In the first 10 months, more than 3 million cars were sold, according to statistics from the China Automobile Industry Association. Last year there were an average of 3.4 cars per 100 families in China, an annualized increase of 45.9 percent from 2003.

    However, many domestic consumers still go by price and appearance. "People first think of 'owning' a car, then 'enjoy' its performance," Fan said.

    "I recommend car producers not to grab market share simply by lowering prices," Fan said. "Such competition strategies will hinder their sustainable development in the long run."

    The CACSI poll was based on 4,648 participants in 36 cities in 25 provinces. The 16 major domestic brands surveyed accounted for 72 per cent of all cars sold in China last year.

    Though defects have increased by a large percentage, this year's customer satisfaction index has risen 0.1 percent from last year. The improvement was mainly seen among cars whose prices ranged from 50,000 yuan (6,250 U.S. dollars) to 100,000 yuan (12,500 dollars) each.

    "Cars within this price range were some years ago sold at about 50,000 yuan (7,500 dollars) higher," Fan said.

    Jetta of First Automobile Works-Volkswagen, which ranked first in customer satisfaction, sold more than 140,000 units in the first 10 months of the year.

    Geely, whose cars are mainly priced from 30,000 yuan (3,750 dollars) to 50,000 yuan each, had the least customer satisfaction. Others drawing negative comments included Chery QQ and ChangAn Alto.

    (Source: chinadaily.com.cn)