It will rust behind them: what car owners from China are afraid of
Chinese car owners in Russia are worried about body corrosion, long waits for spare parts, and the question of whether their cars will start up in winter. They are unhappy with the price-performance ratio, but admire the design of their cars. Using the Medialogia and Brand Analytics monitoring systems, analysts at the Sidorin Lab (SL) research center studied more than 2 million mentions of Chinese brand cars in social networks and the media from 2022 to 2024 and found out how the attitude of Russian consumers towards them has changed in three years. Izvestia reviewed the research materials.
Change of key
If there was little talk about cars from China in 2022, by 2024 the number of discussions had tripled in the media and increased significantly on social networks. There have also been significantly more messages about the intention to buy — one of the key indicators of confidence growth, according to SL. The tone of the discussions has also changed. In 2022, the mentions were dominated by negativity. The share of negative mentions for most brands during this period was 20-25%. Against this background, individual brands stood out, such as Omoda and Tank, whose "positive" reached 40 and 55%, respectively. At the same time, sales of Chinese "Tanks" started only in 2023.
— In 2022, consumers were wary of Chinese cars, largely because of established stereotypes. Historically, many Russian buyers have associated goods from China with poor quality and short service life," said Natalia Kladova, a leading analyst at the SL research center.
In 2023, users began to show practical interest in new brands, partly due to the limited choice on the market. By 2024, the volume of negative messages has decreased significantly, and neutral ratings have reached 70-80%. So, JAC corrected the image — the "negative" decreased from 29% to 8%. However, positive ratings have also fallen: Tank sank to 13% in 2024, Omoda — to 10%.
Chery, Haval and Changan have taken the leading positions in terms of the number of mentions, and their reputational background has become more balanced. In absolute terms, the "positive" has increased due to an overall increase in the number of mentions and an increase in the share of neutral and informational publications, analysts say.
Dissatisfied with the price and satisfied with the design
The most mentioned topic was the price of cars (424,332 mentions). Users often noted that the price does not match the quality, and this topic has been present in the discussions of all Chinese brands for three years. The second most mentioned topic is design (403,496), and it has consistently received positive reviews throughout the period. In the comments, Chinese cars are called cool, beautiful, and stylish.
The assessment of the characteristics of the machines has also changed over time. In 2022, negative reviews prevailed, especially often complaining about brakes, gearbox and fuel consumption. By 2024, there were more positive reviews.
Rust and lack of spare parts
At the same time, Russian car owners are still concerned about the issue of corrosion. Although this was not talked about very often (14.5 thousand mentions), discussions on the topic gathered 41 million views, and the total audience exceeded 50 million people. The problem of corrosion is present in the discussions of all Chinese brands, which makes it a systemic reputational problem in the industry, analysts say.
Other customer concerns include a shortage of spare parts and a long wait for their delivery (1.8 thousand messages). In addition, they are concerned about the adaptation of cars to the Russian climate. Many doubt that Chinese cars will start up in winter and cope with the cold.
What are the dealers unhappy about
SL analysts also conducted a separate survey of 149 representatives of car dealers working with Chinese brands to find out about the problems they face.
It turned out that the pricing policy raises the most questions among the representatives of the reputable company. Almost 60% consider it the main problem in working with the brand. 88% of the survey participants noted the lack of a clear marketing strategy. At the same time, service standards are strictly controlled, which creates a feeling of high requirements with low support. The situation with the supply of parts remains difficult. Every fourth dealer reported that they have been waiting for spare parts for more than a month.
— For three years, there was a unique situation on the market: Chinese brands had practically no serious competitors. This provided opportunities to build strong relationships with customers and increase their loyalty. However, instead of a comprehensive approach to working with reputation, taking into account climatic features, service development and active communication with the audience, many brands have limited themselves to a formal presence," notes Natalia Kladova.
Forced choice
Despite the growth in sales, Chinese cars remain a forced choice for Russians rather than a conscious preference, SL concludes.
— Chinese cars have ceased to be a curiosity, becoming a familiar part of the automotive landscape, which is evaluated by specific characteristics. Visible progress in the quality of new supplies, the adaptation of models to the Russian market and the expansion of the service network also contributed to reducing the degree of criticism," Irina Frank, CEO of Frank Auto, told Izvestia.
Many conclusions have been drawn from the experience of owning and operating Chinese cars when they were just starting to enter the Russian market, and in some cases even from rumors, says Sergey Melyukh, director of Avilon Electro.
— Most of the problems have disappeared today, and at the same time, the share of negative reviews about Chinese-made cars has decreased. In addition, brand recognition and popularity are increasing, now people are not talking about a conventional "Chinese car", but about a specific brand or model, he believes.
"The quality of the metal is, of course, worse"
Meanwhile, representatives of the dealer community consider corrosion to be a serious problem of Chinese cars.
— If we compare it with premium German cars, then the metal quality is, of course, worse. You need to understand that the cars we are talking about now are much cheaper. It's just a matter of production cost," Nikolai Ivanov, director of Rolf's new car sales department, told Izvestia.
Adapting cars to the Russian climate is a real problem, but it does not concern the entire Chinese car industry, but only individual representatives of it, says Sergey Melyukh.
— When entering the Russian market in a hurry, some brands did not take into account all the factors of car operation in regions with harsh winters and aggressive reagents, but now the officially present brands have mostly changed their production processes, and the problem is going away. As for spare parts, there were huge difficulties with them at the stage of the beginning of sales of Chinese cars in Russia. Right now, logistics is improving, and central warehouses are filling up. The problem remains, but to a much lesser extent," he said.
Is it worth trusting what they write?
Reviews on the Internet should not be trusted unconditionally, says Nikita Kolesnikov, a representative of the Japanese export company HSS in the Russian Federation. According to him, the practice of manipulation using bots and paid bloggers has become a common tool in the market, including actively developing Chinese brands.
"Boilerplate raptures or derogatory criticism without details, bursts of the same type of reviews in a short period of time, accounts with zero history — all these are clear signs of insincerity," the expert notes. A source in the automotive industry confirmed to Izvestia that some car brands are actively using bots.
If the product is frankly bad, then there will still be a significant proportion of real reviews, Nikolai Ivanov believes.
— It works both ways, by the way. We have come across cases when there was a stream of negative comments on social networks, but it was not supported by anything," he said.
Many who have bought such vehicles simply cannot scold them, says Anton Shaparin, vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS).
— It means admitting that you made the wrong choice. But, on the other hand, people had no choice. They made the choice that is possible," Anton Shaparin explained.
There's nothing to compare it with
The fact that Chinese cars have become less scolded is due to psychological reasons, says Igor Morzharetto, partner at Autostat.
— "Zhiguli" was praised in every possible way, although they were far from the quality of modern cars. And they began to scold only when there was something to compare it with — with used and then new foreign cars. Then we started scolding and we just can't stop. It's the same with the "Chinese". When they were compared with German and Japanese cars, it was possible to talk about their shortcomings. Now, by and large, there is nothing to compare with, except that one company with another. And at the same time, the quality of Chinese cars has improved dramatically over the past 10 years. Today, a car may be good in terms of design, price and quality, but due to the large number of electronic systems, it is "buggy". Even owners of the most advanced Chinese cars say that they are forced to periodically come to the service in order to "rewire" the system, the expert said.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
