Chinese Car Production Surpassing European Manufacturers, Says German Car Club ADAC

The experts of the German car club ADAC have come to the conclusion that Chinese car production has been strongly on the heels of European manufacturers in recent years.

The German media writes about it, referring to ADAC’s report on 13 Chinese car inspections over the past three years. Auto club experts point out that Chinese vehicles are real and convincing competitors in many test categories. With two exceptions, all cars scored five out of five stars in Euro NCAP tests. Even in the avoidance test, which checks the correct operation of electronic safety systems, in particular the ESP, the test candidates did not show any shortcomings, while many vehicles from European manufacturers had to settle for better results worse

ADAC experts also acknowledged that the quality and finish of the body and interior materials were mostly good. Tests showed that Chinese manufacturers have improved significantly in recent years and can now keep up with well-known brands.

However, the car club has also noticed shortcomings in the electronic assistance systems – road sign recognition, lane keeping and remote control systems often work unreliably. Here European manufacturers benefit from their decades of experience with these complex systems. However, you can also see how quickly Chinese manufacturers respond to criticism: for example, in the latest Nio models, these systems have already been significantly improved.

The Chinese put a lot of emphasis on touch screens, but it is not always smooth sailing in this area – complex menu structures together with sometimes slow displays, software errors and incorrect translations cause problems again when they control air conditioning, navigation or entertainment content.

Chinese models are almost always cheaper than European ones, often with a difference of thousands of euros, but ADAC warns that a car with a low purchase price can be more expensive later, for example on due to loss of value or unexpected repairs. expenses. In addition, sometimes the sales network is not as dense as the competition.

The Automobile Club points out that the line between European and Chinese manufacturers is no longer as clear as it was a few decades ago. For example, some models of the BMW and Citroen brands are completely made in China, and the Smart is a joint product of Mercedes-Benz and Geely, which is also made in China.