Drivers in China became less satisfied with car dealers, even though larger discounts were offered, according to a report from industry consultancy J.D. Power on Thursday.
The survey was conducted between November 2015 and April 2016.
Sales satisfaction for luxury brands dropped 14 points year-on-year to 706 in 2016, while that for mass market brands showed a bigger decline of 21 points to 661 during the period, data from J.D. Power showed.
Dealers offered greater discounts amid fiercer competition. The average discount per luxury vehicle increased to 33,468 yuan ($5,033) in 2016 from 17,108 yuan in 2014, while that for mass market cars edged up to 9,303 yuan from 7,316 yuan, according to the report.
"Dealers are facing great pressure in -reducing inventories amid the industry slowdown, so they may have paid less attention to improving service quality," J.D. Power Vice President of China Automotive Operations Steven Chang told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.
He noted that higher expectations from consumers also played an important role in the drop.
J.D. Power data showed that only half of the surveyed auto dealers managed to report profits in 2015.
Domestic auto brands, which generally lead to lower consumer satisfaction compared with their foreign peers, are catching up in this regard, though. Chang noted that the gap narrowed to 58 points in 2016, compared with 99 points in 2014.
"The sales performance of domestic brands has been relatively better, thus they can make more effort in service quality," Chang said, noting that a strong presence in small cities as well as more offerings of sport utility vehicles contributed to the stronger performance of domestic auto brands.
The report noted that Chinese car buyers, now featuring the young demographic born after the 1980s, are more keen to use the Internet while making a purchase decision and a greater percentage of them make purchases online.
It said that car buyers who used the Internet during the shopping process received a discount of 12,856 yuan, compared with 10,130 yuan among non-Internet users.
Audi ranked highest among luxury brands in consumer satisfaction, while joint venture Dongfeng Citroën ranked No.1 among mass market brands, according to the report.
