J.D. Power, the world’s leading consumer insight and market research firm, officially released last Sept. 2 the 2021 China New Vehicle Initial Quality Study (IQS). In the ranking of Chinese brands, Changan Auto has won the first ranking of Chinese brands and the seventh ranking of mainstream car brands with an excellent performance of PP100 (202). Surpassing many joint venture and Chinese brands, it once again proved Changan Auto’s excellent product quality.
The IQS is described as one of J.D. Power’s flagship joint industry studies in China and globally. The study clearly divides the new vehicle quality issues into two major categories: poor design and malfunction/inoperability. Specific diagnostic issues include 218 problem points in nine categories (exterior body, interior body, driving experience, configuration/handling/dashboard, infotainment system, air conditioning, seats, powertrain and driver assistance).
The 2021 China New Vehicle IQS is based on real-world feedback from 34,158 vehicle owners who purchased their vehicles between June 2020 to March 2021. The study covers 264 models from 58 brands, with data collected in 70 major Chinese cities between December 2020 and May 2021. The study focused on the quality issues experienced by owners of new vehicles between two and six months of ownership, with new vehicle quality expressed as the average number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), with lower scores indicating fewer problems and better quality.
The study shows that compared to 2020, Chinese brands have improved in all brand image elements, especially in reputation and environmental protection, with the highest improvement of ten percentage points each. As the No. 1 in new vehicle quality among Chinese brands, Changan Auto, with a proud score of PP100(202), not only leads other Chinese brands across the board, but also compares favorably with Audi (207 of PP100), Volvo (208 of PP100) and Land Rover (211 of PP100) among luxury car brands.
As a representative of Chinese brands, Changan Auto stood out in the New Vehicle Initial Quality Study this time, and the achievement cannot be separated from the consistent pursuit of high quality.
As early as July 2017, the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine Defective Products Management Center released the vehicle complaint ratio (VCR) data for the first half of 2017, Changan Auto ranked first on the list with 0.77 points, overpowering joint venture and import brands, and becoming the auto brand with the lowest complaint ratio.
At present, every model developed by Changan Auto has to undergo strict validation. The accumulated verification mileage is 4 million kilometers, involving 16 verification fields such as driving performance, NVH, durability and reliability, thermal management, intelligent network connection, safety, etc., including more than millions verification tests at three levels, such as whole vehicle, system and parts.
After achieving a counter-trend in sales and outperforming the general market in 2020，from January to July 2021, the cumulative sales of Changan Auto’s Chinese brand cars reached 1,099,406 units, surpassing the one million mark with a 46.1% year-on-year growth performance against the trend. Changan Auto has never slackened its investment in the field of research and development while its sales rate is at record high. In order to achieve higher quality products, in recent years, Changan Auto has not only built a global collaborative research and development pattern of “six countries and nine locations” with different focuses, but also invested 5% of its annual sales revenue into R&D. Since the 11th Five-Year Plan, the total investment has exceeded US $17B.
In August 2021, Changan Tech Ecosystem Summit was held, and the development strategy of “New Automobile and New Ecology” was officially released to the public. In the future, Changan Auto will accelerate its transformation into an intelligent and low-carbon travel technology company, reshape the ‘new automobile + new ecology’, and make every effort to build a value-creating and responsible Changan brand. It is believed that with the new goal clearly defined, Changan Auto will bring more high-quality products to the market and better high-quality travel experience for its users.