The Concept of Vehicle Design for Chinese Marketing
The Concept of Vehicle Design for Chinese Marketing
A thesis Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Industrial Design
By
Qianyuan Zhao
Under the Supervision of
Prof. Bill Green
Dr. Eddi Pianca
Faculty of Art and Design University of Canberra, Australia January 2016
Abstract
With the rapid development of China’s economy and the rise of Chinese living standards,
Chinese demand for private car ownership is increasing significantly. China is already the world’s largest automobile market and is coveted by many giant automotive enterprises.
However it is extremely difficult to cater to China’s automobile market demands because of particular Chinese conditions such as the unique culture, the diverse requirements of a geographically dispersed population, fastidious consumers and crowded traffic. The problem is that there is very limited literature in this area to guide car designers when designing a car for the Chinese market. This research examines the special demands of private cars for Chinese consumers, identifies particular elements of vehicle design that are important for successful
Chinese marketing, and incorporates them into a new computer-generated 3D model.
I
Table of contents Acknowledgements P. xv
Abstract P. 1
1. Introduction and Overview
1.1Chinese Consumers P. 1
1.2 Aging society P. 2
1.3 Chinese marketing P. 2
1.4 Research Problem P. 3
1.5 Research Question P. 3
1.6 Aim of Research P. 3
1.7 Research Strategy and Methods P. 5
1.7.1 Literature Review P. 5
1.7.2 Data Collection and Questionnaire P. 6
1.7.3 Data Evaluation P. 7
1.7.4 3D model development P. 7
1.8 Research Plan and Timetable P . 8
Chapter 2 Literature Review P. 9
2.1 Asian car market and Asian car companies P. 1 1
2.2 The Chinese car market P. 12
2.3 Chinese car companies P. 15
2. 3.1 BYD (Build Your Dreams) P. 1 5
2.3.2 FAW (First Auto Works) Group P. 1 8
2.3.3 Tianjin Xiali Automobile Company P. 19
V
2.3.4 FAW Car Company P. 2 0
2.3.5 Geely P. 2 5
2.3.6 Emgrand P. 2 5
2.3.7 Geely Marque P. 29
2.3.8 Gleagle P. 3 1
2.3.9 Chery Automobile Co P. 3 3
2.3.10 Chery QQ and Chery QQme P. 3 3
2.3.11 Chery A11, A3 and Chery Tiggo P. 3 7
2.3.12 Great Wall Motors P. 4 3
2.3.13 Great Wall Haval H3, H5 and H6 P. 4 3
2.3.14 Great Wall Haval M2, coolbear and M4 P. 4 7
2.3.15 Dongfeng Motor Company P. 5 1
2.3.16 The Venucia brand P. 5 2
2.3.17 SAIC Motors (Shanghai Automobile Industry Corporation) P. 5 6
2.3.18 The Roewe brand P. 5 6
2.3.19 the MG Motor P. 6 0
2.3.20 Chang’an Automobile group P. 6 1
2.3.21 Lifan Industry Group P. 6 5
2.3.22 JAC Motors (Jianghuai Automobile Company) P. 6 8
2.5 Japanese car market and its automobile enterprises P. 7 2
2.5.1 The Japanese car market P. 7 2
2.5.2 Japanese car brands P. 7 3
VI
2.6 South Korean car market and its KIA, HYUNDAI, SSANGYONG and
DAEWOO
2.6.1 The South Korean car market P. 7 6
2.6.2 Korean car brands P. 7 7
2.7 North American car market and its car companies P. 79
2.7.1 American car market P. 8 0
2.7.2 American car brands P. 8 0
2.8 European car brands P. 8 2
2.9 Conclusion P. 8 4
3. Study 1, Information on existing cars in the Chinese market
3.1 Method P. 87
3.1.1 First Questionnaire P. 88
3.1.2 Feedback of the first questionnaire and Data analysis P. 9 0
4. Study 2
Chapter 4. Study 2
4.1 Re-design guidelines P. 10 9
4.2 Part 1- Car Body Style P. 1 10
4.2.1 Design Guidelines for car styling P. 1 10
4.3 Part 2- Car Exterior Elements P. 11 3
4.3.1 Design Guidelines for Front Face and Bodyline P. 11 3
4.3.2 Design Guidelines for Car Body: Compact or Spacious P. 11 6
4.3.3 Design Guidelines for Car Chassis P. 11 6
VII
4.3.4 Design Guidelines for Exhaust Pipe Shape P. 11 8
4.4 Part 3- Car Interior Elements, colour, decorations and trim P. 11 8
4.4.1 Design Guidelines for Interior Space P. 11 8
4.4.2 Design Guidelines for Colour P. 1 21
4.4.3 Design Guidelines for the Dashboard P. 12 2
4.4.4 Design Guidelines for Chrome Decorations P. 12 2
4.4.5 Design Guidelines for Fake-wood Trim Interior Decoration P. 12 3
4.5 Design specification P. 12 3
4.5.1 Part 1 Car Body and Side Line P. 12 4
4.5.2 Part 2- Design of Grill, Front Face and Front and Rear Lights P. 12 5
4.5.3 Part 3- Wheels and Exhaust Pipe P. 1 26
4.5.4 3D concept car design process P. 127
4.6 Imagines of 3D concept car model P. 1 31
5. Study 3
5.1 Method P. 1 33
5.2 Feedback of the second questionnaire and Data analysis P. 1 33
6. Discussion and conclusions P. 1 4 5
VIII
Reference
Appendices
Sample of Questionnaire 1 P. 171
Questionnaire 2 P. 182
Sample of Questionnaire 2 P. 182
List of Images Image 1 F3DM BYD P. 16
Image 2 F6DM BYD P. 17
Image 2.2 Rear end of BYD F6DM P. 17
Image 3 98-00 Toyota Corolla. P. 17
Image 4 Rear back of Honda City P. 18
Image 5 E6 BYD. P. 18
Image 6 Xiali tj7100 P. 19
Image 7 1982_Daihatsu_Charade_G20_850 P. 20
Image 8 1959_Hongqi_CA72 P. 21
Image 9 1955_Chrysler P. 21
Image 10 Traditional-Chinese-Lantern P. 22
Image 11 Chinese hand fan P. 22
Image 12 Hongqi-CA7200 P. 22
Image 13 Audi A100 P. 23
Image 14 Lincoln-Town-Car. P. 23
Image 15 hongqi-h7 P. 24
Image 16 2009_Toyota_Crown-Majesta. P. 24
Image 17 Emgrand_EC7. P. 26
Image 18 Emgrand EC7-RV P. 26
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Image 19 Emgrand EX7 SUV P. 27
Image 20 EC 8. P. 27
Image 21 the rear of EC 8 P. 28
Image 22 Infiniti_M45. P. 28
Image 23 Cadillac grill. P. 29
Image 24 Xiali TJ7300. P. 30
Image 25 1987 Daihatsu Charade P. 30
Image 26 Geely Beauty Leopard P. 31
Image 27 Gleage Panda P. 32
Image 28 Toyota Ayga P. 32
Image 29 GLEAGLE-GC7 P. 33
Image 30 Chery QQ P. 35
Image 31 Chery QQme P. 35
Image 32 Chery QQme P. 36
Image 33 Chery QQ6 P. 36
Image 34 Daewoo Matiz. P. 37
Image 35 Chevrolet spark P. 37
Image 36 Chery A11. P. 39
Image 37 seat-toledo. P. 40
Image 38 Chery A3 P. 40
Image 39 First generation prius P. 41
Image 40 Kia Rio P. 41
Image 41 Chery-Tiggo. P. 42
Image 42 Kia Sorento P. 42
Image 43 Great Wall Haval H3 P. 45
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Image 44 Isuzu Axiom. P. 45
Image 45 Great Wall Haval H5 P. 46
Image 46 Great Wall Haval H6 P. 46
Image 47 Coolbear. P. 49
Image 48 Haval M2 P. 49
Image 49 Toyota Scion xB. P. 50
Image 50 Great_Wall_Haval_M4 P. 50
Image 51 Great Wall Florid P. 51
Image 52 Venucia D50. P. 53
Image 53 old-generation Nissan Tiida. P. 54
Image 54 Venucia Viwa EV concept car. P. 54
Image 55 Toyota IQ P. 55
Image 56 Nissan Leaf P. 55
Image 57 new Nissan March. P. 56
Image 58 Rover 75. P. 58
Image 59 Rover 25. P. 58
Image 60 Roewe 750 P. 59
Image 61 Roewe_550 P. 59
Image 62 MG 6 P. 60
Image 63 Changan Alsvin P. 63
Image 64 Changan Eado1 P. 63
Image 65 Changan_CS35 P. 64
Image 66 2013-Kia-Cerato P. 64
Image 67 Changan Eado-XT-interior P. 65
Image 68 lifan 520. P. 67
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Image 69 lifan-x60. P. 67
Image 70 second-generation Lifan 520 P. 68
Image 71 JAC Tojoy P. 69
Image 72 JAC Tojoy P. 70
Image 73 Beijing Opera P. 70
Image Pic. Draft 1 P. 128
Image Pic. Draft 2 P. 129
Image Pic. Draft 3 P. 129
Image 74 3D concept car model P. 131
Image 75 3D concept car model P. 131
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List of charts Chart 1 what is the FIRST exterior element of cars you focus P90
Chart 2 to evaluate the exterior of the following Chinese best-selling cars styling P91
Chart 3 to determine your preference for the following car styles P92
Chart 4 Automobile body styles have different size perception in different countries.
Which car body do you prefer? P93
Chart 5 Do you prefer a high chassis or a low chassis P94
Chart 6 how do you feel about "smile" front face style. P95
Chart 7 there are 20 different wheel rims below, please choose the 3 you most prefer.
(3 choices) P96
Chart 8 A spacious interior is a significant factor when choosing a car P97
Chart 9 does the space of the trunk effect you choice of buying a car? P98
Chart 10 which part of a car's interior should be the most spacious? P99
Chart 11 what kind of exhaust pipe shape do you prefer? P100
Chart 12 what is your favorite car color (You can offer more than ONE color) P101
Chart 13 which do you prefer, the LED dashboard or the traditional pointer
dashboard P101
Chart 14 which type of car seat do you prefer P102
Chart 15 Do you care about the distance between your head and the car roof? P103
Chart 16 how do you feel about chromed decoration car features? P104
Chart 17 on which part of a car do you like to see chromed decorations? P105
Chart 18 how do you feel about fake-wood trim for interior decoration? P106
Chart 19 from the list below circle you preferred color for a car door handle P107
Chart 20 the best-selling cars in 2014 in China P111
Chart 21 the income of the Chinese middle and working classes P112
XIII
Chart 22 the specifications of best-selling cars' clearance heights P117
Chart 23 the regional distribution of participants of second survey with a translation P134 of Chinese Province and City names
Chart 24 Top-10 bestselling cars in Europe, China and U.S in 2015 P1 1
XIV
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor Bill, my research supervisor, for his patient guidance, enthusiastic and vital critiques for this research work. I would also like to thank Dr. Eddi, for his great help, advice and assistance in keeping my progress on schedule.
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Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview
China surpassed the United States to become the world's largest vehicle market in 2009
(Finance. Sina, 2010) and total passenger car sales rose 14.8 percent last year to 21.98 million units according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers(Savadove, B, 2014).
Chinese demand for private car ownership is increasing significantly with the development of
China’s economy. There is no doubt that a share in the Chinese market is eagerly sought after by all automotive enterprises. However several particular Chinese conditions (such as the unique culture, aging society, diverse market requirements and fastidious consumers respectively) affect imported car sales. It is crucial to research and investigate some characteristics of the private car, which will fit these particular demands for Chinese consumers and the Chinese car market.
1.1 Chinese consumers
With the increasing number of females receiving higher education and status in China, women now play a greater role in the Chinese market than ever before (Lee, Yau, Chow, Sin, Tse, 2004).
Saving money/price sensitivity, blind belief in big brands and the favoritism of prestigious foreign brands are their special characteristics. Moreover, according to Wann Yih Wu, Ying Kai
Liao, Anon Chatwuthikrai (2013) Chinese customers tend to choose the appearance as the significant factor for buying a vehicle, followed by running cost and price. Therefore this research will test if a vehicle with a new appearance that incorporates Chinese elements will be better received by the Chinese consumers.
1
1.2 Aging society
China, in common with many developed and development countries has an aging population.
The driving population is getting older and older (James, T, 2012). The Chinese automobile market needs appropriate changes to adapt to the new population structure because of the particular demands of senior citizens. A series of new technologies with simplified operations which help drivers and offer convenience for not only senior citizen but also the disabled will be hotly pursued.
1.3 Chinese marketing
Different customers from different countries have their diversified demands and requirements due to culture differences. Chinese culture is one of the longest continuous cultures in the world and has its particularities. For instance, the Chinese consumer shows more brand loyalty than the Australian consumer (Anthony C Lowe and David R Corkindale, 2010). Chinese consumers pay much more attention to “face” than Australians, which means Chinese tend to pay more attention to prestigious foreign brands than their domestic counterparts in order to manifest their status and fortune (Wei, Li, JamesBurton and Haynes, 2013). Price, economy and functionality will not limit the design in certain situations. Moreover, according to Anthony C Lowe and
David R Corkindale (2010), new products from well-known brands will be more easily accepted than innovative products from an unknown Chinese brand. It will, therefore, be better for a new 3D concept vehicle to be produced by a big, well-known brand which already has a good reputation on the Chinese market.
2
1.4 Research Problem
There are only a few cars in the world car market that are specifically designed for the Chinese market and Chinese car consumers, such as the VW Santana 2000 (This car type will be illustrated in detail in the next literature review chapter). Understanding Chinese car consumers’ exact preferences and requirements will be vital for every car company to extend their business in China and is also important for future car research.
1.5 Research Questions
This research will try to answer some questions to indicate Chinese car consumers’ requirements and preferences. For example:
What is the Chinese car consumers’ favorite car type?
What kind of car elements will attract Chinese car consumers?
What were the top-10 best-selling cars in recent years in China and why did these cars draw
Chinese car consumers’ attention?
What are Chinese car consumers’ requirements for car exterior and interior design?
1.6 Aim of the Research
The aim of this research is to identify some elements of automobile design that reflect the particularities of the Chinese consumers with specific reference to the exterior and interior styling. A further aim is to provide design guidelines for those elements with the intention of
3 assisting vehicle designers or companies to address the special demands of the Chinese market.
The specific aims of the research are to:
1. Undertake research to identify particular elements of car design that impact on Chinese buyers' preferences.
2. Translate the results of this research into a coherent design for a domestic private car.
3. Test the outcome of the design process against a broad section of the Chinese buying public.
4. Make suggestions for further research.
Tailoring particular elements of a vehicle for the Chinese market now accounts for a large proportion of the car designer’s time. Olivier Boulay, French car designer, indicated that the special requirements of car features, such as bigger, limousine-like back seats with more- advanced entertainment and climate-control system will influence the future appearance of car design (Shirouzu, N, 2009). He also pointed out the average age of Chinese consumers is younger than that of other countries and that a light colored interior is their first choice. Chinese elements in automobile design not only fit the Chinese market, but will ‘shock’ international car design ((Shirouzu, N, 2012). On the other hand successful car design, which has good sales performance in other countries, may get Chinese car consumers’ attention. The Holden- designed Chevrolet Cruze hatchback is a good example. The sales of Cruze are in the top 10 passenger cars in China and dominated the younger buyers’ market in 2013 (Hammerton, R,
2013). These sources provide valuable ideas which are vital for this research such as the Chinese buyers’ age structure and special demands. Also, the appearance of a car designed for the
4
Chinese market should not be limited to only Chinese elements: elements that have achieved success in other global markets may also be included.
1.7 Research Strategies and Methods
The overall research strategy is as follows:
1. Literature review
2. Questionnaire design
3. Ethics approval
4. Identification of subjects and questionnaire distribution
5. Data collection and analysis
6. Model construction and review
7. Distribution of model to subjects
8. Data collection and analysis
9. Conclusions and suggestions for further research
1.7.1 Literature review
The literature review plays an important role in this research to identify what existing car markets and car companies, both international and domestic, do specifically for the Chinese
5 market’s special car preferences. Additionally, it shows the different methods each car company uses for attracting Chinese car consumers and identifies the particular car elements that Chinese consumers prefer. Last but not least it illustrates common areas in car elements design which car companies discovered to better fulfill Chinese consumers’ requirements.
1.7.2 Data Collection and Questionnaire
The purpose of this research is to collect data on the buying habits, tastes and preferences of
Chinese consumers regarding various aspects of automobiles. The collection of this data is one of the most important steps in this process. The sales performance of the top ten selling cars on the Chinese market in recent years will be reviewed and information collected about how foreign car companies integrate traditional Chinese elements into their designs.
The questionnaire was used to gather more specific details of the Chinese consumers’ preferences. For example, the questionnaire included various pictures of different vehicle shapes and elements so that participants could indicate their preferred vehicle elements and shapes. The results from this questionnaire were divided into three generational groups of
Chinese car buyers (Jenny, Y, 2009). These three groups also represented three different social classes, having their own special requirements. As such data gathered in this questionnaire helped drive this study and because age structure or age issues are a key factor effecting car sales in China it also allows this study to focus on particular ages or social groups. The survey was conducted in China and distributed to the general public.
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1.7.3 Data Evaluation
The data collection and evaluation utilized Microsoft Office Excel, as the simplest way of analyzing the data and presenting it visually.
The addition of particular features designed especially for the Chinese market is no longer uncommon. The majority of foreign cars released onto the Chinese market have China-specific features or additions. Japanese enterprise is seen as the leader in this field possibly due to similar traditional culture and the appearance on cars of Chinese elements. Honda released three concept cars for the Chinese market last year and put all three into production (Stern, P. 2013).
Traditional Chinese elements were applied in the appearance of three concept cars, such as the image of the Chinese dragon. In this case, it is not difficult to see the methods the Japanese car companies employ. China is a country with five thousand years of history. The integration of traditional Chinese cultural elements should readily appeal to Chinese consumers, inspiring feelings of national pride.
1.7.4 3D model development
After the data collection and evaluation was completed, the results were used to build a virtual
3D model. Rhinoceros 5.0 was used to build the 3D virtual CADD concept car model. Adobe
Photoshop was used to create and edit images of the CADD model.
The virtual 3D CADD model was then evaluated via a second questionnaire to ascertain its
Chinese market potential. The data gathered in this questionnaire could be used in future research to further refine the concept model.
7
Research Plan and Timetable
8
Chapter 2 Literature review
This chapter presents a review of the literature related to car design in the Chinese car market.
To develop an understanding of the position of car design factors in the Chinese market, the review also focuses on the broader context of car design in Asia and even more broadly on car design in countries further afield.
This literature review not only quotes large amount of references specific to the Chinese car market, gathered mostly from domestic car companies and Chinese consumer psychology, but also some from other countries’ car companies and car styling, such as Japan and South Korean to provide a wide range of car design information for this research. The reason why most of literature was from the public domains because, after extensive searches, only a few published academic peer reviewed reports and articles could be found on this topic. Most of the academic articles on this topic related to business, economic administration, engineering and materials.
Chinese auto manufacturers produced more than 245 million cars in 2015 and sold more than
230 million in the same year (Ming, 2016). As the largest car manufacturing country in the world (Ming, 2016) the Chinese domestic auto manufacturers FAW and SAIC Motors make the greatest contribution to the Chinese car industry in terms of vehicles produced (auto.sina.com,
2014).
With China being the world’s largest car market it has generated major interest worldwide from all car enterprises. It is therefore essential to identify the car buying preferences of the Chinese
9 consumers to better inform car manufacturers and thereby maximize their business opportunities. All countries have their own unique and diverse needs. In China these include its five thousand year history, the world’s third largest land mass and the world’s largest population, all of which could have an effect on the buying behaviors of Chinese consumers. To determine the particular buying behaviors of Chinese consumer’s relevant literature needs to be identified and analyzed. This literature includes: vehicle demands, buying habits of Chinese consumers, marketing trends, prominent car styling trends and distinctive vehicle features. In this study opinions are not limited to just the Chinese market. Instead the opinions of every influential car market and company were sought. First, it is crucial to be aware of the factors that influence car design that are common irrespective of culture. Then, it is important to be aware of the general cultural influences that are peculiar to Asia. Finally, it is vital to be conscious of the design factors that are unique to China.
As the Chinese car market is the focus of the work in this study, the Chinese car market and car companies were explored as the first case. Additionally, Japanese and South Korean car companies were discussed. One of the reasons is that China, Japan and South Korea have a similar traditional culture, some common values and ways of thinking thus the people in these three countries may have similar buying habits. Other reasons are that the Japanese automotive industry is one of the most prominent industries in the world and South Korea, with the fifth- largest car industry in the world (measured by automobile unit production) is today among the most advanced automobile-production countries in the world. These countries have mature and experienced automobile industries that make them worthy of study in the Chinese context. The
10 car markets and car companies such as the American car market and its companies and the
European car market were also included. The criteria in this study for the selection of literature for review relates to consumer buying behavior and requirements, vehicle appearance design for the car market and car styling. Literature which concerns engineering design, vehicle electronics design and vehicle hybrid power technology were excluded.
Top ten bestselling cars in Top ten bestselling cars in Top ten bestselling cars in
Europe China U.S
1 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF Wuling Hongguang families Toyota Camry
2 FORD FIESTA Volkswagen New Lavida Toyota Corolla
3 VOLKSWAGEN POLO Great Wall Haval H6 Honda Accord
4 RENAULT CLIO Nissan Sylphy Nissan Altima
5 VAUXHALL/OPEL CORSA GM Wuling Baojun 730 Honda Civic
6 FORD FOCUS GM Buick Excelle families Ford Fusion
7 RENAULT CAPTUR Volkswagen New Sagita Hyundai Elantra
8 PEUGEOT 208 Volkswagen New Santana Chevrolet Cruze
9 NISSAN QASHQAI Volkswagen New Jetta Ford Focus
10 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT Volkswagen Tiguan Hyundai Sonata
(Top-10 bestselling cars in Europe, China and U.S in 2015)
2.1 Asian car market and Asian car companies
This chapter will discuss the influential Asian car market and Asian car companies and identify particular design developments of Asian car companies that cater to the special requirements of
Asian consumers.
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2.2 The Chinese car market
To understand the buying habits and specific preferences of Chinese car buyers, it is necessary to undertake a literature review of the Chinese consumer car market.
The Chinese car market has had impressive growth since 2007, with a 37% increase in the number of cars sold over the previous year. Meanwhile the European and the American car markets were facing a ‘cold winter’. At this moment, there were 30 million cars in China, the cars per capita rate still much lower than Europe and America. More importantly, around 70% of Chinese are saving money for a brand new car (Zhao, 2009). In addition, the Chinese car market caught up with the United States as the biggest car market in 2010 (Wang, Liao and
Hein, 2012). Therefore it is a vital time for every car company in the world to expand their business in China and it is an important opportunity for Chinese companies to develop their own car industry.
According to Liu and Bai (2008), Chinese consumers preferred bigger vehicles with impressive appearances as their first requirements for buying a car. This seems to indicated that Chinese car buyers pay more attention to a vehicle's exterior than its interior (Wang, A, Liao, W and
Hein, A, 2010). However, in an extensive study Gabardi, E, Huang, T and Sha, S (2013) argued that there are different groups of Chinese consumers all of which have different demands. In this study, they separated Chinese consumers into two different groups: the older generation of car owners and the new generation of buyers. They claimed that the older generation preferred to buy luxurious cars as a status symbol and simply to enjoy. The authors sub-divide the younger-generation buyer group into a further three sub-groups based on their income: affluent
12 group, sufficient household and ‘entry –level’ group.
The three sub-groups also have their own specialties. In this study the first two sub-groups, the affluent and sufficient household groups, are very similar in that the first group pays thirty percent more when buying a car than the second group. These two groups also cared about the functionality of the vehicle. However, the third group cared more about the cost of the vehicle and about brand, body style and exterior. Jenny (2009) confirmed this situation and also identified three groups of Chinese car buyers:
- The “me” generation, who were people born between 1978-1987
- The “young family” generation who were people born between 1968-1977
- The “new master” generation who were people born between 1958-1967
They showed that the “new master” generation's target aim for buying a car was to reward themselves and to have fun. Lee, J, Yau, O, Chow, R, Sin, L and Tse, A (2004) and Gabardi, E,
Huang, T and Sha, S (2013) found that females were playing an important role in buying cars in Chinese families. In their studies females were more likely to focus on the interior and on comfort. The authors of this study also identified another group of Chinese car buyers that would appear in further studies. These were people from rural area who have considerable resources available to buy a car, the reason being that with the improving economy farmers are earning more money than ever before. Consequently their buying ability is catching up with people from urban area; the other reason is that China is a vast agricultural country with almost eight hundred million farmers -which is a huge potential buyer group.
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As previously noted other studies showed that Chinese consumers put more focus on the exterior than the interiors and preferred bigger car bodies such as SUVs (Gabardi, Huang and
Sha, 2013) and (Wang, Liao and Hein, 2010). According to Wang, A, Liao, W and Hein, A
(2010), the sale of SUVs in China is likely to increase three fold in next ten years. However,
“Ten Most Important Designs” (2012, March 11) claimed that features of vehicles with fluid body shapes, impressive feature side lines, wing shaped grills and slender headlamps were still highly sought after in the Chinese market.
Other research for the Chinese car market indicates interesting information about the future
Chinese car trends. Firstly, the sale of SUVs will treble, secondly; there will be more luxury car buyers and last but not least, regional car consumers and car-model preferences will face significant change (Wang, Liao and Hein, 2012). This may imply that the changing of the
Chinese car market and car buyers' habits provides enormous challenges for every car company, especially for Chinese companies. How Chinese car companies will adapt to these challenges is yet to be seen.
Overall the development of the Chinese car market offers a great environment for Chinese companies and industry. It is essential for Chinese companies to aim to the target market and the requirements of Chinese car buyers. Therefore, it is important to know what Chinese car companies have done for their domestic customers.
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2.3 Chinese car companies
The number of Chinese car manufacturing companies is unknown. According to the China
Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) BYD Auto, Dongfeng Motors, the FAW group, SAIC Motors, Lifan Auto, Chang’an Auto, Geely Co, Chery Co, Hafei Motors, Jianghuai
Motors, and the Great Wall are the top-eleven car manufacturers in China (Schmitt, 2011).
There are two types of car companies in China: joint ventures and local brands. Some car manufacturing companies in the above list are joint ventures, such as SAIC Motor; others are local brands, such as Great Wall; still others companies are mixed which means they produce both local brands and foreign brands, Dongfeng Motors for example. This chapter will focus on local brands, because they have experienced the development of Chinese car design and the
Chinese independent car industry more broadly.
2.3.1 BYD (Build Your Dreams)
The largest seller of local brand cars in China is BYD Auto who sold more than 500,000 passenger cars in 2013. The number of cars sold by BYD Auto in 2013 were just 40,000 units fewer than those sold by Kia (“2013 Passenger Vehicle Sales”, 2014). This can be seen as enormous progress for the Chinese local BYD Company because it only started manufacturing cars in 2002. Before that the company was famous for its rechargeable batteries (Johnson and
Sutton, 2009). Although the battery industry brought great benefits to BYD Auto electric plug- in hybrid automobiles (“Tesla Model S vs. BYD e6”, 2013, September 06), when it comes to talking about the design of car styling in this company, it is difficult to find positive comments anywhere. For example, the car styling of BYD F3DM (Image.1), which was the first plug-in
15 hybrid sedan in China, and the BYD F6DM (Image.2), were both very similar to the last- generation Toyota Corolla (Image.3), with a rear end of the Honda City (Image.4) (Johnson and
Sutton, 2009) & (Berman, 2011). Another BYD car style is that of the E6 (Image.5) five-seat electric SUV-style car. This car is recognizable for its large wheels, which are the same size as those of the Land Rover Freelander (“Tesla Model S vs. BYD e6”, 2013, September 06). “Tesla
Model S vs. BYD e6” (2013, September 06) noted that passengers have to step up into the car because of the size of its wheels; she thought it was not a good idea to make a car so high off the ground. However, BYD Co. decisions for making this car may be based on two prior studies that found Chinese car buyers prefer cars with big bodies such as SUV’s (Gabardi, Huang and
Sha, 2013) & (Wang, Liao and Hein, 2010).
Image 1.1 F3DM BYD the first plug-in hybrid sedan in China
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Image 2 F6DM BYD
Image 2.2 Rear end of BYD F6DM
Image 3 98-00 Toyota Corolla 17
(Image.4) Rear back of Honda City
(Image.5) E6 BYD five-seat electric SUV-style car
2.3.2 FAW (First Auto Works) Group
FAW Group was constituted with three public companies: FAW Car Company, Tianjin FAW
Xiali Automobile Co Ltd and Changchun FAWAY Automobile Components Co Ltd. The FAW
Group of companies is famous for producing the first domestic passenger car, Hong Qi (Red
Flag) in 1958 (“The home team”, 2008). There are two domestic car brands in the FAW Group, which are the Xiali in Tianjin Automobile Co Ltd and the Hong Qi in FAW Car Company. These two different domestic car brands will be discussed as follows: 18
2.3.3 Tianjin Xiali Automobile Company
Xiali is the Chinese name for “Charade”. Therefore, the majority of Xiali’s car styling is similar with that of Japanese made Charade or based upon it (Image.7), for instance: Xiali TJ7100- series hatchback (Image.6) and sedan, which is famous in Chinese for use as a taxi. Although the low quality of the Xiali is well known, it was still the second top car maker in China prior to 2000 (Lee, C. Takahiro, F and Jin, Chen, 2003). This was primarily attributed to its use of the Charade’s styling.
(Image.6) Xiali tj7100 is a famous tax car styling in China
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(Image.7) 1982_Daihatsu_Charade_G100_850
2.3.4 FAW Car Company
The first generation of Hong Qi CA72 (Image.8) was a luxury parade car for carrying foreign celebrities and high level Chinese government officials (“The home team”, 2008). The car styling of Hong Qi CA72 was based on a 1955 model Chrysler (Image.9) with a lot of Chinese elements thrown in (“FAW Announces Plan” , 2010), for example, the rear lights are similar to traditional Chinese lanterns (Image.10) and its special grille was based on a traditional Chinese design for a hand fan (Image.11) (Feijter, 2013). The second generation of car styling in Hong
Qi CA7200 (Image.12) was based on the Audi 100 (Image.13) and Lincoln Town Car (Image.14)
(“FAW Announces Plan”, 2010) and (Zhi, 2006). The latest generation of car styling in Hong
Qi is the Hong Qi H7, which was based on the Toyota Crown Majesta (“Hongqi H7”, 2013).
Hong Qi H7 (Image.15) car body is almost 5-m long and is styled with Chinese cultural elements. It provides a comfortable interior layout and ample inner space for Chinese
20 consumers (Wang, 2007). It also has a raised red flag on the bonnet which looks like a little red fin, this element is a feature from all previous generations of Hong Qi car styling that has been retained (“Hongqi H7”, 2013). Although the car styling of Hong Qi H7 was based on a Toyota
Crown Majesta (Image.16), the car body still looks like an Audi A6. (“The home team”, 2008)
(Image.8) 1959_Hongqi_CA72 a luxury parade car for carrying foreign celebrities and high level Chinese government officials
(Image.9) 1955_Chrysler
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(Image.10) Traditional-Chinese-Lantern Originally, monks used lanterns on the twelfth day of the first lunar month in their worship of the Buddha
(Image.11) Chinese hand fan the Chinese hand fans are an important symbol of China and one that has played an important cultural role since ancient times.
(Image.12) Hongqi-CA7200
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(Image.13) Audi A100
(Image.14)Lincoln-Town-Car
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(Image.15) hongqi-h7 provides a comfortable interior layout and ample inner space for Chinese consumers
e (Image.16) 2009_Toyota_Crown-Majesta
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2.3.5 Geely
Geely means lucky in Mandarin Chinese. This name has reflected the development of this company in recent years. Li Shufu, who is the owner of Geely, translated his company from a refrigeration manufacturing company to a cheap car manufacturing company in 1998 and has been permitted to produce cars since 2002 (McGregor, 2002). There are four brands of passenger cars made by Geely, which are Emgrand, Geely, Gleagle and Volvo marques.
2.3.6 Emgrand
Emgrand, which was launched in 2009, is a luxury brand in the Geely range (Geely, 2009). It has models which includes Emgrand EC7/8 (Image.17), Emgrand EC7-RV (Image.18) and
Emgrand EX7 SUV (Image.19). The car styling of Emgrand EC7 was recognizable for its huge boot and traditional, tidy lines in both sedan and hatchback (Dowling, 2013). The exterior of
CE7 looks like a Volkswagen Golf with some well integrated Ford Mondeo styling (Andrews,
2012). However, the Emgrand EC8 (Image.20, 21) has a totally different appearance when compared with Emgrand CE7. The Emgrand CE8 was a rather large car almost 5 meters long and 2 meters wide, according to Mathai (2012), it is very similar to a Cadillac at first glance.
The car styling of Emgrand CE8 can be described as an Infiniti M45 (Image.22) when viewed from front side angles, with a Cadillac grill (Image.23) and a BMW rear. Interestingly Geely put all these elements together and made them work aesthetically (Mathai, 2012).
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(Image.17) Emgrand_EC7 was recognizable for its huge boot and traditional, tidy lines in both sedan and hatchback
(Image.18) Emgrand EC7-RV
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(Image.19) Emgrand EX7 SUV
(Image.20) EC 8 was a rather large car almost 5 meters long and 2 meters wide
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(Image.21) The rear of EC 8
(Image.22) Infiniti_M45
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(Image.23) Cadillac grill
2.3.7 Geely Marque
The majority of car styling in Geely marquee is based on Xiali TJ7300 (Image.24) which is a variant of the 1987 Daihatsu Charade (Image.25). However, the Geely marque was launched by the Geely Beauty Leopard (Image.26). It imitated the Benz C-class (Tan, 2006), and became the first Chinese developed sports car in 2003. Although this car’s styling has been called
“Frankenstein”: neither beautiful nor quick (Hardigree, 2009), some of its classic Chinese design elements were worth indicating such as the tiny wheels which narrowly filled the wheel arches (Tan, 2006).
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(Image.24) Xiali TJ7300
(Image.25) 1987 Daihatsu Charade
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(Image.26) Geely Beauty Leopard was China’s first self-developed sports car
2.3.8 Gleagle
Gleagle means global eagle, which perhaps reveals the ambition of Geely. One of Gleage success stories is the Panda (Image.27) which will be the first Geely car exported to Australia
(“Geely Panda to launch in Australia”, 2011). The styling of the Gleagle Panda is particularly appealing, because the front of this car looks like a panda face, which Geely called bionic
(Florea, C, 2014). This car’s styling was criticized for being a copy of the Toyota Aygo
(Image.28), Greely Gleagl has designed the rear to be the same rear as the of the Toyota Aygo
(“JAC Also Planning”, 2009). Geely Gleagle is well known in some developing car markets, such as Indonesia, Egypt and Ukraine (Shirouzu, 2012). The car styling of the Gleagle GC7
(Image.29) in the Gleagle range was hailed as an original design (“Survey: Car owners’ attitudes”, 2012). The styling of this car was identified as its most satisfying feature, as it is 31 filled with young and energetic elements. For example, the grille and headlamps form a sleek curve (“Survey: Car owners’ attitudes”, 2012).
(Image.27) Gleage Panda the first Geely car exported to Australia
(Image.28) Toyota Ayga
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(Image.29) GLEAGLE-GC7
2.3.9 Chery Automobile Co
Chery is a government-owned car company founded in 1997. China’s largest car exporter according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). It has 13 overseas factories operational producing Chery vehicles (“Growth 2011—Chery”, 2011). Prior to 2012
Chery Automobile Company had four domestic car brands: Chery, Karry, Rely and Riich. In
2012 Chery made the decision to discontinue their Rely and Riich models because of their dismal sales (“Chery Finally Decide”, 2012). The following paragraphs will discuss some of the best-selling Chery cars on the Chinese market:
2.3.10 Chery QQ and Chery QQme
The car that almost every Chinese citizen associates with the Chery Automobile Company is the Chery QQ Hatchback (Image.30). The Chery QQ Hatchback range consists of three models 33 all with different styling: Chery QQ (Image.30), Chery QQme (Image.31, 32) and Chery QQ6
(Image.33). Chery QQ is arguably the cheapest car in the world, and its styling is similar to the
Daewoo Matiz (Image.34) and Chevrolet spark (Image.35) (Navaroo, 2008). Consequently GM
(General Motors) sued Chery Automobile Company because they claimed the Chery QQ not only copied their Spark model in exterior styling but also interior design and key components
(Williams, 2007) (Abele, Meyer, Naher,Strube and Sykes, 2008). The market positioning of the
Chery QQ Hatchback was for the young fashionable generation in China for which it achieved its goal. The “Arc” body line of the Chery QQ made the car styling aggressive; its famous crystal headlamps looked like two flashing eyes; its deep black grille looked like a smiling face; therefore, “smiling face” added “two flashing eyes” making Chery QQ easily attractive to the younger generation (“Chery QQ”, n.d.). Chery Automobile Company launched the new type of
QQ hatchback in 2013. The appearance of the new vision was similar to that of the old one, except for the “smiling face” front grill which “smiles” more widely than that of the old version, and the inclusion of cute rear door handles. All these “cute” re-designed elements were aimed at female buyers (“New Chery QQ Launched”, 2013).
Chery QQme is another type of mini car which was designed for young Chinese female buyers
(“Spotted in China”, 2012). This car's styling was aimed at following the worldwide mini car trend and its competitors were VW Beetles and the BMW Mini. The ‘smiley face’ from the
Chery QQ was also used on the Chery QQme where it was applied to both its grille and dashboard (Gao, 2009). Although most people called it a weird car with a weird name, it is nonetheless a truly original car styling design from the Chery Automobile Company. What is
34 weird about this car is that the back and front are similar and both look like a boat (“Spotted in
China: Chery QQme”, 2012). Interestingly it was designed by Enrico Fumia, who is the chief designer for Lancia (“Chery QQme? Yes, Chery S16’s official name”, 2009). The profile of
Chery QQme was an impressive double door design with rounded side windows and rear windows (Chery QQme Exterior”, 2013). Although a lot of people described this car as ugly, it still represented a Chinese self-developed styling design.
(Image.30) Chery QQ Chery QQ is arguably the cheapest car in the world
(Image.31) Chery QQme was designed for young Chinese female buyer
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(Image.32) Chery QQme aimed at following the worldwide mini car trend
(Image.33) Chery QQ6
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(Image.34) Daewoo Matiz
(Image.35)Chevrolets Park
2.3.11 Chery A11, A3 and Chery Tiggo
The Chery A11 (Image.36), which was released at 1999, is the first car from the Chery
Automobile Company. Although this car was discontinued in 2006, it represents the
37 development of the Chery Automobile Company and created a new type of Chinese car manufacturing: joint ventures (Hessler, 2010). The Chery A11 was based on the Volkswagen
Group A2 platform and its styling is similar to the SEAT Toledo (Image.37) (Waldchen, 2013).
The Chery A3 (Image.38), which was released in 2008, is another legendary car in the Chery
Automobile Company because its styling was designed by the Italian studio Pininfarina (Chow,
2010). The aim of the Chery A3 was to design a European-looking car. Pininfarina’s studio gave this car a simple and solid external and internal styling targeted at young and fashionable car buyers. The front face extended to the engine hood line, which gave this car an expensive impression (“Chery A3”, 2013). There are some slight differences between A3 and A3 sport: the latter is a hatchback with overstitched sculpted seat with aggressive and dynamic door panels (Pininfarina.com, 2010). The styling of the Chery A3 sport’s hatchback is shaped like a dropping tear on its profile with its tail lamps wrapped around the rear, all of which gives the car a luxury feeling (Haridas, 2010). However, even though the Chery A3’s styling design was independently-developed, Siler (2008) claims that it still imitates styles from other cars: the front end, the hood contouring, the cut-lines and the “A3” badge were influenced by Audi; the
A-pillar, the rear flanks were similar to the first-generation Toyota Prius (Image.39) and Kia
Rio (Image.40). McDonald (2008) argued that both the Chery A3 sports hatchback and sedan at some points look like a blend of Alfa Rome and Volkswagen Golf.
Chery Tiggo (Image.41) is the other best-selling car for the Chery Automobile Company, before
2010 it was the no.1 selling SUV in China (“Chery Release 211 Tiggo”, 2010, September 17).
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Over the past several years the majority of car sales in Chery Automobile Company were dependent on the Chery Tiggo SUV and the Chery QQ series (“Chery Finally Decides”, 2012).
The car styling of Chery Tiggo was targeted towards Chinese family consumers where the trend is to prefer large-size SUVs to satisfy their requirements (“Chery Launched Tiggo”, 2013).
Chery Tiggo has a large car body with big chrome logos, large air intake grille and sizeable crystal headlamps; these elements were designed to accommodate Chinese consumers’ buying habits. The front of Chery Tiggo is similar to the Kia Sorento (Image.42), and the car body looks like the old Toyoya RAV-4 (“Chery T11 Tiggo”, n.d.).
(Image.36) Chery A11 is the first car from the Chery Automobile Company
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(Image.37) seat-toledo
(Image.38) Chery A3 its car styling was designed by the Italian studio Pininfarina
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(Image.39) First generation prius
(Image.40) Kia Rio
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(Image.41) Chery-Tiggo Before 2010 it was the no.1 selling SUV in China
(Image.42) Kia Sorento
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2.3.12 Great Wall Motors
Great Wall Motors has become China’s largest sport utility vehicle maker since 2010 (Leung and Yan, 2010), and it was also China’s seventh largest car producer in 2012 (“Top-10 Sale”,
2013). Great Wall Motors was founded in 1984 and only produced trucks at that time. Its
Imagekup truck was the best-selling Chinese Imagekup truck in 1998 (“Milestone”, 2011).
Great Wall Motors is famous for its SUVs, not only in China, but also overseas. As Chinese consumers prefer to choose cars with big bodies such as SUVs (Gabardi, Huang and Sha, 2013) and (Wang, Liao and Hein, 2010), the following paragraphs will focus on its best-selling SUVs and their styling.
2.3.13 Great Wall Haval H3, H5 and H6
The sale of Great Wall Haval H3 (Image.43) SUV passed 400,000 units in 2010. The low price of its Haval H3 is one of the reasons for reaching this sales volume, this is because the Haval
H3 uses features from other car makers. For example, the exterior of the Haval H3 was copied from the Isuzu Axiom (Image.44) and the chassis was from Toyota RAV4 Today Great Wall
Motors still use this method for their SUV styling design. Unified headlamps and wave shape grill with new style bumper made the Haval H3 into a “muscle” SUV with 'brave' appearance
(Samuel, 2011). As a domestic car brand, Great Wall Motors hit the spot with the Chinese car buyers. For example, the car body of Haval H3 was quite high above the ground, one of the reason is that Chinese drivers enjoy a feeling of sitting higher than others. However, although the Haval H3 has a high car body and the front of this car and its rear door were large the height
43 of its seats suited almost every driver and it also has a comfortable interior design (Amarer,
2012). For example, it has a spacious interior: there is a wide gap between the driving seats and the roof and it also provides a comfortable driving experience because of its chubby steering wheel design.
The Great Wall Haval H5 (Image.45), marketed as Great Wall X240 in Australia, was the first
Chinese SUV and the first Chinese vehicle brand exported to Australia and Europe (O’Kane,
2009) and (“Australia’s First Chinese Brand”, 2009). The car styling of Haval H3 and Haval
H5 are similar, they were both developed by Isuzu Axiom and the main difference between the styling of these two SUVs is the grille (“Great Wall Haval H5”, 2013). The Great Wall Haval
H6, which is named the X200 overseas, is the successor to Haval H5 (Lim, 2014). The Haval
H6 (Image.46) was copied from the Honda CR-V and was the third best-sell SUV in the Chinese market in 2012 (“Great Wall Haval H6”, 2013). The interior of Haval H6 is spacious and comfortable, which makes it as a practical new generation SUV in the Great Wall Motors range
(“Great Wall H6, 2013).
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(Image.43) Great Wall Haval H3 the car body of Haval H3 was quite high above the ground
(Image.44) Isuzu Axiom
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(Image.45) Great Wall Haval H5 the first Chinese SUV and the first Chinese vehicle brand exported to Australia and Europe
(Image.46) Great Wall Haval H6 the third best-sell SUV in the Chinese market in 2012
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2.3.14 Great Wall Haval M2, coolbear and M4
Another type of SUV styling in Great Wall Motors is the M series. These paragraphs will discuss the Coolbear (Image.47), Great Wall Haval M2 (Image.48) and M4 (Image.50).
It was difficult to identify what type of car styling the Coolbear is derived from. This is because the Coolbear was categorized as a sedan in 2008 Beijing International Automobile Exhibition
(Sevilla-Mendoza, 2010), but its styling is based on that of an SUV. When comparing the styling of the Haval M2 and the Coolbear cars it resembled that of the fairly square shaped Toyota
Scion xB (Image.49) (Hooson, 2012) and (Johna, 2010).
The car styling of the Haval M2 and the Coolbear was described as “awful” as was that of the
Toyota Scion xB (Hooson, 2012). However, some vehicle evaluators (“Great Wall
Coolbear”.com, 2012) argued that the Toyota Scion xB was a good design: “clean and simple with distinct character”, but the Coolbear did not imitate the good features from Scion xB.
Instead the Great Wall Motors redesigned a lot of messy lines on the body of the Coolbear without having a fashionable rising beltline. The positive thing that Great Wall Motors did was to keep the car styling of the Scion xB but design a better front end than that of the Scion xB.
As a result there were some affirmative comments for the Coolbear, for example, Hagon (2010) pointed out that the Coolbear has plenty of space and big headroom with vast open storage capacity. This big, spacious design might be fit for the Chinese female consumers as to according to studies by Lee, J, Yau, O, Chow, R, Sin, L and Tse, A, Sin, L, Chow, R, Yau, O and Lee, J. (2004) and Gabardi, E, Huang, T and Sha, S (2013), the Chinese female car buyers
47 preferred to choose a car that provides a comfortable driving experience.
Although Haval M2 used the same platform as the Coolbear there are some differences between the Haval M2 and the Coolbear. Johna (2010) mentioned that the Coolbear has a “narrow eyes” headlamp. The Haval M2 redesigned a big headlamp as a normal feature; Haval M2 had bigger wheels and tyres, which tried to offer an attractive visual effect;. He also compared the interior design of the Haval M2 with that of the Coolbear: the interior of these two cars were very similar, they had the same big passenger space. However, the metal accelerator of Haval M2 looked better and had better material on the seats than the Coolbear. The Haval M2 had a perfect seating design: beautiful black and red colour matching, making its interior like a sports car; anti-skidding material seats had a good visual effect; redesigned, long front seats and rear seats offered a comfortable driving experience.
The Haval M4 (Image.50), which shares the same platform with the Great Wall Florid
(Image.51), was launched in 2012 as a mini SUV by Great Wall Motors (“Great Wall Releases
Haval”, 2012). What is confusing about the two cars is that the styling of Great Wall Florid is categorized as a hatchback, but the Haval M4 was categorized as mini SUV. Compared with the Haval M2, the car body and wheelbase of Haval M4 are shorter, but the width and height of these two car’s bodies are similar. There are some crossover elements on these two cars' styling, such as roof rack and black plastic arches around the wheels. However, these black plastic arches look oversized because of its small body and wheels (Wang, 2012). The only advantage of the Haval M4 is its low price which is more than likely why it was aimed for young, first car buyers.
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(Image.47) Coolbear was categorized as a sedan in 2008 Beijing International Automobile Exhibition
(Image.48) Haval M2 bigger wheels and tires, which tried to offer an attractive visual effect
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(Image.49) Toyota Scion xB “clean and simple with distinct character”
(Image.50) Great_Wall_Haval_M4 it’s low price which is more than likely why it was aimed for young first car buyers.
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(Image.51) Great Wall Florid
2.3.15 Dongfeng Motor Company
Dongfeng Motor Company is the biggest joint venture in China. Dongfeng car manufacturing company has co-operated with many foreign automobile companies such as Honda, Nissan,
Peugeot-Citroen and Kia Motors (”General Introduction to Dongfeng”, 2003); it mainly produced private cars under the Nissan brand, such as Nissan Sunny, Nissan Bluebird, Nissan
Teana and Nissan Tiida, and assembled the luxury Nissan brand: Infiniti in 2013. However,
Dongfeng Motor alongside its association with Nissan Motors is releasing a new car brand for the Chinese market: the Venucia (“Nissan Unveils Venucia’s”, 2012). The following paragraphs will focus on vehicles under the Venucia brand.
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2.3.16 The Venucia brand
The Venucia brand is a sub-brand under Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (DFL-
PV), which was a special creation of the Chinese government. The Chinese government wants access to more of the intellectual property rights. The intellectual property belongs to a foreign company in the joint venture, but the Chinese partner can get more benefits of intellectual property from a sub-brand in a joint venture. Chinese car companies negatively used old designs, old car models and old platforms in their sub-brands; they would rather spend more resources and funds to build their own car brands (“Venucia D50 Sub-brand”, 2012). However, foreign car companies found commercial advantage in this special cooperation. For example Nissan
Motors and General Motors Company released sub-branded low-price cars to occupy more market share, aiming for the 700-million rural populations. Ye Lei the General Manager of
Venucia’s business development apartment said that the Venucia brand was focused on urban workers and rural residents. He pointed out that they were richer than before and wanted a car but foreign car brands still were too expensive for them and domestic brands were lacking in quality. Therefore vehicles from this low-price sub-brand should suit them well (“Nissan Looks to No-frills”, 2013).
The Venucia D50 sedan (Image.52) was the first car to be launched under the Dongfeng Nissan
Passenger Vehicle Company, based on the old-generation Nissan Tiida (Image.53) (Ning, 2012).
The target of The Venucia D50 was the middle class and low-income consumer (Lee, 2012).
The concept of exterior design of the Venucia D50 was called “soar” (“Nissan Motor: Dongfeng
Nissan”, 2012) and (Radu, 2012). Although the Venucia D50 used an old car model, Dongfeng
Nissan Company designed new headlight and a sporty front for it (“Venucia D50”, 2011).
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The Venucia Viwa EV concept car (Image.54), which was displayed at Shanghai Auto Show in
2013, is a concept car under DEL-PV. Lynton (2013) mentioned that the Venucia Viwa had some identical characteristics with the Chevrolet Spark, Toyota iQ (Image.55) and Nissan Leaf
(Image.56). Ning (2013) argued that the Venucia Viwa concept car may have been based on the new Nissan March (Image.57). He also indicated that the Venucia Viwa had aggressive body lines and looked like a “cartoon hero” from the front.
(Image.52) Venucia D50 the target of The Venucia D50 was the middle class and low-income consumer
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(Image.53) old-generation Nissan Tiida (Nissan Versa)
(Image.54) Venucia Viwa EV concept car aggressive body lines and looked like a “cartoon hero” from the front.
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(Image.55) Toyota iQ
(Image.56) Nissan Leaf
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(Image.57) new Nissan March
2.3.17 SAIC Motors (Shanghai Automobile Industry Corporation)
SAIC Motors is one of the biggest car makers in China and it produced 3.5 million units in
2012. It was the fifth-largest automobile producer at that period (“Best Chinese cars”, 2010).
The original MAIC Motors can be traced back to 1940 as one of the earliest Chinese car industries in Mao’s China (“The home team”, 2008). It has two joint ventures; one of them participated with Volkswagen Motors, and another cooperating with General Motors. SAIC also has two fully owned car brands: the Roewe brand and MG Motors.
2.3.18 The Roewe brand
The Roewe, which means honor and prestige in Chinese, is a luxury automobile brand under
SAIC Motors. SAIC Motors bought technology deriving from the Rover 75 (Image.58) and
Rover 25 (Image.59) in late 2004 (“Rover becomes ‘Roewe’”, 2006). The Roewe 750
(Image.60) based on the Rover 75 was launched in 2007 in China (Adams, 2011). Although the
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Roewe 750 looked similar to the Rover 75, the SAIC announced that their own China Technical
Center had made important changes in design and technology (“Roewe 550”, 2014). The Roewe
750 shared the same rear as its old model—Rover 75, however, it got an aggressive nose compared with the traditional feature and developed tail-lights (Andrews, 2007). He found that the SAIC Motors designed a bigger boot and a longer car body for their Roewe 750. The front grille was larger with a visibly extended rear end (Hayward, 2011). The interior of the Roewe
705 had received a thorough redesign, for example, its rear cabin was much bigger than that of the Rover 75, therefore, getting more space for passengers (“Identity Crisis “, 2009);
The Roewe 550 (Image.61) is another medium size sedan deriving from the Rover 75, but it has been redesigned with new features with peculiar Chinese elements. Adams (2011) indicated that the Roewe 550 had a dynamic car styling with a redesigned and unified front associated with the Roewe 750; the headlamp of the Roewe 550 were similar to the Roewe 750; the side view of the Roewe 550 with its curved shoulder and belt-line looked like a cigar, which also stemmed from the Roewe 750. The interior of the Roewe 550, Chowdhury (2011) claimed to feel like the BMW; because of the cabin with its wood colour and beige elements.
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(Image.58) Rover 75
(Image.59) Rover 25
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(Image.60) The Roewe 750 got an aggressive nose compared with the traditional feature and developed tail-lights
(Image.61) Roewe_550 a dynamic car styling with a redesigned and unified front associated with the Roewe 750
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2.3.19 the MG Motor
The Nanjing Automobile Company bought MG Rover in 2005 (“Rover sold to Nanjing”, 2005), and then it combined with SAIC Motors as a subsidiary in 2007 (“Refile-update2-SAIC”, 2009).
After that, the first-new model GM6 in the SAIC Motors range was launched in 2011 (Pomfret,
J, 2011).
The MG6 (Image.62), which was aimed at young Chinese buyers, was based on the Roewe 550 with stylish and sporty body line and modern interior (Williams, 2009). Nevertheless, Kerr
(2010) argued that the MG6 was not derived from the Rover 75. He pointed out the only similar part was the front frame; the MG6 was a larger size than the Focus or Golf class, closer to the
Mondeo and Passat as a family saloon. He also indicated that although the MG6’s headlights look beautiful and well-designed, its hatchback sharp and coupe car styling was not a successful design.
(Image.62) MG 6 aimed at young Chinese buyers
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2.3.20 Chang’an Automobile group
The Chang’an Automobile Group is a government-owned corporation, which is one of the “big four” car makers in China (“Chang’an is the third”, 2009) producing 1.9 million units in 2012, making it the fourth largest car manufacturer in China. The Chang’an Automobile Group participates with Ford, Suzuki and PSA Peugeot Citroen as three joint ventures and mainly produces Ford passenger cars such as the Focus which achieved very high sales volumes in
China. The Chang’an Automobile Group also has its own car brand: the Changan brand. It is a car brand that is owned, developed and designed by the Chang’an Automobile Group.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the Changan
Alsvin and the Changan Eado were the 22th and 25th in the best top-50 sales of passenger cars in China; and the Changan CS35 was the 11th of the best top-50 sales of SUVs in China.
Therefore, it is important to focus on the Changan Alsvin (Image.63), the Changan Eado
(Image.64) and the Changan SUV C35 (Image.65).
The Chang’an Alsvin is famous for its front design; it is not because of its innovation but because of its imitation (Frank, 2012). The front face of the Chang’an Alsvin is similar to the
2012 Mazda 3 (Frank, 2012). Even the peculiar metallic blue paint of the Chang’an Alsvin is the same as the popular blue paint of the 2012 Mazda 3 (Cirillo, 2012). Cirillo (2012) also pointed out that three other parts were copied from the Mazda 3: headlights, fog light enclosures and grille. However, the “Be Free Be Extraordinary” (2012) argued that the front and the rear design are more streamlined and based on the body of a dolphin while the rest of the car styling is based on the bionic dolphin design. The interior design of the Chang’an Alsvin also derives from a dolphin’s back, which makes the interior feel smooth and natural.
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The car design of the Changan Eado is taking the lead with Chinese carmakers. One of the reasons is that the Changan Automobile Group built a research group for car design in Italy
(Usman, A, 2012). The aim of the Changan Eado is to expand into the European market; its designer Stefano Carminati explained that the car styling of the Changan Eado is a combination of “European fashion”, “Japanese fineness” and the requirements of Chinese consumers
(“Changan Eado“, 2012). It has charming lines around the C-pillar and the rear lights which can be called the most beautiful Chinese car (Wang, 2013). Nevertheless some people pointed out that the Changan Eado was derived from lots of copied elements from other car styles, for example, Lee (2013) indicated that the rump of the Changan Eado is similar to new Mazda 3, the front face looks like Kia Cerato (Image.66) and interior of the Changan Eado (Image. 67) imitates Holden Cruze.
The Changan CS35 mid-size SUV was designed by a well-known car designer: Dambrosio
Luciano, sharing the same platform with the Eado compact (“Changan CS35”, 2012). The
Changan CS35 has smooth body lines on both sides and a declining window line and a waist line from front to rear to make the car feel strong and powerful (rcar.info.com, 2012). The
Changan Automobile Group officially described Changan C35 as sport cat styling with running body lines and luxury feeling interior design; the concept of this car styling is called “Dynamic in shape, fashion in atmosphere” (“CS35 Goes to General”, 2012). Although Changan CS35 is aimed for European and American markets, Nathan (2012) pointed out that the inside space of
Changan CS35 is quite spacious, which is the requirement of Chinese SUV buyers. Even though the C-pillar design of Changan CS35 was similar with some French car designs combined with
62 an American styling dashboard, Changan CS35 was chosen as the best good-looking owner- developed and designed SUV in China (“Changan Model CS35”, 2012).
(Image.63) Changan Alsvin The front face of the Chang’an Alsvin is similar to the new Mazda 3
(Image.64) Changan Eado1 the car design of the Changan Eado (Image.82) is taking the lead with Chinese carmakers
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(Image.65) Changan_CS35 sport cat styling with running body lines and luxury feeling interior design
(Image.66) 2013-Kia-Cerato
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(Image.67) Changan Eado-XT-interior
2.3.21 Lifan Industry Group
The Lifan Industry Group was built in 1992 as a motorcycle maker, and then started to produce self-developed and self-designed passenger cars in 2005 (“Chang’an Motos”, n.d.). The current car styling in the Lifan Industry Group contains the Lifan 520 series and the Lifan X60 compact
SUV. The Lifan 520 (Image.68) and Lifan X60 SUV (Image.69) will be discussed in the following sections.
Lifan 520 small sedan was the first Chinese self-designed vehicle for sale in Australia in 2009
(Pettendy, M, 2008). Andrews (2008) indicated that Lifan 520 sedan used an old chassis, which was made in 1991, with stylish wraparound headlamps and chrome grille. Although the Lifan
Industry Group announced that Lifan 520 is an owner-designed vehicle with fashionable style headlamps and tail lights (“Appearance of Lifan 520”, 2010), Lifan 520 has similarities with 65 the Citroen Elysee, such as the exterior and interior design (“Lifan 520”, 2013). The Lifan
Industry Group released the second-generation Lifan 520 (Image.70) in 2011 and made some redesigns to the car’s styling (Feijter, 2011). Feijter (2011) pointed out that the car styling is a copy of the Toyota Vios; it has fashionable body lines on both sides with a short front and rear, which makes this car attractive.
Lifan X60 is the first SUV in the Lifan Industry Group, it is aimed at first-car buyers and females (Wang, 2013). Although the inspiration of car styling design of Lifan X60 SUV is from the third-generation of Toyota RAV4, it cannot be seen as a copy because their chassis and dimension are totally different (“Lifan X60”, 2012). Lifan X60 has a chunky rear bumper design with a big smiling mouth feature grille design (“Lifan X60 Version Offers Found”, 2014).
People in “Lifan X60 Version Offers Found” (2014) also indicated that the car styling of Lifan
X60 looks tough because the front of the Lifan X60 is round and full with a tough-looking car body. The Lifan Industry Group also made the special bumper tail design (“Lifan X60”, 2014).
Zamzamspring (2014) and noted that the tail bumper perfectly contrasts with the X-shape front bumper design, which looks both vigorous and friendly.
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(Image.68) lifan 520
(Image.69) lifan-x60
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(Image.70) second-generation Lifan 520 it has a fashionable body lines on both sides with a short front and rear, which makes this car attractive
2.3.22 JAC Motors (Jianghuai Automobile Company)
JAC Motors has been a car manufacturer for 45 years, producing over 500,000 units per year
(JAC Motors, 2011). JAC Motors became the tenth largest car manufacturer in 2010, producing more than 458,000 units during that period (CAAM, 2010). However, JAC Motors only started its passenger car business in 2007; before that they only produced commercial trucks
(JACMotors, 2007). JAC Motors manufactures a range of vehicles ranging from commercial trucks to small city cars but the JAC Tojoy sedan is the car styling that must be discussed.
JAC Tojoy (Image. 71) was designed by the famous Italian design studio Pininfarina, and received many awards in China (“Automaker Ratchets up”, 2008). JAC Motors (2008) officially announced that the car styling of the JAC Tojoy expressed many Chinese elements, such as Beijing Opera (Image.74), ancient buildings, Tai chi. JAC Tojoy was launched in 2008 68 and then became the auto star in the Chinese A-class sedan market, achieving good sales during that period (“JAC Tojoy Creates”, 2010). Of the various Chinese elements that can be seen in the JAC Tojoy, there is, for example, an impressive curved line going across the front, the front grille, the headlamps and the engine hood which all together make up a swooping curve, reminiscent of images from the Peking opera; the cloud-shaped car body and special front bumper with Tang dynasty architectural elements are both represent traditional Chinese culture
(Johna, 2010). Johna (2010) also pointed out that compared with other sedans, the body lines of the JAC Tojoy are smooth and the transition from A-pillar to C-pillar is natural.
(Image.71) JAC Tojoy was designed by a famous Italian car design studio, Pininfarina
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(Image.72) JAC Tojoy
(Image.73) Beijing Opera is a form of traditional Chinese theatre which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics.
To sum up, it can be clearly seen from above paragraphs that China is still in the early stages of progress in its automotive industrial development and its industry and industrial car design is
70 still inefficient (Gun Chun-hui 2002). Chinese car design is now experiencing something similar to what Japanese and South Korean car design did in the last decades: imitation of excellent car design from countries which have sophisticated car industrial design, absorption of ideas from these countries and working towards becoming self-reliant on innovation (Xu and
Jiang 2007 and Chen 2001). Meanwhile the Chinese car industry has to accurately grasp its special domestic car requirements. Although most Chinese car companies imitate car designs from Japanese or European car brands and vigorously develop joint ventures as their priority, they do contribute to the development of the Chinese car industry and satisfy the needs of domestic car requirements. For example, Geely, Chery, SAIC Motors and Chang’an
Automobile Group specifically aim at the Chinese younger generation and first car buyers with cars that are cheaply priced, and have sporty and fashionable car elements. Some focus on spacious interiors while Chang’an Automobile group and Lifan Industry Group employed famous international car designers for their car design. There are some common car elements which have been exploited by these Chinese car companies, such as aggressive appearance, smiling face front design, spacious interior design, preference of SUV car styling and long and smooth car body design that may satisfy Chinese car buyers. Therefore, these car elements not only present the unique Chinese culture, but also would be seen as the achievement of decade of research by the Chinese car industry and are extremely valuable for this research and further research into the Chinese car market.
This Chapter illustrated the contributions that domestic car companies have made to the Chinese car market and discerned the Chinese consumers’ car requirements as derived from the domestic
71 car companies’ research. The next chapter will also show what the specialties of Japanese car companies are.
2.4 Japanese car market and its automobile enterprises
This chapter will present the Japanese car market and some of its car companies. It will show why Japanese car companies have made great contributions to the world car industry and achieved such good sales in the Chinese car market.
2.4.1 The Japanese car market
Toyota caught up with General Motors as the world’s largest car maker in 2006 and today
Japanese cars are regarded as the “best choice” by many motoring magazines (Oliver and
Holweg, 2006). Toyota, Mazda, Subaru and Honda firmly occupied the top four places for vehicle reliability in the 2012 Annual Auto Survey (Consumer Reports 2012). It can be seen that Japanese car brands represent reliability in the majority of consumers’ minds. One reason for this is that Japanese cars are seen to be superior in quality and style. The question is why do
Japanese cars dominate the car market and what features do Japanese cars have that are making this possible. “Mobile cells” is a definition of Japanese cars. Kenya Hara, an outstanding designer in Japan, explained that even though the origin of the Japanese car design was an imitation of the West’s automotive history and culture, the particular Japanese culture and lifestyle gave Japanese car industry a unique and special feature and personality (Millward
2008). He also believed that the future of car development can be seen as a private space for drivers with higher attention on interior comfort. This is similar to what Bite (2009) found in
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China. Chinese people, especially the “new master” generation, said that the car can be treated as their own space and it is no longer a simple way of transportation, but instead a particular lifestyle. It appears that Chinese consumers are also paying more attention to the interior of the vehicle, making the driving experience their major criterion in buying a car.
Although Japanese car designers had confidence in their car design, Japanese people still preferred to drive very strange looking cars because of the Japanese market's particular requirements (Boulay, O and Wyszogrod, 2004). Boulay, O and Wyszogrod (2004) said
“Japanese people are a contradiction”. They are traditional on the outside, but fashion conscious on the inside. For example, they wear the same colour suit to work, but when buying a car, they want to show they are different and press their own personality. (Wyszogrod, 2004).
Wyszogrod and Boulay (2004) claimed that because of overpopulation in Japan, where everything is crowd together, if people do not have some special items, such as a strange car or colourful clothes their life would be quite boring. China also faces the problem of overpopulation; it is argued that Chinese consumers also have a similar frame of mind as
Japanese consumers. Therefore Japanese car designs and its consumer market will be one of the best examples for drawing parallels and to understanding Chinese car buyers (Shahmanesh-
Banks, 2004).
2.4.2 Japanese car brands
Japan has numerous car brands and a majority of them have achieved good sales in the Chinese market. Therefore, it is important to identify the specialties of Japanese car styling which can
73 attract Chinese car buyers. This study will only choose two of the best-selling Japanese cars styles to analyse; the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy and the Toyota Camry. According to the Chinese
Commercial Information Network (www.askci.com, 2014), the sale of the Nissan Bluebird
Sylphy (Image.96) and the Toyota Camry (Image.97) is 6th and 17th best selling cars in the
Chinese car market, selling 259,545 and 177,649 units in China respectively.
The Nissan Bluebird Sylphy (Image.96), also called Nissan Pulsar in the Australia and New
Zealand market and Nissan Sentra in North American market (“Nissan Sylphy/ Sentra”, 2012), is the third generation of the Nissan Sylphy, and was launched at 2012 at the Beijing Auto Show as a compact sedan (“Nissan’s Re-imagined New Global”, 2012). Each generation of Nissan
Sylphy has developed in its size and options (Padgett, 2014) and this car modeling gets high marks for its spacious interior design (Image.98) and comfortable interior experience, such as roomy back seats, which is identified as one of the biggest back seats in the class (“2014 Nissan
Sentra”, 2014), and generous trunk space (“2014 Nissan Sentra Review”, 2014). Nissan Global
Department officially announced that Nissan Bluebird Sylphy has an impressive modernized car body with up-swing body lines, which makes a sense of “excitement and confidence”; modern-looking front grille and LED headlamps create a high-end feature; spectacular rear design involves several noticeable elements, such as attractive chrome trim and sharply angled trunk lid (“Nissan’s Re-imagined”, 2012). The third generation of Nissan Sylphy is primarily designed for Chinese consumers with graceful appearance, chromed trims and wood trims for the interior (autozone.org, 2012). However, autozone.org (2012) also pointed out that the cheap- feeling undersized information screen, artificial alloy panel and the fake wood trims are blemishes on the interior of this car.
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The Toyota Camry series is another well-known and classically styled Japanese car brand. The car styling of the Toyota Camry has developed for more than 30 years since 1979 and achieved a good reputation in the international car market; it has been the best-selling passenger car in the United States from 1997 to 2013 (Markus, 2010) and (Bunkley, 2014). Although Toyota
Motors released the new generation of Camry 2015 version recently, this study still focus on the old generation of Toyota Camry (Image.97), because the sale number of 177,649 units in the Chinese market is based on the old generation of Camry, such as Camry 2013 version and
Camry 2014 version (Image.97). Toyota Motors Australia (“Camry. Looking better than before.”) Indicated that the sleek car body with low grille and the underbody design, which is stimulated by Formula 1, creates a sporty and “crouching” feature for the Toyota Camry. The current version of the Toyota Camry has a spacious interior (Image.99), 50mm extra knee room for the centre rear seats, and a modern-looking dashboard design with attractive wood grain trim also expressed by the redesigned steering wheel and the clean and orderly centre console with the redesigned gear lever. (Leach, 2011) Schlee (2013) identified that compared with the well laid-out interior of Honda Accord 2013 version; the interior of the Toyota Camry can be called luxury, which makes for a premium feeling.
To conclude, the Japanese car design and manufacturing industry should be regarded as a competitor and a predecessor to Chinese car design and manufacture industries. Chinese car industries like their Japanese counterparts also started their car design by imitating ideas from western countries. However, because Japan was able to perfectly merge those foreign design elements with its own culture may be one of the reason why its car industry became a successful
75 learner and trend setter. Japanese culture had also been influenced by Chinese culture since
Ch’in Dynasty (221 BC), absorbing and transforming it to create its own unique characteristics that eventually developed into Japanese culture that transformed their civilization (Paul Varley
2000). This can be seen especially in car styling and mechanical design (Xu chong, Jiang wei
2007). This may be a significant guide for the Chinese car industry as a way to insert cultural elements into their car designs, nonetheless there is still a long way to go before Chinese cultural elements are successfully integrated into a real car design.
This chapter showed the specialties of Japanese car companies and highlights some of the reasons for their success. The following chapter will illustrate the development of Korean car companies.
2.5 South Korean car market and its Kia, Hyundai, Ssangyong and Daewoo
This chapter will identify some of the Korean car companies, look at their best-sale cars in
China and exploiting the development of the Korean car companies.
2.5.1 The South Korean car market
It was extremely difficult to see a Korean-brand vehicle on the streets in China ten years ago where Japanese-brand cars dominated the Chinese market. However, South Korean-brand cars,
Hyundai and Kia, surpassed Japanese cars, such as Nissan and Toyota, which in 2012-2013 have become the second and third selling cars in China (BBVA Research, 2013). South Korean design has now moved from being an imitator, which also followed western design, to a
76 trendsetter (Petersen 2013). It is indicated that the Korean car industry had also simulated
American and European design in the same way the Japanese car industry had done in its infancy. Until now, Korean car design still relied on Western designers, for example, Kia employed Peter Schreyer in 2006, who designed the Audi TT, with its beautiful cutting edge styling, and the VW Beetle. In 2011, Kia released the Kia Forte (Image.100), which had high sales in the car market (Tian, 2011). It can be described as a Korean car with a Western appearance. However, Hyundai used a different approach to target its market. For example, the
Hyundai YF Sonata (Image.101), which was released at 2009, was the car designed by Hyundai where it applied its own design concept styling “Fluidic Sculpture”. As a result the YF Sonata was a great success selling more than 200,000 units in 2010 (The Korean Time, 2012). Although the styling of this vehicle, which was described as a fluid body shape with an impressive feature side line, wing shape grill and slender headlamps, was aimed at the Chinese market, it was also well received by other markets. Therefore, the styling of this car can be seen as a bench mark for Korean car styling. Another specific sample is the GM Sparks (Image.102), which was released at 2009. This car was based on the Daewoo Matiz (Image.103) and was said to be revolutionary by Kim of GM (The Korean Time, 2012).
2.5.2 Korean Car Brands
Hyundai Motor Company was the eighth largest car manufacturer in 2008 and sold over 4.4 million vehicles in 2012, according to Hyundai Motor Report 2012; Kia Motors, which is 32.8% owned by the Hyundai Motor Company (“Show Room Elantra”, 2012), sold more than 2.75
77 million vehicle in 2013. The Hyundai Elantra (Image.105) and the Hyundai Verna (Image.106) reached the 11th and 12th largest sale in Chinese car market respectively and the Kia K3 got the 23th largest car sale in China, according to Chinese Commercial Information Network
(www.askci.com). This study will review two best-sell Korean cars from Hyundai Motor and
Kia Motor in Chinese market. Although the sale of the Hyundai Verna was better than that of the Kia K3 (Image.107) in 2013, the Kia K3 will be still involved, because the Hyundai Elantra and the Hyundai Verna are both from the Hyundai Motor; they maybe have the similar concept of car styling design.
The Hyundai Elantra (Image.105) was designed by Hyundai’ North American design studio
(Pomroy, 2012) and the car’s designer, Cedric D’Andre, said the concept of this car styling design was to create a similar sporty car to the Honda Civic with an up to the minute appearance
(Hanley, 2011). The concept of the Elantra car styling design is called “fluidic sculpture”
(Pomroy, 2012). The Elantra has a streamlined car body (Hanley, 2011) with attractive side character lines, muscular wheel arches and lower roofing, which makes this small sedan look powerful (“Show Room Elantra”, n.d.). Hyundai Motors announced that the Elantra has been assembled with many impressive elements, such as a sizeable two-tone rear bumper, stretched rear combination lamps, swept-back headlamps, and extra-wide front bumper with a luxury impression (worldwide.Hyunday.com). Although the old version of the Hyundai Elantra was remarkable, now the new version of the Elantra received a chromed grille and beltline molding, strengthening the impressive car styling (Kennedy, 2014); a spacious interior is one of the most important improvement for the new Elantra, for example, it has plenty of room in the rear and front (Leach, 2014), especially for the rear seat (Casey, 2014).
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Kia K3, known as the Kia Cerato in Australia and Forte in China and US, is a compact car launched in China since 2009. The car styling of Kia K3 has been designed for younger buyers with “extrovert” and modern features (Tan, 2013). It has a dramatic aerodynamic and visibly dynamic exterior design (Spinks, 2013). Kia K3 is impressive for its chrome-surrounded “tiger nose” grille design with outstanding interior space (Chew, 2013). The most attractive point of this car styling design is the swing-shaped crease along the body sides and swept-back headlamps with LED eyebrows (Tan, 2013) and (Ross, 2013). Both Kia Motor and Hyundai
Motor designed a roomy interior for their new cars; for example, the Kia K3 has a spacious front and rear seats and abundant trunk space (Ross, 2013). However, some obvious shortage has been indicated in that the slanting roofline reflects the poor rear seat headroom, because of the low car body (Dowling, 2013) and Kia K3 used a lot of plastic material for the interior, such as fake plastic carbon fiber around the drivers’ cockpit and plastic inserts on lower portion of steering wheel, which make it looks inexpensive (Ross, 2013).
This chapter showed the development of Korean car companies and their best-sale cars in China, next chapter will illustrate the North American car market and its car companies.
2.6 North American car market and its car companies
This chapter will present some of the North American car brands to find out reasons why they are best-selling cars in China.
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2.6.1 American car market
With the emergence of global high fuel prices and the economic crisis, the car market in United
States turned to become more like the European car market by decreasing its production of large cars and increasing its production of smaller cars. Interestingly this is opposite to the Chinese car market. When the American indigenous car companies were facing losses, the sale of exotic car brands, such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan increased (Wikipedia 2013). In American up to
2008 the most popular car body size was the mid-size sedan such as the Chevrolet Impala and
Ford Taurus. However after 2008 the Toyota Corolla became the best-selling car in America.
Harner (2013) notes that in China in 2013 GM sold 2.5 million vehicles, outselling the leading
Japanese brand Nissan who just sold 1.3 million vehicles. Today more and more car companies are changing their strategies to design vehicles specifically for the Chinese market.
2.6.2 American Car Brands
The American vehicle industry began with numerous car manufacturers but was dominated by four big car companies: General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and AMC. Although United States is not the largest automobile manufacturer in the world after 1980s, as an old car manufacturer empire, American car manufacturers still occupy a large car market share in China. According to Chinese Commercial Information Network (www.askci.com), the Buick Excelle, the
Chevrolet Sail Sedan, the Chevrolet Cruze and the Ford Fox Hatchback held the second, fifth, seventh and tenth largest car sale respectively in Chinese car market in 2013. The Buick Excelle
(Image.108) and the Chevrolet Sail Sedan (Image.109) will be discussed in the following section.
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The original Buick Excelle (Image.108), Buick Verano in Unite States, was based on the
Daewoo Lacetti (Image.110) by Daewoo Motor, a South Korean car company. General Motor brought all Daewoo products in Europe as Chevrolets in 2004 (Choy, 2012). However,
Shanghai GM released a new car, which uses the same name as Buick Excelle in the Chinese market. This Buick Excelle car styling was based on General Motor‘s compact car platform, which is the same platform as Chevrolet Cruze and this car’s styling was designed by Pinifarina and Pan Asia Technical Automobile Center together (Wan, 2014). According to CAAM, the
Buick Excelle sold 254,000 units in 2011 in China, which was more than the entire Buick brand sale in Unite States in the same year (Johnson, 2012). The Buick Excelle has an impressive ovoid waterfall feature grille (Ganz, 2012) with dynamic curved body lines (“2011 Buick
Excelle XT”, 2011) and a falling rear roof line (“Shanghai GM Launches Buick”, 2010); the steeply-raked windshield and fast-sloping rear end give this car a sporty appearance and unique feature (“2015 Buick Verano”, n.d.). The Buick Excelle was designed to have a spacious interior, offering abundant onboard storage area (“Shanghai GM Launches Buick”, 2010). Although the attractive waterfall grille, covered with chrome (Tan, 2010) and chrome exhaust tip are trademarks of Buick and received positive response (Ganz, 2012), the chrome-covered headlamps got a lot of criticism (Ganz, 2012).
The Chevrolet Sail Sedan is a middle size saloon of 4.2 meters (“Review: Chevrolet Sail”, 2013), which aimed at developing countries (Bhatt, 2014). It has big wing-shaped headlamps with attractive front design (Bhatt, 2014); its dual divided grille becomes one of the most appealing elements in this car styling (Neetu, 2013); and its wrinkled bonnet lines and muscular bumper
81 give Chevrolet Sail a good look (Krishnan, 2013). Chevrolet officially described this car styling as impressive muscular contours with remarkable trunk space and spacious interior design, highlighted with chrome and silver (“Chevrolet Sail: When Life Gives You More”, 2014).
However, Prabhakar (2013) pointed out that the Chevrolet Sail has a sense of an old-school sedan and the roof does not smoothly decline to the boot; “2013 Chevrolet Sail Test Drive
Review.” (2013) also indicated that Chevrolet Sail has a neutral car styling design and the car styling is not the primary reason for its good sales in India and China.
2.7 European Car Brands
As the birth land of the automobile Europe has many excellent car manufacturers such as the
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, and Peugeot and so on. German vehicles and Italian sports cars occupy a crucial position for every Chinese person, because Benz and BMW as a passenger car and Lamborghini and Maserati as sports car are the definitions of luxury vehicles for
Chinese people. Owning a German vehicle or Italian sports car is the majority of Chinese people’s dream. However, China is still a developing country; Benz and BMW are too far away from the working class person’s life, and even that of some of white collar workers life in China;
Lamborghini and Maserati are only toys for millionaires. Volkswagen with its lower price vehicles became the favorite car brand in the Chinese middle class and achieves high sales every year. For example, the Volkswagen Lavida was the biggest seller in China, and sold
374,056 units in 2013; the Volkswagen Sagitar was the third largest car sale and the Volkswagen
Jetta was the fourth largest car sale in China, selling 271,188 units and 263,408 units in 2013 respectively (www.askci.com, 2014). The following paragraphs will focus on the Volkswagen
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Lavida (Image.111) and the Volkswagen Sagitar (Image.112).
Volkswagen Lavida (Image.111), the best-selling passenger car in China, is a product of a joint- venture between Volkswagen and Chinese automobile manufacture SAIC (“Volkswagen Lavida
2008”, 2014). Volkswagen Lavida is designed to take a lead in the Chinese compact two-box car market, which is the highest volume segment in the Chinese car market (“Volkswagen
Lavida:, 2013). The car styling of the Volkswagen Lavida is thoroughly different with the current Volkswagen car styling, it is methodically designed to meet the requirements of Chinese car buyers with spacious space and high manufacturing quality (Robert, 2013). The Volkswagen
Lavida has clean car styling and sharp body lines, its car styling completely represents the concept of powerful, contemporary and sporty design (“2013 Volkswagen Lavida”, 2013).
However, Volkswagen Lavida still has the same front face as Volkswagen family members: horizontal bar grille and sharp headlights (Han, 2013). Shanghai Volkswagen announced that the Volkswagen Lavida is a successful product of “local adaptation” and it better suits the needs of Chinese consumers (“What Makes Shanghai-VW Lavida”, 2011, March 12). “What Makes
Shanghai-VW Lavida” (2011, March 11) also listed some of the tyImageal requirements of
Chinese car buyers from the car styling of the Volkswagen Lavida:
• reasonable and contemporary car styling;
• Volkswagen Lavida looks more luxurious and bigger than it is;
• It is a compact car; however, the car styling makes it look like a mid-size car;
• Volkswagen Lavida has a long car body with more chrome, faux-wood trim and leather
wrappings;
Many Chinese car buyers are seeking a normal range of family sedans with sporty features;
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Volkswagen Sagitar (Image.112) satisfies their needs (Feijter, 2013). The Volkswagen Sagitar is basically the same car as the US Volkswagen Jetta (Image.113) (Feijter, 2013). Sagitar has a muscular appearance and looks slightly more expensive than it is (Bober, 2012). The car styling of the Sagitar shares the same face with Volkswagen Golf and its rear is similar to the
Volkswagen Passat (Stevens, 2012). The first generation Volkswagen Sagitar derived from the fifth generation Volkswagen Jetta for North America and had poor sales less than 130,000 in
2011; however, FAW-Volkswagen Jetta and Bora sold more than 200,000 units in 2011 (‘All
New FAW-Volkswagen Sagitar’, 2012, March 09). FAW-Volkswagen pointed out that the original European design was too compact for Chinese car buyers, so the new generation Sagitar is slightly wider and taller: the wheelbase gained 73mm and body length is from 4544 to
4644mm (“All New FAW-Volkswagen Sagitar”, 2012, March 09). The Sagitar has a roomy interior design, such as a spacious trunk, one of the biggest cabins on the class and ample headroom and legroom in the front and rear seats (usnews.rankingsandrevires.com, 2014).
This chapter illustrated some of reasons that why North American car brands and European car brands have a good-sales record in China, indicating some advantages of cars for the Chinese car market. The next chapter will present the conclusion and evaluation of this literature review.
2.7 Conclusion
Comparing and analyzing these different car markets, the results tend to indicate that the
Japanese car market and the South Korean car market have many similarities with the Chinese car market. This could be why the Japanese car brands such as Toyota and Honda and the South
Korean car brands such as Hyundai and Kia are so popular with Chinese consumers. However
84 in China when it comes to car sales the size of the car counts and this is most likely why
American car brands out sold their Japanese rivals in China in 2013 (Harner, 2013). Every car company has a different approach in the way they customize their cars for the Chinese market.
For example, Japanese cars focus on interior comfort, South Korean cars pay attention to their styling “Fluidic Sculpture” and American cars their large body size, which is targeted at the new generation of Chinese buyers. However, these car companies also have some similar design elements to suit Chinese consumers, for example, the Chinese top ten best-selling cars all have chrome exterior elements, faux-wood trim interior elements and spacious interior space design with a roomy trunk; some of these car companies extended their car size to suit the requirements of Chinese car buyers, such as the Volkswagen Sagitar. The other result from this study indicated that Chinese consumers have particular buying preferences and behaviors which vary between generations. It is very important to understand each car company’s advantages and disadvantages in the context of the Chinese market and also the specific requirements of each
Chinese generational group in order to expose the real needs and wants of the Chinese consumers. This knowledge would help further understand and to determine the particular elements and stylish features of a vehicle design that cater to the Chinese consumers.
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Chapter 3. Study 1 Information on existing cars in the Chinese market
This Chapter will present the method used in the first questionnaire, the feedback from this questionnaire and the data analysis to propose requirements of Chinese car consumers.
3.1 Methods
This chapter presents the design of the questionnaires for this research and the methods used to conduct the survey. Two questionnaires were used in the research and each questionnaire was completed by 200 participants.
The first questionnaire employed a standard method of collecting data, from a sample of the
Chinese population, in order to identify (“Choosing appropriate research methodologies” n.d.), the Chinese consumers’ preferred car elements.
In this first phase the first questionnaire was posted online to the general population via an expanding network of contacts to offer their feedback. The first 200 volunteers constituted the first group.
Based on this feedback a 3D CADD concept model of a car was generated. Realistic images of this car were then used in a second phase questionnaire, which utilized the same method, to collect data from another group of 200 voluntary participants.
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3.1.1 First questionnaire
The aim of the first questionnaire was to identify Chinese consumers’ preferences regarding various car elements. The survey presented different elements and options for cars, as identified from the literature review as key factors, to ascertain the participant’s specific requirements and preferences.
After several key features (and other useful information) were identified from the literature review, the first questionnaire was composed to further investigate and verify their importance.
There are three techniques used in the first questionnaire in order to collect information from
Chinese consumers and potential consumers: multiple choice questions, Likert scale and written feedback. The reasons for applying these three methods are as follows:
The multiple choice questions are a recognized method to determine what participants prefer
(“Multiple Choice”, n.d.).
For example: although the literature review found that Chinese car buyers prefer a car with a high ground clearance it is important in the questionnaire to show several different car chassis from low ground clearance to high ground clearance. This is to exclude any chance of bias in identifying Chinese car buyers’ exact preference.
The questionnaire also identified the preferences of specific features from participants. For instance, according to the literature review some Chinese car buyers like chromed decoration on a car. However it is vital to understand exactly what different people feel about chrome features and how strongly, positive or negative.
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Likert scales are also used in the questionnaire. They are a psychometric rating method used to represent the attitudes or opinions of participants (Mcleod, 2008). It is the sum of responses to several Likert items that constitutes a Likert Scale (Likert Scale-What is it? n.d.),
Likert scales are utilized to gauge how a subjective design feature is perceived by giving it an objective value. For example, to test whether participants would like or would not like the car element of a “smiley face” seven potential choices were utilized:
Very much like
Like
Like a little
Neutral
Mildly dislike
Dislike
Strongly dislike
The Likert scales utilize fixed choice response formats and are designed to measure attitudes or opinions (Bowling, 1997; Burns, & Grove, 1997). Likert-type or frequency scales transfer the strength/intensity of experience into a visual and measured representation; this will be a central method for this research. Likert scales will be utilized in most of the questions in the first survey as it will enable preferences regarding individual car elements to be identified.
Written feedback is also used to determine the participant’s preferences. For example, it is
89 important to know the brand of the participant's own car (if they own a car) and the reasons why they chose to buy it. This written feedback can help the researcher to identify the participants’ previous car choices and indicating their future buying habits.
3.1.2 Feedback of the first questionnaire and Data analysis
Chart 1. What is the FIRST exterior element of cars you focus on
What is the FIRST exterior element of cars you focus on 73 41 19 20 8 9 8 2
Wheel Front face Grille Rear Exhaust Body line Front lights Other and Rear lights
This bar chart shows that at their first glance participants mostly focus on front face of a car.
Body line takes the second place in this group. Therefore, the front face of a car should be taken as one of the most vital elements in the re-design process, and body line should be seen as the second elements in this research. Meanwhile, the feedback of this question can be related to chart 2 which illustrates some car elements, such as front face and body line that are evaluated by participants using Likert scales. These two charts can be analyzed in combination to determine what the Chinese car consumers’ preference are, and provide references to the coming re-design work.
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Chart 2. To evaluate the exterior of the following Chinese best-selling cars styling
900 800
700 Volkswagen Lavida 600 Buick Excelle 500 Chevrolet Sail Sedan 400 Nissan Sylphy 300 Ford Fox Hatchback 200 Toyota Camry 100 Hyundai Verna 0 Front Grille Front Steam Wheel Rear Rear Exhaust face lights line light pipe
The data presents the participants' views of eight car elements in reference to the top seven best- selling cars in China in 2013. As is demonstrated in the chart; the front face of the Nissan Sylphy received the highest score among the seven cars, and the Volkswagen Lavida and Toyota Camry are close behind. Therefore, the front face of the Nissan Sylphy, Volkswagen Lavida and Toyota
Camry will be significant references in this research. According to Chart 1, body line (stream line) is the second most important aspect for the participants. The Nissan Sylphy still occupied an important role in this element and the Toyota Camry is not far behind. This chart also deImagets how Japanese cars take the crucial position in Chinese car consumers’ mind. In conclusion, the car stylings of Nissan Sylphy, Volkswagen Lavida and Toyota Camry will be taken as vital examples in following study and re-design work to help identify Chinese car buyers’ preferences.
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Chart 3. To determine your preference for the following car styles.
160
140
120
100 Sedan 80 Hatchback 60 SUV 40
20
0 Like Like Neutral Not Like Not at All somewhat somewhat Like
It can be shown on the chart that the majority of participants choose “like” rating on the SUV style, and “not like somewhat” on the Hatchback style. This indicates that the re-design car style in this research should be similar to an SUV styling rather than a Hatchback styling.
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Chart 4. Automobile body styles have different size perception in different countries. Which car body do you prefer?
The compact car body , 59, The compact car body 33% The spacious The spacious car body car body, 121, 67%
In table 4, the percentage of percipients choosing “the spacious car body” (61% 121/200 votes) is double that of those choosing “the compact car body” (39% 59/200 votes). This pie chart confirms the Chinese car buyer’s preference for big cars, such as SUVs.
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Chart 5. Do you prefer a high chassis or a low chassis?
low chassis, 45, high chassis, 25% low chassis 52, 29% medium chassis high chassis medium chassis, 83, 46%
The diagram shows that nearly half of the participants (46%) would like to get a car with a medium chassis. It reveals that Chinese car consumers prefer to choose a city sized car such as a medium size SUV or a spacious Sedan, for example the Volkswagen Tiguan or BMW GT5.
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Chart 6. How do you feel about "smile" front face style?
Strongly dislike 23
Dislike 39
Mildly dislike 23
Neutral 32
Like a little 14
Like 43
Very much like 6
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Regarding the “smiley face” front end design element: feedback from participants is divided into two sides. Although the “like” rating got the highest point (22% 43/200), the “Dislike” rating only received 4 votes less (20% 39/200).However, the total points from the range of
“dislike” options, such as “strongly dislike”, “dislike” and “mildly dislike” is far more than the total points from the range of “like” options, such as “like a little”, “like” and “very much like.”
As a result, it is difficult to identify what is the preference of the “smiley face” design element from the Chinese car buyers. A further study of the design guidelines concerning this with other materials will need to be made to help decide if there is a preference or not for “smiley face”.
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Chart 7. There are 20 different wheel rims below, please choose the 3 you most prefer. (3 choices)
a, 21, 4% a t, 36, 7% b, 35, b s, 32, r, 18, 3% 7% c 6% c, 40, 7% d e q, 31, 6% d, 26, 5% f e, 14, 3% p, 25, 5% g
o, 28, 5% f, 35, 7% h i j n, 18, 3% g, 21, 4% k h, 10, 2% m, 21, 4% l, 54, 10% k, 37, 7% i, 14, 3% l j, 20, 4% m
Chart 7 featured 20 different wheel rim designs where every participant could choose 3 of them.
In this question the following six rims received the highest scores: they are I (10%), K (7%), F
(7%), and C (7%) B (7%) and T (7%). These wheel rim designs are showed below:
I: K: F: C:
B: T:
These 6 wheel rim designs will be included in the design guidelines to reflect one of the design details that Chinese car buyers’ preferred.
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Chart 8. A spacious interior is a significant factor when choosing a car
A spacious interior is a significant factor when choosing a car
Yes No don’t care
29, 16%
39, 22% 112, 62%
As is shown on this chart, 112/200 (62%) participants choose a car with a spacious interior.
This may reflect that Chinese car buyer’s preference for a big size car with a comfortable driving experience. Connecting with chart 5, it may indicate that Chinese car buyer want a spacious city car.
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Chart 9. Does the space of the trunk effect you choice of buying a car?
Do not care about the trunk 1
Does not affect 13
Neutral 37
Affect 49
Very much affect 80
0 20 40 60 80 100
This bar chart shows how a trunk space effects Chinese car buyer’s choices. It can be clearly seen that 44% (80/200) of participants ticked “very much effect” and 27.2% (49/200) of them choose the second degree, “effect” option. This chart may be connected with the Chart 8, which is the question of “a spacious interior is an important factor in choosing a car”, showing preference for big space cars by the Chinese car buyers. From chart 5, chart 8 and chart 9, it can be seen that Chinese car buyers want a spacious city car with a big trunk. Therefore, it is vital to find out if there are any cars of this kind currently on the Chinese market.
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Chart 10. Which part of a car's interior should be the most spacious?
60 48 50 42 41 40 29 30
20 12 8 10
0 Front Front Rear Rear Trunk The distance Seat(legroom) Seat(heedroom) Seat(legroom) Seat(headroom) between head and roof
Charts 8 and 9 illustrate that most Chinese car buyers want a spacious interior and trunk.
Specific areas of the car's interior, such as front and rear seats, would be significant to investigate to complete the car interior research. Chart 10 shows other car interiors, which the
Chinese car buyers preferred because of their spaciousness. Head room in the front seat takes the highest points (24% 48/200), and legroom in front seat and legroom in rear seat also scored highly (21% 42/200 votes and 20.5% 41/200 votes respectively). Further studies will need to be conducted to find out the best-selling cars on the Chinese car market which have spacious interiors featuring such as headroom and legroom to refine the re-design guidelines.
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Chart 11 to chart 19 are more concerned about specific exterior car details to determine Chinese car buyers’ preferences.
Chart 11. What kind of exhaust pipe shape do you prefer?
160 136 140
120
100
80
60
40 23 18 20 3 0 Round Square Rhombic Other
It can be seen from chart 11 that 136/200 participants (68%) prefer round pipe shape. Square and rhombic shape are seldom preferred. However, there is no doubt that preconception may effect this result, different pipe shapes fit different cars.
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Chart 12. Favorite car color (can offer more than ONE color)
Favorite car color (can offer more than ONE color) 200 100 0
Black and white are classic and future-proof, as opposed to other colours. Chart 12 supported this notion. More than 100 (50%) participants choose black and white as their favorite car colour. Nevertheless, red and blue can be taken into consideration for future re-design work.
Chart 13. Which do you prefer, the LED dashboard or the traditional pointer dashboard
39, 22%
Traditional pointer dashboard LED dashboard
141, 78%
Chart 13 shows that 141 participants (71%) prefer to LED dashboard. However, the top-seven best-sale cars in China in 2013 all have a traditional dashboard. The price of cars may be the cause for this discrepancy.
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Chart 14. Which type of car seat do you prefer?
140 119 120
100
80 61 60
40
20
0 Full width (bench) seats Divided (bucket) seats
Here we have 119 participants (60%), who choose the full width (bench) seat as their preference.
This maybe because the full width seat offers a larger, more versatile space for passengers than divided seats.
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Chart 15. Do you care about the distance between your head and the car roof?
never care about that distance 1
do not care 6
do not care somewhat 13
neutral 12
Care somewhat 10
Care 104
Very much Care 34
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
104 (52%) participants cared about the distance between their head and the car roof. It confirms the importance of car space to Chinese car buyers. Comparing chart 15 with chart 10 may indicate Chinese car buyer’s preference for a roomier driving space.
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Chart 16. How do you feel about chromed decoration car features?
60 55
50 45
40
30 26
19 19 20
10 10 6
0 Very Much Like Like Neutral Not Much Not Like Not at All Like somewhat Like somewhat Like
Chart 16 shows the participants' views of chromed decoration. 55 of them do not like it and 45 of them are indifferent.
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Chart 17. On which part of a car do you like to see chromed decorations?
80
70
60 Front face 50 Grille 40 Rear 30 Body line 20 Front light 10 Rear light
0 Very much like Like Neutral Not much Not like Not at all like somewhat like somewhat like
Feedback for this question is tricky when connecting with the chart 16. Although most of participants do not like chromed decorations, they still selected one of these options as one which they consider are appropriate car parts for chromed decoration. 40 (20%) participants want to see the chromed decoration on the rear, more than 30 (15%) of them want to see it on rear light and 23 (11.5%) of them ‘very much’ like chromed decorations' appearance on the grille. Further study will need to look into these three car parts with chromed decoration on some best-selling cars in China to guide future re-design work.
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Chart 18. How do you feel about fake-wood trim for interior decoration?
Not at All Like 14
Not Like somewhat 25
Not Much Like 31
Neutra 34
Like somewhat 28
Like 32
Very Much Like 16
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
It can be seen from Chart 18 that there are different views about fake-wood trim decoration.
Votes from 180 participants (data from 20 participants was unfortunately lost for this section) are evenly spread between all categories except “don’t like it at all’ and “like it very much”.
Although 34 (18.8%) participants ‘do not care’ about fake-wood decoration, 32 (17.7%) ‘Like it’ and 31(17.2%) did ‘not like it much’. Therefore, it is difficult to identify what is the feeling for this element from Chinese car buyers. A better way to determine this would be to find some cars in China with and without fake-wood decoration and compare sales figures and selling prices.
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Chart 19. From the list below circle you preferred color for a car door handle
23, 13% The same as the door color 14, 8% Slightly different to the door color
95, 54% Totally different to the door color 45, 25% Chrome
Chart 19 shows the connection between door handle colour and body colour to determine the detail of door colour. 54% (95/180) of participant prefer a car with a unified colour while 25%of participant chose the door colour which is slightly different to the body colour.
This chapter has provided the data analysis of the first questionnaire, the next chapter illustrates the re-design guideline, imagines of 3D concept car model and design specification.
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Chapter 4. Study 2
This chapter outlines the re-design guidelines, images of the 3D concept car model and design specification used to expose and examine some of car requirements from the first questionnaire.
4.1 Re-design guidelines
The purpose of this study is to determine the primary elements for the design and styling of the exterior and interior, size, proportions and ergonomics of a passenger vehicle to cater to the particular requirements and tastes of the Chinese market. As described in the data analysis, establishing the Chinese consumers’ preferences for purchasing a car is a multiplex field. It not only requires an understanding of Chinese characteristics and Chinese car buyers’ special demands, but also their economic conditions. Understanding Chinese car consumers’ requirements and designing a car which every Chinese will purchase is impractical. However, it is possible to survey Chinese consumers and identifying the vital car elements that they prefer.
Then by including these elements in the design of a new vehicle it will be possible to survey and gauge if the new design attracts a larger amount of Chinese car buyers, which is the aim of this study.
The primary car elements identified in this study were derived from the feedback of the first survey and data analysis and were connected with existing best-selling car data in China, to form a set of car re-design (Industrial Design) guidelines specifically for the Chinese market.
And it will also help develop a better understanding of factors which influence the car purchasing decisions of Chinese consumers.
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The car re-design guideline is separated into three parts, the first part focuses on the car's overall styling, the second part look at exterior and interior space and the third part addresses a car's details such as interior, colour palette and decoration.
4.2 Part 1 – Car body Style
Part 1 identifies what car styling elements that are favored by the Chinese car consumers’.
4.2.1 Design guideline for car styling
The re-design car styling in this research was for a Sedan, the reasons are as follows:
Firstly, according to Chart 1 in the data analysis below, most of participants preferred the SUV styling. However, statistics from Chinese Car Sales Web (Meng, 2015) shows that the sale of
Sedans was more than 12 million in 2014, and the sale of SUVs was only 4.1 million in the same year. In 2014 the best-selling Sedan was the 2014 updated Volkswagen Lavida which sold
367,000; the best-selling SUV was the Great Wall Hover H6, which sold 310,000. Although there is only a slight difference between the best-selling Sedan and the best-selling SUV in
China in 2014, the total sales indicate that Chinese consumers buy sedans in preference to SUVs.
It can be shown on chart 3 that the majority of participants choose “like” rating on the SUV car style, and “not like somewhat” on the Hatchback car style. It indicated that the re-design car style in this research should be closer to that of an SUV rather than that of a Hatchback.
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Understanding the reason for the discrepancy between the survey data from this study, which show a preference for SUVs, and the data on actual car sales in China, which shows a preference for sedans, is crucial and may be found in the price difference between these two car types. This can be seen in the table below which shows the best-selling cars in 2014 in China:
Table 20 the best-selling cars in 2014 in China Rank Brand Car styling Price (AUD) Sales (Units)
1 Volkswagen Lavida Sedan 33,000 367,003
2 Great Wall Hover H6 SUV 20,500~33,000 315,881
3 Volkswagen Sagitar Sedan 20,900~46,800 300,082
4 Nissan Sylphy Sedan 21,468~29,319 300,058
5 Volkswagen Jetta Sedan 17,617~28,680 296,961
6 GM Excelle Sedan 20,638~25,531 293,098
7 Volkswagen Santana Sedan 11,700~15,740 285,293
8 GM Cruze Sedan 21,063~36,170 295,993
9 Hyundai Avante Sedan 15,106~27,659 252,338
10 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV 45,063~65,957 237,404
19 Toyota Carola Sedan 25,063~34,000 171,487
20 Honda CR-V SUV 38,255~53,191 168,184
24 Toyota Camry Sedan 39,319~55,319 150,311
25 Hyundai IX 35 SUV 36,170~53,190 145,304
There are two SUVs in the top-10 best-selling car in 2014, and four SUV in the top 25 best- selling cars of 2014. The chart clearly shows that the Great Wall Hover H6 took benefit from its pricing to achieve its good sales. The second-best selling SUV is the Volkswagen Tiguan, and the price of Volkswagen Tiguan is the highest in the price list.
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The middle-class and working class are the aim of this research, therefore, the average income of these two levels is the other factor which effects car purchase decisions. Study 1 discussing the income of the Chinese middle and working classes. It showed that the average annual income of the Chinese middle class is between $ 42,100 and $ 62,500; and the average annual income of the working class is between $ 10,000 and $ 6,404. According to the price of the top
10 best-selling cars in China, an assumption can be made that the Chinese middle class and the
Chinese working class are the major car consumers in the Chinese car market or that car industries focus on the Chinese middle class and the Chinese working class.
(Chart 21) The annual income of participants
Above $60,000 1
$50,000~$60,000 11
$40,000~$50,000 27
$30,000~$440,000 30
$20,000~$30,000 45
$10,000~$20,000 49
$4,000~$10,000 18
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
The bar Chart 21 shows the annual income of participants from the survey. It can be seen that the 27.2% (49/180) of participants earn 10,000 ~20,000 AUD, annual income of 25% (45/180) of participants is 20,000~30,000 AUD. More than half (94/180, 52.2%) of participants’ annual income in this survey is 10,000 to 30,000 AUD. 31.6% (57/180) of participants’ salary is
30,000~50,000 AUD per year. Although there is a significant difference between the feedback from questionnaires and previous research, the annual income from participants and previous research is still corresponding to the price of top-10 best-selling cars in China, because Chinese 112 families spend the equivalent to 1 or 2 years’ salary on a car. Most cars sold in China fell between $20,000-$36,000 AUD in price according to most of Chinese car buyers’ guides.
To conclude, because the Chinese market is strongly driven by costs the decision is to focus on the exterior and interior styling of a Sedan type car while incorporating styling cues from SUVs as identified in this research.
4.3 Part 2- Car Exterior Elements
Part 2 is to determine the exterior car elements for re-design work, exploring the Chinese car buyers’ exterior preferences and purchasing decisions. According to the previous literature review, Chinese consumers preferred bigger vehicles with impressive appearances as their first requirements for buying a car, and “Ten Most Important Designs” (2012, March 11) claimed that features of vehicles with fluid body shapes, impressive feature side lines, and wing shaped grills and slender headlamps were still highly sought after in the Chinese car market.
4.3.1 Design guideline for Front Face and Bodyline
Chart 1 (P. 91) shows that participants mostly focus on the front face of a car at their first glance.
Body line places second in this group. Therefore, front face should be taken as one of the most vital elements in the re-design process. Body line should be seen as the second element in this research. Meantime, the feedback of this question can be related to chart 2 (which illustrates certain elements, such as front face and body line and the participants' Likert scale responses).
These two charts can be combined together to analyze what Chinese consumers’ preferences
113 are and provide a reference for the re-design work.
The data from Chart 2 (P.92) demonstrates the participants' views regarding eight car elements taken from the top seven best-selling cars in China for 2013. As is demonstrated in the chart the front face of the Nissan Sylphy makes the highest score amongst the seven cars. The
Volkswagen Lavida and Toyota Camry are close behind. Therefore the front face of the Nissan
Sylphy, Volkswagen Lavida and Toyota Camry were significant references in this research.
According to chart 1, body line (stream line) is the second most important aspect for the participants. The Nissan Sylphy still occupies a high position in this category and the Toyota
Camry is not far behind. This chart also deImagets how Japanese cars take the crucial positions in Chinese car consumers’ minds. In conclusion, car stylings of Nissan Sylphy, Volkswagen
Lavida and Toyota Camry were taken as vital samples in further study and re-design work to identify Chinese car buyers’ preferences.
Chart 2 shows that most of the participants focus is on the front face and body line when they first look at the car. Compared to chart 1, it can be seen that the front face of the Toyota Camry, the Volkswagen Lavida and the Nissan Sylphy are attractive to Chinese car consumers; the body line of the Toyota Camry and the Nissan Sylphy also attract the approval of Chinese car buyers.
Therefore the front face of the Toyota Camry, the Volkswagen Lavida and the Nissan Sylphy and body line of the Toyota Camry and the Nissan Sylphy wer used as samples for the re-design work.
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The ‘smiley face' front design element will still need to be considered in the re-design work even though participants had widely differing opinions regarding this design element, as the chart 6 (P.96) showing.
Regarding the “smiley face” front end, feedback from participants is divided into two sides.
Although the “like” rating got the highest points (21.5%- 43/180), the “Dislike” rating (19.5%-
39/180) is just 4 votes less than the “Like” rating. In the meantime, total points from the range of “dislike” options, such as “strongly dislike”, “dislike” and “mildly dislike” is far more than total points from the range of “like” options, such as “like a little”, “like” and “very much like”.
As a result, it is difficult to identify what is the preference for the “smiley face” design. A further study of design guidelines will help relate this with other materials to make a decision on whether or not to choosing a “smiley face”.
From the literature review, the Chinese car company Chery Automobile is applying the “smiling face” elements into their front car design with the Chery QQ and Chery QQme models.
However these two cars did not receive good response in the Chinese car market, Chery QQ sold 60,579 units in 2014 in China with price advantage, which is 10,021 AUD per unit. As a result the ‘smiling face” elements will not be taken strongly in account in re-design work.
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4.3.2 Design guideline for car body: Compact or spacious
In table 4 (P. 94), the percentage of participants choosing “the spacious car body” (60.5%
121/200 votes) is double that of choosing “the compact car body” (29.5% 59/180 votes). This pie chart (Table 4) elaborates the preference for big cars such as SUVs by Chinese car buyers.
The German standard of compact car is 4.2 to 4.6 meters long, 2.4 to 2.7 meters wheelbase and
1.6 to 2.0 engine capacity. Although 67% (121/180) of participants like spacious car bodies, most of the Sedans in the best-selling car list in 2014 and 2015 are compact cars. As a result, the car body of re-design work will be compact.
4.3.3 Design guideline for car chassis
Diagram 5 (P. 95) shows nearly half of participants (46%) like to get a car with a medium chassis. It may reveal that Chinese car consumers prefer to choose a city car, such as medium size SUV or spacious Sedan.
There is no standard of ride height/clearance, however chart 22 below displays the specifications of best-selling cars' clearance heights:
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(Chart 22) the specifications of best-selling cars' clearance heights Car Rank Brand Chassis styling
1 Volkswagen Lavida Sedan 110mm
3 Volkswagen Sagitar Sedan 108mm
4 Nissan Sylphy Sedan 160mm
5 Volkswagen Jetta Sedan 120mm
6 GM Excelle Sedan 125mm
Volkswagen 7 Sedan 140mm Santana
8 GM Cruze Sedan 120mm
9 Hyundai Avante Sedan 150mm
19 Toyota Carola Sedan 160mm
24 Toyota Camry Sedan 155mm
According to this chart and other data, German and American cars have lower chassis
(100mm~140mm) than chassis of Korean and Japanese cars (140mm~180mm). Because of the conditions on Chinese roads are complex, German cars have their clearance raised for adapting to Chinese roads. Japan and North Korea have similar road conditions as China: these complex road conditions are due to the large population. They do not have to change their ride height for
China. Therefore, the distance between car chassis and floor should be 150mm~160mm in this research.
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4.3.4 Design Guideline for Exhaust Pipe Shape
It can be seen from chart 11 (P. 102) that 136/180 participants (75.6%) prefer round exhaust pipies. Square and rhombic shape are seldom preferred. However, there is no doubt that preconception may effect this result, different pipe shapes fit different cars.
The feedback from the questionnaires clearly displays the preference for round exhaust pipes from which is supported but the fact that the majority of best-selling car in China have round exhaust pipes.
4.4 Part 3- Car Interior Elements, colour, decorations and trim
Part 3 focuses on the car interior design elements, colour of the car and decorations, such as chromed decoration and fake-wood trim interior decoration.
4.4.1 Design Guideline for Interior Space
As is shown on chart 8 (P. 99), 112/180 (62%) participants chose a cars with a spacious interior.
This indicates that Chinese car buyers prefer a bigger sized car and a comfortable driving experience. However the majority of top-15 best-selling cars in China for 2014 and 2015 are small family cars (A class): 4.2~4.6 meters long, 2.4~2.7 meters wheelbase and 1.6~2.0 displacement. Why is it then that Chinese car buyers, with a clear preference for spacious interiors, buy a compact car? There is a good example of this issue taken from the literature
118 review: Haval M2 and Coobear are two SUV car styling in the Great Wall car company range.
These two cars are famous for their spacious interior, big headroom and large amounts of storage capacity. These designs were aimed at Chinese consumers but they did not make for good sales. Most of the car buyers described their styling as “awful”. This indicates that Chinese car buyers place a very high level of importance on a cars exterior styling, above almost anything else, when buying a car.
Bar chart 9 (P. 100) shows how trunk space effects Chinese car buyers' choices. Its importance can be clearly seen from the 44% (80/200) of participants that ticked the “very much effect” and 27.2% (49/200) that chose the second option;” effect”. This chart may be connected with
Chart 8, which asks if “a spacious interior is an important factor of choosing a car”: it shows that Chinese car buyer’s preference big, spacious cars. From chart 5, chart 8 and chart 9 it can be seen that Chinese car buyers want a spacious city car with a big trunk. Therefore, it is vital to find out if there are any this type of car on the current Chinese car market.
Chart 8 and Chart9 again illustrate that most Chinese car buyers want a spacious interior and trunk. Specific features or sections of the interior, such as front and rear seats, are important to investigate to complete the car interior research. Chart 10 shows other car interiors, which the
Chinese car buyers prefer because of their spacious interiors and trunks. Head room in the front seat takes the highest point (24%- 48/180), and legroom in front seat and legroom in rear seat are not far behind, which get 42/180 (21%) votes and 41/180 (20.5%) votes.
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According to Chart 15 (P. 105), 104/180 (57.5%) of participants care about the distance between head and car roof. It confirms the importance of car space to Chinese car buyers. Comparing chart 15 with chart 10 indicates that Chinese car buyers' prefer a spacious cabin.
According to the literature review Japanese and Korean car companies did research on interior space and released cars based on this research. The following three cars are examples from this research:
• Nissan Bluebird Sylphy generations, also called Nissan Pulsar in Australia and New
Zealand market and Nissan Sentra in North American market, was the top-5 best-selling car
in China in 2007. One of the reasons is that for a compact car Nissan Sylphy has a spacious
interior design and offers a comfortable interior experience. It has a generous trunk space
and roomy back seats, it and is known as having one of the biggest back seats in its class.
• The Toyota Camry, as a well-known and classically styled Japanese car brand, also has a
spacious interior, 50mm extra knee room for the centre rear seats.
• Kia K3, which released by Kia Motor and Hyundai Motor, also is famous for a roomy
interior, such as spacious front and rear seats and abundant trunk space.
From exterior to interior, Nissan Sylphy (sale 300,000 units in 2014), Kia K3 (sale 175,412 units in 2014) and Toyota Camry (sale 150,311 units in 2014) have attracted Chinese car consumers effectively. Therefore, Japanese and Korean car styles acted as important exemplars in forming the design guidelines.
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4.4.2 Design Guidelines for Colour
Black and white are classic and future-proof compared to other car colors according to Chart
12 (P. 103). Chart 15 (P. 105) supports this claim. More than 100/180 (55%) participants choose black and white as their favorite car colour. Nevertheless, red and blue were also taken into consideration for the re-design work.
Although in Chinese traditional culture, black is for dark and gloomy, and white is for withered
(Kommonen, 2008), it seems this culture association does not affect Chinese car buyers.
However, still eighty per cent of population is from urban area in China, and in urban area, black is kind of a safe colour, which would be the best colour for cars (Kommonen, 2008).
Chart 19 (P. 109) shows the connection between door colour and body colour to determining the detail of door colour. 54% (95/180) of participant prefer to choose a car with unified colour and (25%) of participant choose the door colour which is slightly different to body colour.
Although Black, white, and blue get the highest votes from participants in the questionnaire, different cars fit different colours. For example, most consumers buy blue Volkswagen Lavidas, white Volkswagen Sagitars, red Nissan Sylphys and black Honda CR-Vs. It is therefore best to offer several colours for the re-design work.
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4.4.3 Design Guideline for the Dashboard
Chart 13 (P. 103) shows that 141/180 participants (78%) prefer a LED dashboard. However, the top-15 best-selling cars in China in 2014 all have a traditional dashboard. The price of cars may be the cause for this discrepancy. Because this research is aimed at the Chinese middle class and working class, the vehicle cost would be a vital factor. Therefore a traditional dashboard would be the best option.
4.4.4 Design Guideline for Chromed Decoration
Chart 16 (P. 106) shows view of chromed decoration. 55/200 participants chose ‘don’t like it’ and 45/180 of them chose ‘do not care about it’.
Feedback from this question is tricky when connecting it with chart 17 (P. 107). Although most of the participants do not like chromed features, they did tick options for having it in particular parts of the car. 40/180 (22.2%) participants want to see the chromed decoration on the rear, more than 30/180 (16.7%) want to see it on rear light and 23/180 (12.7%) chose ‘very much like chromed decorations to appear on the grille’. Further study looked into these three car parts with chromed decoration on some best-sale cars in China to guide the re-design work.
From the literature review there are just two examples: the Hyundai Elantra has a chromed grille and the Nissan Sylphy has attractive chrome trim decoration. Therefore, chromed decorations was taken into consideration for the re-design work.
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4.4.5 Design Guideline for Fake-wood Trim I Interior Decoration
It can be seen from chart 18 (P. 108) that there are different views about fake-wood trim decoration. Votes from 180 participants were for either “don’t like it at all’ or “like it very much”.
Although 34/180 (19%) participants were indifferent about fake-wood decoration, 32/180 (18%) like it and 31/180 (17%) don't like it. Therefore, it is difficult to identify what is the feeling for this element from Chinese car buyers. A better way to interpret this chart is to find out some best-sale cars in China and see if they have any fake-wood decoration.
There are three car types which have fake-wood decoration interior design: the Toyota Camry, the Volkswagen Lavida and the Nissan Sylphy. These three car styles are well-known and classic car type and more importantly, top-15 best-selling car in China. Therefore, fake-wood decoration may be an attractive interior element to Chinese car buyers.
The design guidelines for the re-designed car styling were as follows: the vehicle should be a sedan with SUV car styling and characteristics. For the exterior elements these include the front face and body line, and for the interior elements as it needed to be spacious. The re-design work started with freehand concept sketches that were then used to build a virtual 3D CAD model of the new car design. After re-design work was completed a second questionnaire was prepared to verify whether or not these car elements are truly attractive to Chinese car buyers.
4.5 Design specification
The aim of the design specification is to guide the design and modeling of the 3D virtual CADD generated concept car specifically for the Chinese market. The ideas and decisions that lead to 123 the design specifications will also be introduced and explained. The design specifications are not only based on the feedback from the first survey and the re-design guide lines, but are also derived from existing best-selling car designs in China. Derived from the re-design guidelines, the design specifications are separated into three parts: car styling, front and rear design and design details. Each part shows the design principle and design references as follows.
NB. Logistic and time constraints made it impossible in this project to deal with the interior design in detail. It is acknowledged that this is an area of growing importance for the Chinese buyer, and should be the subject of further research and design development.
4.5.1 Part 1- Car body and side line
The design of the 3D virtual concept car’s styling was based on that of a sedan. This is because the sedan is the best-selling car type on the Chinese market according to the statistics from
Chinese Car Sales Web (Meng, 2015). Additionally, because the SUV was identified in this research as the preferred car type by the majority of participants the 3D virtual concept car model incorporated both sedan car styling with a strong body lines to simulate an SUV type car.
The fundamentals for designing the 3D concept car styling is derived from several existing best- selling cars on the Chinese market. For example the Nissan Sylphy sold more than 300,000 units in China in 2014 and also had the highest score in the first survey for “which car has the best stream line in the Top ten best-selling car in China”. Another car was the Toyota Camry which is very popular worldwide and can be seen everywhere corner in China. The Camery’s car styling not only received high marks in the first survey, but has also been a people’s favorite 124 all over the world. An additional reason for adopting Japanese car styling characteristics is because the Japanese car market has similar requirements with that of China. As mentioned in the previous literature review the similarities between the two countries coincide in their overpopulation and cultures.
According to “Ten Most Important Designs” (2012, March 11), vehicles featuring fluid body shapes, impressive feature side lines, wing shaped grilles and slender headlamps were highly sought after on the Chinese car market. Therefore, the strong side lines, that took inspiration from lightning, are designed to attract Chinese car buyers. This is because Lightning in Chinese culture, and many other cultures, represents something that is swift, energetic and dynamic.
4.5.2 Part 2 Design of Grille, front face and front＆rear light
According to the feedback from the questionnaire first, most of the participants focus is drawn to the front of a car when they first glance at a car. Therefore the first priority was to design a front face that would capture the Chinese consumer's attention. The feedback of the survey illustrates Nissan Sylphy still gets the highest approval for its front face, followed by VW
Lavida and Toyota Camry. The idea of the front face design is to combine characters of these three existing cars and add new elements to catch up with the modern car design trend.
The grille of the 3D concept car model was given an aggressive visual effect. This is because most of the participants selected the grille of the 2015 Toyota Camry as their favorite in the first
125 survey. As a result the essence of the large, eye-catching grille feature of the Toyota Camry was incorporated into the styling of the 3D concept in a way that it integrated with its strong body lines.
The headlights of this 3D model are also based on the 2015 Toyota Camry but with a flatter form. Although the large headlight design of the Nissan Sylphy and VW Lavida received the higher scores in the first survey, slimmer headlights were used in the 3D model. This is because new cars no longer have large headlamps; more and more new released cars in 2015 have slender light with excellent lighting performance. The 3D models tail lights were also designed to be slender to integrate with the front lights. The slender design of the rear lights was inspired from those of the 2015 Dodge Dart,
4.5.3 Part 3 Wheels and Exhaust Pipe
A varied selection of 20 different kinds of wheels were presented in the first survey. Participants in the survey were asked to indicate their favorite three out of the twenty designs to reveal their choice. The highest score of any wheel design only received 38/180 (21%) votes, which is insufficient to indicate a clear preference with-in the group. Therefore the wheel design of the
3D concept car model was based on those of a few best-selling cars and most wanted cars in
China, such as the Audi. The wheel rim design was based on the common five-star pattern to make it simple and classic.
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It is clearly showed on the feedback of the survey that the majority of participants prefer a round shape of exhaust pipe. Nevertheless a square-shaped exhaust pipe was applied in the 3D concept car modeling. Squared shape of exhaust pipe would be more appropriate than round exhaust pipe on this 3D concept model. More importantly, personal design intervention is based on the need to integrate the selected survey elements.
4.5.4 3D concept car Design Process
3D concept design process is a significant progress in this research to show how is this 3D concept car building step by step depending on feedback from the first survey. However, as I reported in the ARP (annual research progress) in UC research center in 2015, most of my data got lost because of an accident: my laptop dropped on the floor in airport and broken the hard disk. I will still show two of this 3D concept car design process below:
Design Process 1 the first draft of this 3D concept car
Most of good design has a bad original version, although the first draft of this 3D concept car comes with advantages of different car elements which are required by participants from the first survey, it still has numerous disadvantages.
This 3D draft car design shows (Pic. Draft 1) required car elements from Chinese participants, however, when these car elements assembled together, it displays an old-fashion car design. There are several inadequacies that mentioned by my supervisors and I managed them below:
- Front styling looks good however it cannot see any difference in the front headlights they need to be slimmed (squashed) down a lot.
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- Side mirror still looks too small in proportion to the car.
- The top detail line down the side of the car it should not dip down.
- Front wheel arch does not match the rear one. The other option you could try is to have a hard edge on rear wheel arch so that it matches the hard edge on the front wheel arch. Then it could perhaps blend in the top side detail line with the rear wheel arch something similar to what you did on the front wheel arch.
- Rear tail lights are better but radius need to be sharpened up to match the front headlights.
- Sharpen some of the detail lines on the rear end to match the rest of the car (look at modern day car styling).
-Mag wheels look much better but rims are still too busy. It just needs a single dish without the 3 ripples.
(Pic. Draft 1)
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(Pic. Draft 2)
(Pic. Draft 3)
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Design Process 2 the final 3d concept car model
The 3D virtual car model can be seen as an example of a car design for the future Chinese car market. The concept car has been designed to reflect the tastes of Chinese consumers and win their approval. This concept car will be the primary focus in the second survey to determine whether or not another group of 200 participants will approve of its design. The results of the next study will demonstrate how successful these car elements are and if they merit future car design studies and research.
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4.6 Images of the 3D Virtual CAD Concept Car Model
(Image 74)
(Image 75) 131
This chapter set the basis for the design process. It laid out the re-design guidelines and design specifications in detail, showing how and where the 3D concept car elements came from. The next chapter will present the second questionnaire, its feedback and analysis.
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Chapter 5. Study 3
This chapter will show the feedback from the 3D virtual concept car model. The feedback will be evaluated to indicate the Chinese car consumer’s preferred car requirements and elements.
5.1 Methods
The second questionnaire determined the participants’ preferences for the car elements on the
3D virtual CADD concept car model. Multiple choice questions were applied in the second survey to identify participants’ thoughts regarding the 3D concept car model. Likert Scale style questions were selected because they are able to provide an objective measure for something that is subjective in nature such as finding the participants’ preference for the exhaust pipe design.
5.2 Feedback of the second questionnaire and Data analysis
In this study the data from the second survey was analyzed to further investigate the Chinese consumers’ vehicle preferences. The study involved 254 participants from every part of China.
The participants from the second survey were different from those of the first survey.
Comparing the two groups and the two surveys ensures the effectiveness and universality of the data. The regional distribution of participants is presented below with a translation of Chinese
Province and City names:
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(Chart 23)
Guangdong Province: 12.6%
Hunan Province: 9.06%
Beijing: 9.06%
Jiangsu Province: 8.66%
Hubei Province: 5.91%
Fujian Province: 4.72%
Shanghai: 4.33%
Shanxi Province: 3.54%
Guangxi Province: 3.54%
Liaoning Province: 3.15%
Jiangxi Province: 2.76% 134
Henan Province: 2.76%
Sichuan Province: 2.76%
Tianjin: 2.76%
Shandong Province: 2.76%
Chongqing: 2.36%
Anhui Province: 2.36%
Oversea: 1.97%
Hainan Province: 1.97%
Hebe Province: 1.97%
Shanxi Province: 1.18%
Hong Kong: 1.18%
Yunnan Province: 1.18%
Heilongjiang Province: 0.79%
Gansu Province: 0.79%
Tsinghai Province: 0.39%
The feedback of the second survey is vital in accessing the success or otherwise of the 3D virtual car models Chinese market potential. As the car elements in the 3D concept car model are representative of Chinese car buyers’ preferences this research may act as a pilot f for future car research particularly for Chinese car market and Chinese car consumer psychology.
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Question 1
How do you feel about the style of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 48 18.9%
Like 喜欢 106 41.73%
Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 63 24.8%
Neutral 中立 22 8.66%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 13 5.12%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 2 0.79%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 0 0%
Effectively fill 254 本题有效填写人次
As this chart shows 106/254 (41.73%) participants vote “Like” as their opinion for the designed sedan car styling with strong SUV car body references and 48/254 ‘very much liked’ it; as such a total of 154 participants offered positive opinion for this designed car body. Therefore, a sedan car styling with strong SUV car body references might be treated as an example of the future direction for car research as pertaining to the Chinese car market.
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Question 2
How do you feel about the front grille of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 58 22.83%
Like 喜欢 60 23.62%
Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 73 28.74%
Neutral 中立 33 12.99%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 19 7.48%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 5 1.97%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 6 2.36%
Effectively fill 254
According to the first survey, Chinese car buyers mostly focus on the front car design as their precondition for buying a car. Therefore, the design of the front of the car took priority when designing the 3D concept car. Although the front grille design received positive feedback
(75.19%) from participants, most of the positive feedback came from option “Like somewhat”
(28.74%). This may illustrate that the aggressive visual effect of grille design of the 3D concept car model would draw much attention from the Chinese car buyers.
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Question 3
How do you feel about the front view of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 52 20.47%
Like 喜欢 71 27.95%
e 70 27.56%
Neutral 中立 33 12.99%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 20 7.87%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 4 1.57%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 4 1.57%
Effectively fill 254 本题有效填写人次
The feedback of the cars front view is similar with that of the grille design. Generally the vast majority of participants did like the car’s front view to varying degrees.
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Question 4
How do you feel about the wheel rims of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 44 17.32%
Like 喜欢 80 31.5%
Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 61 24.02%
Neutral 中立 43 16.93%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 14 5.51%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 6 2.36%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 6 2.36%
Effectively fill 254 本题有效填写人次
More than 20 wheel rim design were randomly Imageked and 5 of those were chosen as favorites in the first survey. It can be seen that the 3D concept car’s “five star” wheel rim design received most of the participants’ favorable approval. 31.5% (80/254) participant’s mark “Like” as their opinion combined with participants who mark “Very Much Like” and “Like Somewhat”,
185/254 participants (almost 73%) liked the wheel rims design.
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Question 5
How do you feel about the side view of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 88 34.65%
Like 喜欢 95 37.4%
Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 38 14.96%
Neutral 中立 19 7.48%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 10 3.94%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 3 1.18%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 1 0.39%
Effectively fill 254 本题有效填写人次
As the second most important car element for Chinese car buyers(according to the feedback from the first survey) over 72% (183) of participants like or very much like the side view of the new 3D computer generated car model. This is a significant sign for this research. Therefore the“lightning” element, car side line design, would be an important car element and a vital sample for further research on the Chinese car market.
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Question 6
How do you feel about the rear of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 79 31.1%
Like 喜欢 60 23.62%
Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 56 22.05%
Neutral 中立 22 8.66%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 19 7.48%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 13 5.12%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 5 1.97%
Effectively fill 254 本题有效填写人次
This chart shows that the majority of participants’ rear liked the rear view of the concept 3D car model. 31.1 percent of participants vote “Very much like” as their choice. And a total of 195/254
(76.7%) participants offered their positive opinion. Therefore, the success of the rear design of the 3D concept car model could be carried into future car research.
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Question 7
How do you feel about the front light and back lights of the new 3D computer generated car model?
Option Subtotal Rate
Very Much Like 非常喜欢 87 34.25%
Like 喜欢 90 35.43%
Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 41 16.14%
Neutral 中立 18 7.09%
Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 12 4.72%
Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 3 1.18%
Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢 3 1.18%
Effectively fill 254 本题有效填写人次
The front and rear light design also take a significant part in the car design process and received encouraging feedback. Front and rear light design are favored by 218/254 (85.08%) and are the most popular car elements in this car design. This may indicate that the slender light design would be the trend for future research.
The development of new LED technologies allows car companies to create unique and aggressive signature light designs as part of their visual identity. (OSRAM: OLED Will Be the
Next Automotive Lighting Trend, 2013). Shaped slender light designs are currently being applied in many high end cars, for example the Lexus RC F has an identical L-shaped headlight design, Mercedes-Benz E-class is striking with its sharp-looking LED headlight design, and the
“light blade” style LED rear light design is impressive on Aston Martin Vanquish and so on.
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(Ayapana, 2015). It can be seen that shaped slender lights will be a significant part of future car design trends.
Generally speaking, the feedback from the second survey shows positive reaction for the concept 3D car model. Some of design elements that received “Very Much Like” and “Like” scores would be seen as successful and could be carried into further research these elements include the front and back light design, side line and rear design. Some of car elements should be taken into consideration for further improvement, such as grille design and front car design, because a large number of participants marked them as “Like” and “Like Somewhat”, and some even voting “Neutral” and “Not Much Like”.
The detailed information in the feedback of the 380 participants represents essential information about Chinese consumers’ preferences. In addition the elements of the 3D concept car model are informed by over 200 Chinese car consumers’ car preference and requirements. Thirdly, the first questionnaire is based on the literature review of more than 20 Chinese and foreign car companies. Although the number of the sample is limited, this feedback of the second survey reflects Chinese car consumers’ requirements to some extent.
This chapter examined the feedback from the second survey, and identified some of preference and requirements from Chinese car consumers and potential car buyers. Next chapter will present the final conclusion of this research.
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Chapter 6. Discussion and conclusions
In this final chapter the key results and findings of the research, regarding the Chinese consumers preferred car elements and requirements, will be reviewed and discussed. Finally recommendations for further research into Chinese car requirements and design process will be made.
To reveal the Chinese consumer’s car preferences and requirements four methods were employed in this research, all of which necessitated planning and design. These four methods were:
1) A literature review was undertaken to understand which cars are the most popular in China with respect to sales. From this information patterns and trends emerged, with respect to car features common in bestselling cars, which led to the following idea that ‘Chinese consumers’ prefer an SUV style car with an aggressive exterior design and a spacious interior design’.
2) A questionnaire was designed to confirm the Chinese car consumers’ requirements and preferences. The questionnaire feedback revealed the Chinese consumers’ car requirements and preferences, for such elements as the wheel rim design, chromed decoration, fake-wood trim for the interior decoration and so on. The findings from the survey showed that Chinese car consumers pay more attention to the front face and body line design of a car as showed in Chart
1. It also confirmed the literature review findings and supported the idea that Chinese consumer prefer an SUV car style with a spacious interior as illustrated in Chart 3 and Chart 8. As such much attention was focused on these areas in this research.
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3) A virtual 3D concept car model was build based on the preferred elements from the survey.
4) Finally a second questionnaire survey was conducted to test the Chinese consumers’ reactions to the 3D concept car model and verify the claim regarding the preferred elements and requirements. The survey provided positive feedback regarding the 3D concept car.
Although the interior car elements did not fall within the scope of this study the exterior design of the 3D concept car model allows for a spacious interior as preferred by the Chinese consumers and identified in the first survey.
The results of this research revealed that the design of a car specifically for the Chinese market should contain the elements and requirements identified in these previous sections of this paper:
• Suggestions for exterior design of concept car
• A SUV car type or a sedan with strong SUV car styling.
• An attractive or aggressive front face with slender front/rear light design.
• A dynamic side line car body without chromed decoration.
• Suggestions for interior design of concept car
• Spacious interior design with a comfortable interior space for both driver/passenger head
and legs.
• Spacious trunk space.
• LED dashboard.
In summary the research found that most Chinese car buyers prefer, and are attracted to, a car
146 with a big body, high chassis and a spacious interior. As found in the literature review the importance of these elements is that they represent social status. The first research survey also found that a spacious car interior design must also include a comfortable driving experience.
7. Recommendations of future car research
The literature review also found some other particular Chinese issues which would affect car sales. These included the aging Chinese population and the female influence in Chinese family when it comes to purchasing. Although the first survey did collect information about age and gender, further research is needed to look at these in more detail and how they affect Chinese car preferences, requirements and sales.
Not covered in this study were the interior car design details; preferences and requirements. In the literature review and the first survey the car interior was found to be a vital element for
Chinese consumers when buying a car and therefore requires further research.
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Appendices The anonymous questionnaire is aimed at the Chinese working class and the Chinese middle class. The purpose is to identify the car buying behavior and specific car requirements 这份 匿名 调查调查问卷的主旨在于识别和研究中国汽车消费者对汽车的特殊需求以及 汽车购买习惯。 Please underline the wanted option 所有选项请均用数字 0 填于空格或者括号中或者在选项下下划线。带来不便还望谅解。
1 参与者个人资料（匿名） 1.1. 教育程度: 中学 Middle-school ( ); 中专 Vocational ( ); 大专 Collage ( ); 本科 Bachelor (1 ); 硕士生 Master degree( ); 博士 PHD ( ).
1.2. 女性 female ( 1)/男性 male ( ).
1.3. 年均收入 Annual income (AUD): 低于三万人民币 $4,000~$10,000 ; 三万~五万人民币$10,000~$20,000 ( ); 五万~八万人民币 $20,000~$30,000 ( );e 八万~十万人民币$30,000~$440,000 ( ); 十万~十五万人民币$40,000~$50,000 ( ); 十五万~二十万人民币 $50,000~$60,000 ( ); 二十万人民币以上 Above $60,000 ( )
1.4. 是否拥有一辆车 Owned a car : Yes ( ); No ( 1)
Questions concerning the requirements of car exterior design 以下问题涉及到汽车外观设计以及对汽车外观的需求
2.1. What is the FIRST exterior element of cars you focus on 以下哪个外观选项是你购买或者观察汽车时所关注的第一要素 Wheel 车轮/轮毂 ( ); Front face 前脸 ( ); Grille 进气格栅 ( ); Rear 车尾 ( ); Exhaust 排气管 ( ); Body line 侧面流线 ( 1 ); Front lights and Rear lights 前灯/尾灯( ); Other 其他______.
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2.2. What is your favorite car color (You can offer more than ONE color) 最喜欢的汽车颜色? (能够填写两个或者两个以上颜色 ) ______black, white 黑色 红色______
2.3. From the list below circle you preferred color for a car door handle 从下列列表中选出你喜欢的车门把手颜色样式。 1. The same as the door color 与车门颜色相同 2. Slightly different to the door color 与车门颜色有细微差别 3. Totally different to the door color 与车门颜色有极大差别 4. Chrome 电镀/镀铬
2.4. Currently, an increasing number of cars are using the “smiling face” element to design their front face. How do you feel about this front face style 近年来，“笑脸” 这一汽车前脸设计元素越来越多的采用在汽车设计中， （“笑脸“设 计元素是指汽车前脸进气格栅两侧微微上扬，远看像一个咧开大笑的嘴巴） 你对这种 汽车前脸设计怎么看？
□Very much like 非常喜欢 □Like 喜欢 □Like a little 喜欢一点 （1）Neutral 无所谓 □Mildly dislike 不太喜欢 □Dislike 不喜欢 □Strongly dislike 抵触
2.5. Automobile body styles have different size perception in different countries. Which car body do you prefer? 不同国家的某些同款车型的汽车尺寸并不一样。 以下哪种车型是你的第一选择：2 (1) The compact car body 紧凑的车身 (2) The spacious car body 宽敞的车身 1
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(1)______0______(2)______
2.6. Different cars have different distances between the car chassis with the ground; some cars have a high chassis, others are low. Do you prefer a high chassis or a low chassis? 不同款车型的车身高度以及汽车底盘距离地面的高度不一样。有些车型有较高的汽车 底盘，有的则很低。 你会选择哪一种？3
(1)______(2)______(3)______0_____ 2.7. There are 20 different wheel rims below, please choose the 3 you most prefer. 以下有 20 种不同的轮毂样式，请选择任意三款你满意的轮毂设计。
1. 2. , 3. 4.
5. 6. , 7. , 8. ,
9. 10. , 11. , 12. ,
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13. 14. 15. 16. ,
17. 18. 19. 20. .
1. ______1__, 2. ___3______, 3. ____15_____.
2.8. Does the space of the trunk affect you choice of buying a car? 汽车尾箱的空间大小是否影响你对一款车的选择。 （1）Very much affect 影响很大 很大 much 略微影响 影响 much a 会考虑到，但是不会有太大影响 虑到，但是不会有太大影响 ct 车的完全没有影响 没有影响是不会有太大影响 ct 车的选择。 the trun 不在乎尾箱空间
2.9. Most cars have a round exhaust pipe; some of cars have square or rhombic exhaust. What kind of exhaust pipe shape do you prefer? 有些汽车有圆形排气管；而有的是方形或者菱形排气管。哪种形状的排气管最能得到 你的亲睐？ （1）Round 圆形 und 形排气管方形 und 形排气管；菱形 und 形排气管其他 ______
2.10. Please use the scale below to determine your preference for the following car styles Sedan Hatchback and SUV. Use ticks to show your preferences. 请使用下面的表格来明确你的汽车车型喜好。请勾选下列选项。 Like Neutral Not Like Not at All Like somewhat 中立态 somewhat Like 喜欢 有点喜欢 度 不太喜欢 完全不喜欢
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5 4 3 2 1 Sedan 三厢 车 Hatchback 两厢车 SUV 越野 车
2.11. Please use the scale below to evaluate the exterior of the following Chinese best-selling cars styling. 请用以下表格来评估 2012~2013 年中国销量最好的七款汽车。
Not at All Very Much Like Not Much Not Like Like Neutral Like Like somewhat Like somewhat 喜欢 一般 完全不喜 非常喜欢 有点喜欢 不太喜欢 不喜欢 欢 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 *Three views of these cars will show below:
Volkswagen Lavida 大众朗逸
Stream Front Grille Front Rear Rear Exhaust line Wheel face 进气 lights 车 lights pipe 汽车流 轮毂 前脸 格栅 前灯 尾 尾灯 排气管 线 Volkswagen 7 65 4 2 1 2 3 4 Lavida
Buick Excelle 别克凯越
Front Front Whee Rear Exhaust Grill Stream Rea face lights l lights pipe e line r 前脸 前脸 轮毂 尾灯 排气管
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进气 汽车流 车 格栅 线 尾 Buick 7 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 Excelle
Chevrolet Sail Sedan 雪佛兰赛欧三厢
Stream Front Grille Front Rear Rear Exhaust line Wheel face 进气 lights 车 lights pipe 车身流 轮毂 前脸 格栅 前灯 尾 尾灯 排气管 线 Chevrolet Sail 2 4 1 7 4 1 4 1 Sedan
Nissan Sylphy 尼桑轩逸（蓝鸟）
Front Front Stream Wheel Rear Exhaust Grille Rear face lights line 轮毂 lights pipe
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前脸 进气 前灯 车身线 车 尾灯 排气管 格栅 条 尾 Nissan 5 7 5 4 1 2 7 4 Sylphy
Ford Fox Hatchback 福特福克斯两厢
Stream Front Grille Front Rear Rear Exhaust line Wheel face 进气 lights 车 lights pipe 车身线 轮毂 前脸 格栅 前灯 尾 尾灯 排气管 条 Ford Fox 1 2 5 4 4 4 4 4 Hatchback
Toyota Camry 丰田凯美瑞
Stream Front Grille Front Rear Rear Exhaust line Wheel face 进气 lights 车 lights pipe 车身线 轮毂 前脸 格栅 前灯 尾 尾灯 排气管 条 Toyota 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 Camry
Hyundai Verna 现代瑞纳
Stream Front Grille Front Rear Rear Exhaust line Wheel face 进气 lights 车 lights pipe 车身线 轮毂 前脸 格栅 前灯 尾 尾灯 排气管 条
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Hyundai 2 4 5 5 4 7 4 1 Verna
2.12. Please give ONE or TWO examples of your favorite car brand and car styling (EXCLUDING SPORTS CAR AND SUPERCAR). 请列举你最喜欢的一到两款车型 ______卡宴______. And PLEASE give ONE or TWO reasons 同时请给予一到两点原因______洋气______.
3. Questions concerning interior design
以下问题涉及汽车的内饰设计 With the development of the LED technology, increasing numbers of car companies are using more LED tech in cars’ interiors; please answer these two questions about LED and Smart Touch: 随着 LED 技术的发展，越来越多的汽车公司开始更多的在汽车内饰中使用 LED 技术， 以下两个问题涉及到汽车的 LED 灯以及仪表盘设计。 3.1. Which do you prefer, the LED dashboard or the traditional pointer dashboard? Please tick the one you prefer. 请选择一款你更喜欢的仪表盘设计，传统仪表盘或者 LED 仪表盘。 （1）
(1) Traditional pointer dashboard (2) LED dashboard 传统仪表盘 LED 仪表盘
3.2. Do you think that ‘Smart Touch’ controls should replace the traditional buttons in the car interior? Please tick your preference. 你认为触屏仪表盘应该取代传统仪表盘吗？ 为 Strongly Agree 非常同意 同意 trong 同意 同意 trongly Agree 某种程度上同意 （1）Undecided 不能选择 选择 cided y Agree ？r?不太同意 同意 cided y 不同意
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意 Strongly Disagree 非常不同意
3.3. Which type of car seat do you prefer? Please tick the one you like. 你喜欢哪一种汽车座椅。（1） (1) Full width (bench) seats 横排长座
(2) Divided (bucket) seats 凹背座椅
3.4. Do you care about the distance between your head and the car roof? Please tick your preference. 你是否在意对汽车内从头顶到车顶的距离？ 否在意对汽车内从头顶到车顶的距离非常关注 关注意对汽车关注 （1）Care somewhat 某种程度上在意 程 neutral 中立 程 do not care somewhat 不太在意 在意 o not care 不在意 意意 o not care somewhat the distance 从未关注过这一点 3.5 How do you feel about chromed decoration car features, please tick your preference in the
following table
你对汽车镀铬装饰的看法。
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Like Very Much Not Much Not Like Not at All Like somewhat Neutral Like Like somewhat Like 喜欢 某种程度上 中立 非常喜欢 不太喜欢 不喜欢 不在乎 喜欢 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
3.6. if you like chromed decorations, on which part of a car do you like to see them. Please tick your preference in the following table 如果你喜欢镀铬装饰，汽车中哪一部分你希望有镀铬装饰。 Not at All Very Like Like Not Much Not Like Neutral Like Much Like 喜 somewhat Like somewhat 中立 完全不喜 非常喜欢 欢 有些喜欢 不太喜欢 不喜欢 欢 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Front Face 5 7 5 7 1 1 1 前脸 Grille 进气格 4 7 5 4 2 2 2 栅 Rear 1 7 2 1 3 4 5 车尾 Body line
车身流 2 7 4 7 4 4 4 线 Front lights 1 4 4 7 4 4 4 前灯 Rear lights 4 5 4 5 3 2 5 尾灯
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3.7. How do you feel about fake-wood trim for interior decoration? 对仿木质汽车内饰装饰的看法。
Like Not at All Very Much Not Much Not Like Like somewhat Neutral Like Like Like somewhat 喜欢 某种程度上 中立 完全不喜 非常喜欢 不太喜欢 喜欢 喜欢 欢 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
3.8. A spacious interior is a significant factor when choosing a car? Please tick you preference. 宽敞的汽车内部空间是否会影响到你对汽车的选择 Yes ( 0) No ( ) don’t care 不在乎( ). 3.9. If yes, please tick which part of a car interior should be the most spacious. 如果确实有影响，那么汽车的哪一部分你认为最应该拥有宽敞的空间 （前座） Front Rear Seat Seat Front Seat Rear Seat (Legroom Trun (Legroom (Headroom (Headroom ) k The distance between head ) ) ) and roof 后座（放 尾箱 前座 前座（头 后座（头 头顶到车顶的距离 腿的空 空间 （放腿的 顶空间） 顶空间） 间） 空间） 0
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Questionnaire 2
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1. How do you feel about the styling of the new 3D computer generated car model? 对这款概念车的第一感觉 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
2. How do you feel about the front grille of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得前脸进气格栅造型怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
3. How do you feel about the front view of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得前脸怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
4. How do you feel about the wheel rims of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得轮毂怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 183
○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
5. How do you feel about the side view of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得车身流线怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
6. How do you feel about the rear of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得车尾设计怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
7. How do you feel about the front light and back lights of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得车前灯和车后灯设计怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 ○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
8. How do you feel about the exhaust pipe of the new 3D computer generated car model? 觉得排气管设计怎么样 [单选题] [必答题] ○ Very Much Like 非常喜欢 ○ Like 喜欢 184
○ Like Somewhat 一般喜欢 ○ Neutral 中立 ○ Not Much Like 有点不喜欢 ○ Not Like somewhat 不太喜欢 ○ Not at All Like 一点也不喜欢
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Sample of questionnaire 2 序号：2 填写时间：2015/9/10 11:37:40 所用时间：35 second 来源 IP address：220.112.231.31
（广东-深圳）
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1. How do you feel about the styling of the new 3D computer generated car model? Very Much Like 非 对这款概念车的第一感觉 常喜欢 [单选题] * 2. How do you feel about the front grille of the new 3D computer generated car model? Very Much Like 非 觉得前脸进气格栅造型怎么样 常喜欢 [单选题] * 3. How do you feel about the front view of the new 3D computer generated car model? 喜欢 觉得前脸怎么样 Like [单选题] * 4. How do you feel about the wheel rims of the new 3D computer generated car model? Very Much Like 非 觉得轮毂怎么样 常喜欢 [单选题] * 5. How do you feel about the side view of the new 3D computer generated car model? 喜欢 觉得车身流线怎么样 Like [单选题] * 6. How do you feel about the rear of the new 3D computer generated car model? 喜欢 觉得车尾设计怎么样 Like [单选题] * 7. How do you feel about the front light and back lights of the new 3D computer generated car model? Very Much Like 非 觉得车前灯和车后灯设计怎么样 常喜欢 [单选题] * 8. How do you feel about the exhaust pipe of the new 3D computer generated car model? Very Much Like 非 觉得排气管设计怎么样 常喜欢 [单选题] *
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