Special coverage: Auto China 2006   Related publication:        Related readings: Mid-year is best time to purchase cars in 2007 Passenger car to see fast growth Biggest SPV base in Northwest China

Consumers not only benefitted from automobiles but also suffered from the effects of the popularization of automobiles in recent years. An obvious fact is that the auto complaints increased as the number of automobiles owned by China expanded continuously. Auto complaints has been listed as one of the top ten complaints in China since 2003 according to statistics.

There were over 6,600 accepted auto complaint cases in total in 2006, up 3.8 percent year-on-year , according to statistics from the China Consumers' Association. Nearly 94 percent of consumers are concerned about auto complaints, of which 63 percent of car owners have had auto complaints, according to the survey. Sixty-six percent of car owners thought that if there were too many auto complaints it would influence influence their purchase or changing cars. The most concerned issue for 82 percent of consumers is auto quality and 76 percent of consumers care about aftersales services.

The characteristics for auto complaints in 2006 focused on quality issues and more collective complaints. Most of the auto complaints cases accepted by the China Consumers' Association were concerned about auto quality problems in 2006, of which over 80 percent were involved in the quality of auto engines, transmissions, paints, maintenance and services, said the association.

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The full text is available in the January Issue of AutoChina.

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