German auto giant, BMW, has had what appears to be a publicity stunt blow up in its face, in the form of blowback from a Suzhou company telling employees to replace their BMW vehicles with domestic-brand-name cars. The penalty for not doing so? Dismissal.
德国汽车巨头宝马公司(BMW)遭遇了一场看似宣传噱头的事件，苏州一家公司要求员工用国产品牌汽车更换宝马汽车，从而遭到反击。不这样做会受到惩罚吗？解雇。
It all began when a scandal emerged last week from the Shanghai Auto Show. There, BMW was seen to be giving out free ice cream to foreign visitors to its Mini booth on 20 April, a treat denied Chinese would-be buyers.
这一切都始于上周上海车展上出现的丑闻。 4 月 20 日，宝马在其 Mini 展位上向外国游客免费赠送冰淇淋，但中国的潜在买家却拒绝接受这种待遇。
That prompted Suzhou Fengtou Guangneng (Group) Co., Ltd. to issue a notice requesting employees who drive a BMW to write a letter committing themselves to replacing it with a domestic-brand vehicle within 1 month, otherwise they will be dismissed.
为此，苏州风头光能（集团）有限公司发出通知，要求开宝马的员工写信承诺1个月内更换为国产品牌汽车，否则将被解雇。
That was said to have taken place on 21 April. Media Outlet, The Paper, spoke on 23 April with a member of management at Fengtou Guangneng, surnamed Liu, who confirmed the issuing of the notice.
据说那件事发生在4月21日。 4月23日，澎湃新闻记者采访了风投光能刘姓管理人员，证实了该通知的发布。
Furthermore, the directive goes on to state that if a BMW is replaced with a car from China’s flag-carrier brand, Hong Qi, the employee will receive a cash reward of ¥20,000.
此外，该指令还指出，如果将宝马换成中国旗舰品牌红旗汽车，该员工将获得2万元人民币的现金奖励。
Legally speaking, Fengtou Guangneng is skating on some pretty thin ice.
从法律上讲，风头光能是如履薄冰。
Liu Wenhua, a Doctor of Law who heads up Yunnan Liu Wenhua Law Firm, believes Fengtou Guangneng’s actions to be in violation of the Civil Code and Labour Contract Law.
云南刘文华律师事务所主任、法学博士刘文华认为，冯投光能的行为违反了《民法》和《劳动合同法》。
Liu said that employers using the termination of labour contracts as coercion in forcing employees to replace specific, foreign-brand cars affects the international atmosphere of China’s reform and opening up, an act that violates the Civil Code.
刘表示，用人单位以解除劳动合同为要挟，强制员工更换特定的外国品牌汽车，影响了中国改革开放的国际氛围，违反了《民法典》。
Furthermore, the company’s directive goes beyond the scope of internal management, violates the free will of employees and infringes upon their personal freedoms.
而且，公司的指令超出了内部管理范围，侵犯了员工的自由意志，侵犯了员工的人身自由。
Back in Shanghai, on the afternoon of 20 April, BMW Mini made an official apology for unhappiness caused by their lack of meticulous internal management and staff negligence. BMW Mini then followed up again the following day, stating that the foreigners who ate ice cream were in fact employees.
回到上海，4月20日下午，BMW Mini就因内部管理不严、员工疏忽而造成的不愉快正式致歉。第二天，宝马Mini再次跟进，称吃冰淇淋的外国人其实是员工。
