Year of Horsepower: Car industry shifts gears

JD Power: Locals now catching up on quality

Cars await for export at a port in Haikou, Hainan province. Brand perceptions and distribution networks are key elements for robust growth in China's auto market in the next few years, analysts say. [Shi Yan / For China Daily]

Though market share by China's domestic brands continued to drop in 2013, a research conducted by JD Power & Associates Asia Pacific showed that they continue to improve vehicle quality and narrow the gap with international brands.

The survey also said the performance of local brands helped drive up the industry-wide average as reported problems were reduced to a record low.

By examining problems experienced by new-vehicle owners in the first two to six months of ownership, the overall initial quality score is defined by problems reported per 100 vehicles.

Overall initial quality of domestic brands improved to a rate of 155 in this year's survey, a significant drop from an average of 212 problems per 100 vehicles in 2012. The gap in quality scores between domestic and international brands narrowed to 51 in 2013 from 95 in 2012.

Analysts said that if domestic automakers maintain such improvement, they may keep up with their international rivals in initial quality in 2018, when the overall vehicle initial quality in China is expected to be similar to that in the United States.

According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in 2013, combined vehicle sales by domestic brands increased 11.4 percent to 7.22 million units, accounting for 40.3 percent of the overall market, a drop in share of 1.6 percentage points from last year.