Gojirra99

November 1, 2009

Chinese cars catching up to global brands: J.D. Power


Shanghai, China – The quality of Chinese-built vehicles is catching up to international brands, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates. Overall new-vehicle initial quality in China improved by 14 per cent in 2009 when compared with 2008.

Now in its tenth year, the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2009 China Initial Quality Study examines problems experienced by new-vehicle owners within the first two to six months of ownership. Problems are examined in two distinct categories of design quality, and quality of production, measured by defects and malfunctions.

Overall performance is determined by problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower rate of problem incidence indicating higher quality. The overall initial quality averaged 178 problems per 100 vehicles in 2009, up from 207 PP100 in 2008.

The gap in initial quality between Chinese domestic and international brands has decreased by more than 240 per cent, from 396 PP1100 at the inception of the study in 2000, to 116 PP100 in 2009. Initial quality for domestic brands overall has improved by 60 PP100 from 2008, to an average of 258 PP100 in 2009. For international brands, overall quality has improved to an average of 142 PP100 in 2009.

“Chinese brands have steadily become more competitive in initial quality during the past decade, although there is still ample opportunity for improvement,” said Dr. Mei Songlin, general manager of research services at J.D. Power Asia Pacific. “Some domestic brands demonstrate particular strengths in certain vehicle segments in the China market, such as the compact and minivan categories, where they strike a good balance between price and quality.”

Models that ranked highest in their respective segments included those built by Chery, Toyota, Volkswagen, Audi, Honda, Buick, and Haf

via canadiandriver.com

The G Man

Sounds like the Chinese are almost ready for prime time. Give them another 5 years and they will give Hyundai a run for their money.

LexFather

To think they will then outbuild and out price the Koreans.....

wow....

I8ABMR

You guys can try one of their cars, I will stick with my Japanese cars. It will take years for me to see the American, Koreans, and definetley chinese cars as an option

metalgear

i'm staying Japanese too

Blackraven

Probably in the next years, then maybe they may get to where the Koreans are right now.

But as of the moment, they're definitely something I won't consider.........

The G Man

Japanese cars are still the best value right now, but the Koreans are just as good a value. Japanese labor cost is going up fast, in another 10 years or so, they will be in the same boat as the American and German car companies. They will no longer be able to affort to built quality car at a low price. The Koreans should have a strong foot hold on the value car market by then and we should almost see the Chinese start to emerge with some competitive products.

JessePS

:| last Chinese made car I saw it crumbled like a paper. So its hard for me to believe this.

The G Man

You sound like my dad when he was talking about the Japanese cars in the 60s

ConceptVBS

Maybe he is.

superchan7

China's growing middle class is demanding more and more high-quality transportation. Eventually there will be a market for good, affordable cars and Chinese brands will eventually catch up to Korean/Japanese brands in safety/performance engineering. Just like public transportation, where major Chinese cities have cutting-edge metro systems and frenetic bus fleet updates that shame many systems of the developed world, private cars will also follow the market demand.

JessePS

Yup I am the real Marty McFly. I went back in time and impregnated someone before I was born. So my son older than I am lol

The G Man

Unfortunetely, the Chinese middle class still cannot affort American or German cars. This is what will propel the Chinese auto industry, millions of Chinese buying chinese made cars.