1. Overview of complaint data for the first quarter of 2022
According to the data of the car quality network, in the first quarter of 2022, a total of 28,737 valid complaints from consumers on automotive products (including 22 complaints against third-party platforms) were accepted, down 8.8% from the fourth quarter of 2021 and up 36.8% year-on-year. According to statistics, complaints received in the quarter involved 998 car series under 196 car brands, an increase of 3 brands and a decrease of 65 car series.
Overall, complaints in the first quarter showed the following characteristics:
1. The number of complaints hit a record high in the same period of history, and complaints of engine/motor failures made a comeback. In the first quarter of 2022, the willingness of domestic auto consumers to protect their rights continued to rise, and the number of complaints in three months broke the record high in the same period of history, and some independent and joint venture brand models experienced a short-term surge in complaints. During the quarter, complaints about some engine/motor failures increased significantly, with 2 of the top three typical faults coming from engines/motors. Among them, the number of complaints about "engine/motor exhaust failure" and "high engine/motor fuel consumption" has once again exceeded 1,000 cases, especially "engine/motor exhaust failure", and the number of complaints has gradually approached 2,000 cases, up about 1.9 times from the previous month.
2. The proportion of joint venture brand complaints has rebounded, and ashkenazi brand complaints have grown against the trend. After two consecutive quarters of declining complaints, the proportion of complaints from joint venture brands returned to more than 50%, but the number of complaints decreased slightly from the previous quarter. However, Ashkenazi brands bucked the trend in complaints this quarter and were the only national brands to see quarter-on-quarter growth, with a record high of 7,000 complaints, up about 56% from the fourth quarter of 2021.
3. Complaints about service problems continue to be high. In the proportion of complaint types in this quarter, the number of complaints about service problems increased for four consecutive quarters, and the number of complaints and the proportion of complaints once again broke the historical record, of which the proportion of complaints has exceeded 1/4. From the perspective of typical complaint problems, "inconsistent with publicity", "can't lift the car" and "system upgrade problem" are still the three most concentrated complaints, and the sum of their complaints has reached nearly 70% of the total number of complaints about service problems. Among them, the number of complaints that "do not match the publicity" exceeded 3,000, an increase of 18.4% over the fourth quarter of 2021, ranking first in the list of service complaints, and most of the complaints came from some German and independent brands of hot-selling models.
2. Analysis of complaint data in the first quarter of 2022
1. Distribution of consumer complaint population attributes
In the first quarter of 2022, the proportion of men and women complaining about consumer complaints changed slightly from the previous quarter, with the proportion of male consumers rebounding and the proportion of female consumers falling to single digits. In the first quarter, the young and middle-aged groups aged 26-30 and 31-35 were still the main source of complaints, accounting for more than half of the combined two. From the perspective of the time period of vehicle problems, the proportion of complaints that have problems in the first month of car purchase continues to rise, an increase of 3 percentages over the fourth quarter of 2021, and the quality of new cars is still not optimistic.
2. Comparative analysis of quarterly complaint volume
As shown in the figure, due to the impact of the Spring Festival holiday, the number of complaints in this quarter has declined compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, but it has shown a stepwise increase compared with the same period in 2021 and 2020, and has created a record high in the same period of history.
3. Comparative analysis of monthly complaint volume
Judging from the performance of complaints in each month in the first quarter, the number of complaints in the three months has increased significantly compared with the same period last year, of which the number of complaints in March exceeded 10,000 for the first time in the same period of history, an increase of 31.8% over March 2021.
4. Analysis of the proportion of brand type complaints
In the first quarter, the number of complaints from independent, joint venture and imported brands decreased sequentially, but the proportion of complaints from joint venture brands once again exceeded 50%, an increase of 3.3 percentage points over the fourth quarter of 2021. In contrast, the proportion of complaints from independent brands and imported brands has decreased to a certain extent.
5. Analysis of the proportion of complaints by brand country
In the first quarter of 2022, except for Ashkenazi brands, the number of complaints from other brands in various countries decreased by a certain extent compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. In contrast, the number of complaints from Ashkenazi brands has shown a trend of rising against the trend, with the number of complaints exceeding 7,000 for the first time, and the proportion of complaints has exceeded 1/4 of the total number of complaints.
6. Comparative analysis of vehicle attribute complaints
The number of SUV model complaints continued to climb in the first quarter of 2022, up 21.3% from the fourth quarter of 2021, far ahead of other attribute models. Complaints on most other models declined quarter-on-quarter, with smaller cars falling the most, down 75.6% from the fourth quarter of 2021.
7. Comparative analysis of model year complaints
In the first quarter, the number of complaints about 2020 models continued to rise, maintaining a volume of more than 5,000 cases, up 5.3% from the fourth quarter of 2021, and the increase in complaints came from some German and independent brand models. It is worth noting that the 2022 models have gradually approached the first echelon, and the number of complaints exceeded 2,000 for the first time in this quarter, up about 3.9 times quarter-on-quarter. As new models are put on the market one after another, the number of complaints about the 2022 models may maintain rapid growth in the future.
8. Analysis of regional distribution of complaints
In the first quarter of 2022, the three provinces with the highest complaint volume were still Guangdong, Shandong and Jiangsu Provinces, but the number of complaints in all three provinces decreased compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. Judging from the top three fault problems complained about in the three provinces, the "video and audio system failure" is the most complained fault problem in Guangdong Province and Jiangsu Province. It is worth noting that the top three fault problems in Shandong Province and Jiangsu have changed greatly, and two types of problems have been added, "exhaust fault" and "high fuel consumption", and the fault problem with the most complaints in Shandong Province has also been changed from "audio-visual system failure" to "exhaust failure" in the fourth quarter of 2021.
9. Analysis of the proportion of complaint types
In the first quarter, the number of complaints and the proportion of complaints about simple quality problems fell again, of which the number of complaints has dropped to less than 20,000. In contrast, complaints about service problems remained strong, with complaints up 10.3% quarter-on-quarter and a 4.5 percentage point increase in the proportion of complaints. Notably, the number of complaints about other issues exceeded a record 400 in the quarter, up 50% from the previous quarter.
10. The proportion of quality problem complaints and faults and the analysis of top 20 quality problem complaints and fault points
In the first quarter of the quality problem complaints, the number of engine/motor complaints and the proportion of faults in the fourth quarter of 2021 showed a significant increase, of which the proportion increased by 8.5 percentage points. In addition, the number of complaints about failures in the remaining systems decreased quarter-over-quarter.
Among the top 20 quality complaint fault points in this quarter, there were 2 new complaint fault points on the list, which was 3 fewer than in the fourth quarter of 2021. "Audio-visual system failures" are still the most complained about by consumers, but the number of complaints fell by about 18.3% quarter-on-quarter. From the ranking of the list, it can be seen that the number of complaints about four fault problems has increased compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, all from the engine/electric motor. Among them, "engine/motor exhaust failure" and "high engine/motor fuel consumption" increased the most, jumping to the top three.
11. Analysis of the proportion of complaints about brand attribute quality problems
In the first quarter, the number of complaints and failures of independent, joint venture and imported brands all declined compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, of which imported brands fell the most. Most of the complaints about failures of independent brands are concentrated in body accessories and electrical appliances, but the number of complaints about engines/motors has decreased quarter-on-quarter, while the number of engine/motor complaints has increased slightly compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. In contrast, the number of complaints about joint venture brands and imported brands is concentrated in body accessories and electrical appliances and engines/motors, especially joint venture brands, the proportion of engine/motor complaints in this quarter is significantly higher than that of body accessories and electrical appliances, and the number of complaints about failures increased by 33.8% compared with the fourth quarter of 2021.
12. The proportion of service problem complaints and the analysis of TOP20 service problem complaint problem points
In the first quarter of 2022, the sales fraud complaint problem points have increased significantly again, up about 16% from the fourth quarter of 2021, accounting for nearly 40%. In addition, the number of complaints about imperfect service processes doubled in the quarter, up about 1.8 times from the fourth quarter of 2021, and the complaints were mainly concentrated in the "system upgrade problem".
In the top 20 service complaints in the quarter, most of the complaint problem points ranked lower or flat compared with the previous quarter. In contrast, the "system upgrade problem" became the most obvious complaint problem point for improvement, soaring by about 2.4 times compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, accounting for an increase of 13.4 percentage points, and jumping to the second place. "Can't lift the car" still maintained a volume of more than 1,000 cases this quarter, but the number of complaints fell slightly from the previous quarter, and the ranking also dropped to third place. In addition, the number of complaints about "sales commitments not fulfilled" also increased significantly in the quarter, up 44.2% from the fourth quarter of 2021, and the complaints were mainly concentrated in some self-owned brand models.
13. Analysis of the proportion of complaints and problem points in brand attribute service problems
In the first quarter, the number of complaints about joint venture brand services increased significantly, up 67.5% from the fourth quarter of 2021. Among them, the problem of sales fraud has become the most prominent complaint problem of the joint venture brand service, accounting for more than 60%, an increase of 47.9 percentage points over the previous quarter, and most of the increase in complaints comes from some German brand models. In contrast, among the service problems of independent brands, imperfect service processes have become the service problems with the highest proportion of complaint problems, up 2.3 times from the previous quarter, and most of the complaint increase comes from some of the hot-selling SUV models of independent brands.
14. Ranking analysis of the proportion of other problem complaints and other problems and complaints
In the ranking of other problems and complaints in this quarter, "suspected reduction" still ranked first, and the number of complaints rose by 47.4% quarter-on-quarter, accounting for more than 60%, and complaints were still concentrated in some independent brand models. In contrast, the number of complaints about "suspected design flaws" and "unreasonable recall schemes" both decreased slightly from the previous quarter.
15. Analysis of the proportion of complaints and problem points in other problems of brand attributes
In the first quarter, there was a significant increase in the number of complaints about other issues of the joint venture brand, an increase of about 1.3 times compared with the fourth quarter of 2021. Among them, "suspected reduction" has become the most prominent complaint problem point for joint venture brands, accounting for more than 80%, an increase of 30.8 percentage points over the previous quarter, and most of the complaint increase comes from some European brand models. In contrast, the complaints about other problems of independent brands have dropped significantly from the previous quarter, but the proportion of complaints of "suspected design defects" has increased by 14.9 percentage points compared with the previous quarter.
16. Analysis of complaint response rate
As a leading information collection platform for defective automotive products in China, one of the ultimate goals of The Vehicle Quality Network is to build a channel that coordinates the smooth resolution of disputes between manufacturers and consumers. Therefore, whether manufacturers take consumer complaints seriously and actively solve them is an indicator that we attach great importance to.
In the first quarter of 2022, there were 80 brands with a complaint response rate of 100%, an increase of 11 from the previous quarter and an increase of 18 compared with the same period last year. As shown in the table above, the positive attitude and importance of the listed brands to consumer demands are worth encouraging.