Chinese Car Market Evolves

As China's auto sales boom, a group of savvy car buyers is growing with strong opinions and in-depth knowledge, according to ACNielsen Automotive. The firm says marketers must find a more sophisticated strategy to reach them.

Nielsen asked car buyers in China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia about their purchase decision-making process as part of a region-wide qualitative 'DeltaQual' automotive study.

European and American cars continue to be associated with superior quality, but Japanese and Korean cars are increasingly popular and seen as stylish with good attention to detail. Chinese car brands such as Chery QQ and Brilliance have also started to gain more share of mind.

The study also noted the increasing importance of China's female car buyers, which it says are now responsible for 13% of purchases.

'We found a distinctive mindset among Chinese consumers in their perceptions toward vehicles, underpinned by traditional Chinese culture, but clearly undergoing an evolution in recent years', said Philippe Coquelle, Director of Automotive Research, ACNielsen China. 'Traditionally, Chinese consumers have had a strong preference for a notchback, or a three-box car, which is considered more 'aesthetically acceptable', but these days, convenience and larger storage space have made the two-box hatchbacks increasingly attractive.'

The agency says the Internet is a powerful communications tool in this market, both as an information source and as a way for manufacturers to monitor and minimize any negative word-of-mouth. Previous studies suggest that up to 74% of the online population obtain car news via the Internet. Relative to this, and to their role in other countries, car dealerships play a more minor role, with only 16% of Chinese buyers considering dealers as a good source of information.

ACNielsen China's home page is at www.acnielsen.com.cn .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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