J.D. Power to acquire Autovista as European arm

J.D. Power said on Wednesday that it has inked a definitive agreement to acquire Autovista Group, a leading pan-European and Australian automotive data, analytics and industry insights provider.

According to a joint statement, Autovista's senior leadership and its 700 employees will continue with the company, which will become J.D. Power's automotive data and analytics platform for Europe and Australia.

J.D. Power said the deal will allow the company to give carmakers, dealers, insurers and financing companies a global view of critical trends influencing the industry, along with the tools they need to accurately forecast risk, capitalize on burgeoning trends and align sales strategy with real-time market dynamics.

Analysts said the deal will enable J.D. Power, which releases a number of China-specific surveys every year, to help local Chinese carmakers to gain a better understanding of the European market.

Europe and Southeast Asia are two major destinations of Chinese NEV maker's increasing exports, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

A total of 727,000 NEVs were shipped overseas from China from January to August, up 110 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Of them, pure electric vehicles totaled 665,000 units, and plug-in hybrids stood at 62,000 units, the association said.

China's auto exports totaled 2.94 million units in the first eight months, up 61.9 percent year-on-year, according to the CAAM.