JD Power: China's new car quality performance decline in 2022 shows a trend similar to that of the US market

JD Power, a global leading consumer insight and market research organization, today officially released the 2022 China Initial Quality StudySM (IQS). The study shows that due to an increase in complaints caused by design defects, the quality performance of new cars in China declined slightly in 2022, showing a trend similar to that of the US market.

This year marks the 23rd consecutive year that JD Power has conducted the China Initial Quality Study (IQS), and the third year that JD Power has used the new IQS platform simultaneously in China and the U.S. The study focuses on the quality problems encountered by new car owners with a car ownership period of 2 to 6 months. The quality of new cars is expressed in terms of the average number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100). The lower the score, the fewer problems there are and the better the quality.

The research shows that in 2022, the number of quality issues of new cars in China at the industry level was 213 PP100, up 2.8 PP100 from 2021. The increase in quality complaints mainly came from design defects, whose PP100 increased by 4.2 from last year to 143 PP100. The three categories with the largest increase in complaints in design issues were driving experience, powertrain and body appearance.

This year's study also found that among quality complaints, the three categories that improved the most compared to last year were infotainment systems, driver assistance and air conditioning, which decreased by 4.1, 2.2 and 1.5 PP100 respectively. Their improvement mainly came from the reduction of design problems, which have become a key factor affecting automobile quality performance.

Yang Tao, general manager of JD Power China Automotive Products Division, said: "The improvement of vehicle quality is not a matter of one day or one night. From the beginning of product design to the implementation of the quality management system, the optimization of production processes, and the collaboration of upstream and downstream supply chains, every link needs to be refined to achieve the final quality improvement. With the advent of the intelligent era and the change in consumption trends, the proportion of quality complaints caused by design defects is increasing. For manufacturers, improving the quality of new cars requires efforts in the product research and development and design stages."

Here are some other findings from the 2022 study:

• Body appearance becomes the most complained problem category: In 2022, body appearance became the most complained problem category again after 2020, up 2.7 PP100 from 2021. The proportion of this problem category in the overall quality problems increased from 13% in 2021 to 15%. Among the appearance problems, complaints about tire noise and headlight brightness are high and on an upward trend.
• Unpleasant odors and excessive tire noise in the car are still "high-incidence areas" of quality problems : Unpleasant odors in the car ranked first with 9.4 PP100, and excessive tire noise ranked second with 9.1 PP100. These two problems have been in the top three of the quality problem list for three consecutive years, becoming the key issues that cause consumer complaints. In addition, overly sensitive brakes and very uncomfortable seats appeared in the top 20 quality complaints for the first time in the past three years, reflecting the users' higher requirements for vehicle driving and riding experience.
• Luxury brands have made significant progress in quality and increased their focus on intelligence: In 2022, the overall number of quality problems of luxury brands was 192 PP100, a decrease of 24 PP100 from 216 PP100 in 2021, with significant improvement in quality performance. While promoting the penetration of intelligent configurations, luxury brands have also actively improved the quality of infotainment systems, which are the basis of intelligence. The number of problems in infotainment systems dropped from 36 PP100 in 2021 to 27 PP100 in 2022, a decrease of 9 PP100.

Top brands and models

Porsche (163 PP100) ranked first in initial quality among luxury car brands. Lexus (166 PP100) and Land Rover (179 PP100) ranked second and third respectively.

GAC Honda (193 PP100) ranked first in new car quality in the mainstream car market for three consecutive years. Dongfeng Honda (205 PP100) ranked second in the mainstream car market, and Buick (207 PP100) ranked third.

Changan Automobile (209 PP100) ranked first in new car quality among China's domestic brands, while Chery (215 PP100) and GAC Trumpchi (205 PP100) ranked second.

At the vehicle level, a total of 17 models from 12 brands won 16 segment awards in the 2022 China New Car Quality Study.

• The Audi brand models that won awards at the model level are Audi A4L and Audi Q3 .
• The Buick brand's model-level awards include Buick Verano Pro/Pro GS and Buick's all-new GL8 .
• The Honda Fit and Honda Vezel models of the GAC Honda brand won awards at the model level.
• Mercedes - Benz S- Class and Mercedes - Benz GLS- Class won the awards

Other models that won awards in their respective market segments include Chevrolet Malibu XL , Chery Arrizo 5 Plus , Ford Explorer, Geely Vision X3 , Lexus ES , Lincoln Aviator, Lynk & Co 03 , Porsche Macan , and Venucia V.

The Initial Quality Study (IQS) is one of JD Power's flagship industry joint studies in the world and China. The study clearly divides new car quality issues into two categories: poor design and malfunction/inoperability. Specific diagnostic issues include 218 problem points in 9 categories (body appearance, body interior, driving experience, configuration/control/dashboard, infotainment system, air conditioning, seats, powertrain and driver assistance).

The 2022 China Initial Quality Study (IQS) is based on real feedback from 34,914 car owners who purchased their vehicles between June 2021 and March 2022. The study covers 247 models from 56 brands, and data was collected in 70 major Chinese cities between December 2021 and May 2022.

Note: Five charts are attached.

2022 China Initial Car Quality Study-Luxury Car Brand Ranking

2022 China Initial Car Quality Study-Mainstream Car Brand Ranking

2022 China Initial Vehicle Quality Study-Self-owned Brand Ranking

2022 China Initial Quality Study-Sedan Segment

2022 China Initial Quality Study-SUV MPV Market Segment

From JD Power｜J.D. Power