Chinese Consumers Hate That New-Car Smell
- Unpleasant interior odor is top problem, J.D. Power China says
- U.S. car buyers most dissatisfied with buggy tech features
A visitor sits in the driver's seat of a Dongfeng S500 electric car at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition. New car smell is deemed unpleasant in China, where formaldehyde pollution of interior air have worried people.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
It turns out the sweet, leathery smell that American consumers crave in their new cars is provoking winces among China’s emerging motoring class.
Unpleasant interior odors topped the list of complaints by Chinese car buyers for a second straight year in J.D. Power’s China Initial Quality Study, a problem that ranks as the No. 21 grievance among Americans. Chinese consumers griped about bad smell 16 times per 100 vehicles, while buggy voice recognition systems drew the most complaints among U.S. motorists.