2025 China Auto Quality Research (AQR) Release & Awards Ceremony was held in Beijing

On September 25, 2025, the China Auto Quality Research (AQR) Results Release and Award Ceremony was held in Beijing. Hosted jointly by Car Quality Network and Car Research under the theme "Smart Applications in Scenarios, Quality Leading Safety," the event brought together nearly a hundred senior executives from automakers, industry experts, scholars, and media representatives to discuss innovative practices and development trends in automotive product quality, particularly regarding the application of intelligent scenarios and the enhancement of safety performance.

Tang Weiguo, Chairman and President of Car Quality Network and Car Research

In his opening speech, Tang Weiguo, Chairman and President of both Car Quality Network and Car Research, stated that intelligence in the automotive sector is entering deep waters, with functions becoming deeply integrated into real-world usage scenarios, and that quality determines whether these functions can truly translate into value perceptible to users.

He pointed out that from January to August this year, Car Quality Network accepted over 150,000 valid complaints. Quality and service issues related to intelligent functions such as connectivity, driving assistance, and OTA updates consistently ranked among the top 20 complaint categories. Research from Car Research also showed a rapid increase in 2025 in problems related to delays and lag in remote control via smartphone apps. Consumer focus and anxiety are gradually shifting from "range" towards "intelligent experience."

During the event, he also shared insights from exchanges with senior automotive quality managers this year: the alignment between product quality and consumer demands must evolve from meticulous to perfect; service response needs to be both fast and smart, progressing from timely to real-time; full lifecycle management should extend from hardware detection to forming a closed loop for OTA upgrades, enabling problem prevention. 

Xu Changming, former Deputy Director of the National Information Center and Senior Economist, emphasized that the automotive industry should pay special attention to high-quality development. He recommended that Chinese automakers maintain stable profitability not reliant on squeezing upstream and downstream partners; control debt levels appropriately; strengthen fundamental product attributes like reliability, durability, and safety; and prioritize marketing strategy. He also advised fostering a sense of cooperation and competition. 

Shi Jianhua, Vice Chairman of the Auto 100 Association and Professor-level Senior Engineer, analyzed trends in the new energy vehicle industry. He believes the global auto market has entered a stage of stock competition, while the Chinese auto market maintains stable growth with electrification showing high growth rates; NEV penetration in China is expected to exceed 70% by 2030. Chinese users' demand for differentiation, personalization, and intelligence in automotive products has significantly increased, and domestic brands are better positioned to match consumer preferences, with their market share projected to exceed 65% by 2030. With the accelerated mass production of all-solid-state batteries and further breakthroughs in smart driving and chips, the industry will accelerate its entry into the era of artificial intelligence vehicles.

Liu Peng, Associate Professor at Beijing Institute of Technology and Deputy Secretary-General of the Automotive Big Data Application Branch of the China Society of Automotive Engineers, shared research on pure electric vehicle range satisfaction. He pointed out that inflated range ratings are a core pain point for NEV users, fundamentally stemming from the discrepancy between the officially certified range by manufacturers and the actual range experienced by users during real-world driving. The driver's driving style and usage habits, along with the use of assistance systems, are the main variables affecting range. Future efforts should focus on establishing a user-scenario-based range evaluation system by considering actual user scenarios and driving habits, combined with energy efficiency technology.

This year, the organizers' specialized research continued to focus on the market quality performance of batteries, motors, and electronic control systems. “The 2025 China New Energy Vehicle Battery, Motor, and Electronic Control Systems Quality Performance Research” found that the quality performance of NEV three-electric systems overall showed a positive trend, with a significant reduction in problem counts, and issues related to range and motors alleviated compared to last year.

The research also indicates that:

Technological breakthroughs by leading domestic suppliers like Huawei Smart Electric and GLB have provided independent brands with strong industrial chain synergy advantages, driving the overall quality performance of the three-electric systems in domestic brand vehicles to surpass that of overseas brands.

Range-extender electric vehicles demonstrated the best performance in overall quality as well as across all four secondary dimensions.

Regarding user range satisfaction, leading domestic brands performed relatively well. Economic efficiency became a key performance indicator influencing users' willingness to recommend a brand. 

“2025 China Auto Quality Research” reveals that while the quality of core component modules continued to improve in 2025, the overall industry quality level showed a declining trend. The research introduced the concept of "Experience Quality" for the first time, pointing out a sharp increase in problems at the user experience level. 

The research shows that:

The 2025 market quality performance score was 27.19, a 23% increase from 2024 (Note: the score is a negative indicator; a lower score signifies better quality), indicating an overall decline in industry quality. Among secondary dimensions, quality in core component modules like the engine, transmission, and three-electric systems continued to improve, but other modules such as the smart cockpit and driving system deteriorated.

Market quality performance declined for both internal combustion engine vehicles and new energy vehicles. User complaints increased for ICE vehicles, while long-delayed OTA updates and poor telematics signals emerged as new key issues for NEVs.

User satisfaction with product experience shows a fluctuating decline, with the smart cockpit and driving system exerting a more significant negative influence on user recommendation likelihood.

At the experience quality level, some functions fail to meet user experience requirements in terms of performance, primarily concentrated in the driving system, smart cockpit, and exterior modules.

Qiu Yan, Senior Expert at Car Research, suggested that as consumers' understanding of automotive products deepens and their expectations continue to rise, many design details that previously did not trigger complaints are now evolving into concentrated user grievances. Facing this shift, automakers need to deeply understand real user scenarios, bridge engineering development with user evaluation systems, and achieve practical, scenario-based validation of product performance to create vehicles that truly meet user needs.

During the enterprise sharing session, Chen Jie, Chief Quality Officer of Huawei's Smart Electric Product Line, stated that Huawei Smart Electric adheres to the philosophy that "Safety is the Ultimate Luxury," strengthening core quality based on functional safety, mechanical safety, and electrical safety. They have established a full-scenario FMEA risk analysis covering both development and mass production phases, solidified foundational product quality, implemented comprehensive digital management, and deeply integrated digitalization, intelligence, image recognition, and AI technologies to empower smart manufacturing capabilities.

　　Zhao Zhiyuan, Deputy General Manager of the Quality Department at Xiaomi Automobile Technology Co., Ltd., presented Xiaomi's automotive quality strategy: formulating a "Culture Leadership + Intelligent Digitalization Leadership" quality strategy; defining control strategies from design and R&D to after-sales service, forming a holistic quality concept; establishing closed-loop management for problem identification and resolution through "Thoroughly Identifying Problems," "Effectively Preventing Problems," and "Proactively Responding to Problems"; and building a quality defense system integrating hardware, software, delivery, and big data.

According to the results of the 2025 China New Energy Vehicle Battery, Motor, and Electronic Control Systems Quality Performance Research, the organizers recognized outstanding suppliers for their quality performance in these core systems. The award-winning companies, which ranked first in quality performance for battery system suppliers and powertrain suppliers respectively, provide products with exceptional quality in their respective fields, precisely meeting users' pursuit of high quality.

Based on the findings of the 2025 China Auto Quality Research (AQR), the organizers also announced the winners for best quality performance and best quality experience models across various vehicle segments, as well as the best-performing pure electric vehicle models in terms of range satisfaction. Models receiving the China Automotive Product Quality Performance Award lead their segments in product reliability and stability, strongly evidencing excellence in quality control and durability. Models winning the China Automotive Product Quality Experience Award demonstrate superior performance in comfort, convenience, and driving feel, better meeting core consumer needs. Models awarded the Pure Electric Vehicle Range Satisfaction Best Performance Award achieve a high degree of alignment between "data performance" and "user expectations" in the new energy travel experience, serving as a dual endorsement for both pure electric vehicle range confidence and user trust.

In 2025, Car Quality Network and Car Research continued their annual campaign to select and promote individuals for the China Automotive Product Quality Outstanding Contribution Award, focusing specifically on the practical contributions and industry influence of corporate managers in enhancing and innovating product quality.

After six months of in-depth research, five outstanding individuals were awarded the 2025 China Automotive Product Quality Outstanding Contribution Award. They are: Ye Shaojian, Vice President/Chief Quality Officer of GAC Trumpchi Automobile Co., Ltd.; Lee Sangheon, Head of Quality Office at Jiangsu Yueda Kia Motor Co., Ltd.; Zhang Yongfeng, Executive Director of Quality Assurance at SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd.; Zhang Dehu, Director of Quality Department at Changan Ford Automobile Co., Ltd.; and Han Huijuan, Deputy General Manager of Quality Department at Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., Ltd. By employing innovative quality management methods, they have successfully steered their enterprises from focusing solely on product quality towards a comprehensive upgrade in user experience.