registering to place an order, they encountered an error when prompted to enter their 'online code'. After entering the code, owner information of previous Mercedes-Benz buyers would display on their screen. Refreshing the page caused information of other owners to appear.

Owner information appearing on the page included name, phone number, e-mail address and home address. The privacy of the information displayed, especially considering the high status of Benz owners, means the case is very serious.

No one has confirmed successfully placing an order for the seven yuan Benz. Mercedes-Benz quickly shut down the ordering system that afternoon. The manufacturer has yet to issue an official response to the case.

Mercedes-Benz's sales in China fell 12 percent during the first quarter, with only 45,440 vehicles sold. By comparison, quarterly sales of rival German manufacturers BMW and Audi increased eight percent and 14 percent. Official government support of FAW Hongqi and other own brand models has further put pressure on Mercedes-Benz's Chinese operations.