Q2 2026 Auto Complaints Hit Record High Amid Surge in Quality Issues

In Q2 2026, China received a total of 78,103 valid complaints regarding automotive products nationwide (including 394 complaints related to motorcycles, third-party platforms, and aftermarket tires), marking a 58.3% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase and an 83.4% year-over-year (YoY) surge—setting a new record for the highest single-quarter complaint volume in history. The complaints involved 222 automotive brands and 1,393 vehicle models, up by 13 brands and 134 models respectively compared to Q1. Quality issues dominated complaints, accounting for nearly 80% of the total. Newly emerging major fault categories included “tire cracking,” “air conditioning problems,” and “traction battery failures.” Among these, complaints about “tire cracking” surged nearly 12.8-fold QoQ, becoming the top complaint category; “traction battery failures” entered the Top 20 for the first time, ranking sixth, primarily involving certain GAC Aion models. Complaints about compact cars exceeded 20,000 for the first time, rising 79.1% QoQ to lead all vehicle segments. German and domestic brands accounted for nearly 80% of complaints in this segment; complaints concerning battery-electric compact cars saw accelerated growth, highlighting quality control issues. Complaints about large SUVs surged over 2.7-fold QoQ, concentrated mainly on new energy vehicles from domestic brands such as LeDao L90. Sports cars were the only segment with declining complaints, down 42.1% QoQ. By powertrain type, gasoline-powered vehicle complaints surpassed 50,000 for the first time in history, representing over 60% of the total. Complaints about battery-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles rose 70.2% and 100% QoQ, respectively. In terms of brand ownership, joint-venture brands accounted for over 60% of complaints, an 8.1-percentage-point QoQ increase, with “tire cracking” and “air conditioning problems” being the primary drivers of the rise in quality-related complaints. Domestic brand complaints fell to their lowest share in nearly a year, yet product-related complaints surged 113.6% QoQ. Notably, disputes over model transitions between old and new versions skyrocketed by more than 2.2 times QoQ, comprising over three-quarters of all non-quality-related complaints. By country of origin, German-brand complaints surged over 2.3-fold QoQ, with their share rising by 22 percentage points to take the top spot. Japanese-brand complaints declined 5.9% QoQ, with their share dropping by 6.8 percentage points. Regarding vehicle usage stage, complaints involving issues arising within 1–3 years after purchase held the largest share, increasing by 11.5 percentage points from the previous quarter. Complaints from vehicles with odometer readings between 20,000 and 30,000 kilometers rose by 4.5 percentage points QoQ. Regionally, Shandong Province topped the rankings in complaint volume, surging 98.2% QoQ, including over 3,000 complaints specifically about “tire cracking.” Guangdong Province reported “traction battery failures” among its top three complaint categories for the first time. On service-related issues, “system update problems” remained the leading category despite a decline in complaint volume, while complaints about “discrepancies with advertised claims” rose 53.4% QoQ. Service complaints against imported brands increased 25.1% QoQ, whereas those against domestic brands decreased by 3.8%. In complaint resolution, 84 brands achieved a 100% response rate. Brands such as NIO and FAW Hongqi consistently maintained response rates below 50%.