China News Network, June 30, 2020 Today, China Automobile Data Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Automobile Data") released the "2020 China Vehicle Odor Research Report" in the form of online live broadcast. The report is the industry's first special research report on odors in the car, the research object is the model with high odor complaint rate and high attention, and the specific model is analyzed in depth from three aspects: consumer odor perception information, odor source substance analysis and the application of odor comprehensive evaluation method.
By the end of 2019, China's car ownership reached 260 million, and the number of drivers was close to 400 million. As the third space of people's lives, the air quality pollution in the car has become one of the important public health problems. In recent years, in order to improve the air quality in the car, since 2011, the government, industry agencies and automobile companies have carried out a lot of work in the formulation of laws and regulations, supply chain system control and other aspects, and achieved remarkable results, the concentration of eight VOCs pollutants such as benzene and formaldehyde in the industry has been significantly reduced, and the vehicle compliance rate has increased year by year, of which the benzene content in the vehicle in 2019 has decreased by 91.4% compared with 2014.
The survey results of CHINA AUTOMOBILE Data and third-party automobile quality platforms show that the number of odor complaints in 2019 increased by more than 23 times compared with 2014, and the complaint rate increased by 16 times, indicating that there is a large room for improvement in the odor level of the industry. In order to solve the problem of consumer odor complaints and improve the competitiveness of the product market, major enterprises have increased the control of odor in the car, however, due to the complexity of the odor in the car, enterprises still face many challenges in the improvement of the odor in the car.
The report shows that the top 50 models of odor complaints in 2018-2019 are mainly from 26 automobile brands such as SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Changan Automobile and Beijing Hyundai, which basically cover the mainstream brands in the market. China Automobile Data randomly selected 6 models from the above models for odor test analysis, namely Langyi, Maiten, Roewe eRX5, Supai, Fengguang 580 and Tianlai.
According to the results of consumer odor surveys, among the models that had odor complaints in 2018-2019, more than 70% of consumers complained because the odor intensity exceeded level 3; the top three undesirable odor types were leather, plastic and rubber, and 84.9% of the cars had two or more odors; the top three odor source components were seats, soundproof cotton and air conditioners, and more than 60% of the user feedback the odor came from more than three components; from the perspective of the recommended proportion of users' choice of models, 49% Users clearly state that it is because the smell problem in the car is not recommended, and the impact of odor on brand recommendation cannot be underestimated.
Judging from the results of the analysis of odor substances, the chemicals that cause odors in different models of vehicles vary greatly. The key substances causing the odor in the Langyi car are bis dimethylaminoethyl ether, N, N-dimethylacetamide and other substances, the key substances causing the odor in the Maiteng and Speedpay cars are acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, butyral, nonaldehyde and other aldehyde substances, the key substances causing the odor of Roewe eRX5 in the car are benzothiazole, hexanal and other substances, and the key substances that cause the odor in the wind and light 580 car are 2,6-di-tert-butyl p-methylphenol, cyclohexyl isothiocyanate, bisdimethylaminoethyl ether and other substances. The key substances that cause odor in the car are 2-butyl-1-octanol, 2-methyl-1-decanol and other substances.
From the comprehensive analysis of odors, in terms of odor objective grades, the odor grades of the six models are 4.0, 3.9, 3.8, 3.4, 3.4 and 3.2; in terms of odor types, they are mainly manifested as plastic taste, solvent taste and foaming taste; in terms of odor concentration, the value is concentrated in 18 ~ 64, the smaller the index value, the faster the odor dissipation in the car; in terms of odor pleasure, the six models are -3, -3, -1, -2 and -1.
From the release of the car odor research report we can see that Chinese consumers are more picky about the smell in the car, the control of the car company for the smell in the car needs to be strengthened, the car with a better smell of the car belongs to the enterprise often has a perfect car air quality management system, covering the whole life cycle industry chain from product development, model production to after-sales monitoring, the air quality of the products sold in the car meets the corresponding laws and regulations, fully protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and fully practice social responsibility.
The release of the "2020 China Interior Odor Research Report" can, on the one hand, guide market consumers to correctly understand the odor problem in the car and avoid the potential impact of the odor in the car; on the other hand, it can help auto companies to deeply analyze the sources and characteristics of the smell in the car and effectively improve the quality of automotive products; this is of great practical significance for promoting the technological progress of the automotive industry, shaping the green brand image, stimulating the growth vitality of enterprises and promoting the in-depth implementation of the green development strategy of China's auto industry.