A recent study shows that the quality of Chinese car brands has actually declined despite an initial upturn.
According to researchers at leading industry analyst J.D. Power, the number of problems with domestic Chinese brand cars has actually increased despite several years of improving quality.
The study, which measured problems experienced by new vehicle owners within the first two to six months of ownership, found that Chinese brands had an average of 232 problems per 100 vehicles, up from 224 a year earlier.
Research manager Chris Chen claims that “the most commonly reported issues reported by owners of Chinese car brands involved putting manual transmissions in gear.”
International brands, however, showed a slight reduction in the number of problems per vehicle from 135 last year to 131. Japanese brands, in particular, averaged a respectable 108 problems per vehicle, frequently topping J.D. Power's list of top-quality models in each market segment.