本土品牌在中國汽車召回中佔比遠低於外國品牌

Domestic Chinese brands accounted for 1 per cent of car recalls in China last year, a tiny proportion that potentially signals under-reporting of quality and safety issues by the country’s auto industry.

中國本土品牌汽車佔去年中國汽車召回總量的1%，這一微不足道的比例可能表明，中國本土汽車產業低報了汽車質量和安全問題。

Chinese automakers’ share of total recalls in 2016 was the lowest recorded, according to government figures, and particularly low compared with domestic brands’ market share in China, where last year 41 per cent of autos sold were homegrown brands.

根據中國政府公佈的數據，2016年中國本土汽車製造商佔召回總量的比例創有記錄以來最低，與本土品牌佔中國市場的份額很不相稱。去年，中國本土品牌佔中國市場汽車銷量的41%。

Analysts and industry executives said the low share of domestic brand recalls in the world’s biggest car market was unlikely to be due to higher vehicle quality, and more probably the result of having an inside track in fending off pressure from consumers and government quality inspectors.

分析師和行業高管表示，中國本土品牌在這個全球最大汽車市場中的低召回比例，不太可能是由於本土品牌汽車的質量更好，而更可能是由於本土品牌有門路，可以抵禦來自消費者和政府質檢部門的壓力。

“It’s definitely not normal for the domestic manufacturers to have 1 per cent of the recalls — they’ve made rapid progress in recent years, but almost certainly remain behind the international manufacturers on quality,” said Robin Zhu, lead auto analyst at Bernstein in Hong Kong.

伯恩斯坦(Bernstein Research)駐香港首席汽車業分析師Robin Zhu表示：“中國本土汽車製造商佔召回汽車的比例只有1%，這絕對不正常——最近幾年它們進步很快，但幾乎可以肯定的是，它們的質量依然落後於國際製造商。”

He cited a reluctance to initiate recalls, or at least to do so publicly via China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), which is responsible for enforcing quality standards. In addition, he said, the discrepancy between domestic brands’ share of sales versus recalls raised questions over “uneven enforcement of the quality recalls system by AQSIQ”.

他提到廠商不願發起召回，或者至少不願通過負責執行商品質量標準的中國國家質量監督檢驗檢疫總局（簡稱：國家質檢總局）公開發起召回。此外，他還表示，中國本土品牌汽車的銷量份額與召回份額差別之大，令人懷疑“國家質檢總局對質量問題召回體系的執行存在不公”。

Few foreign cars are imported into China, but are instead typically made almost entirely in China by joint ventures. However, foreign brands typically have their own technology, management, parts and separate factories, so cars produced with local partners are counted as foreign rather than domestic.

沒有多少國外品牌的汽車是通過進口進入中國市場的。相反，它們通常由合資企業幾乎完全在中國國內生產。不過，國外品牌通常有自己的技術、管理、零部件以及單獨的生產工廠。因此，由本地合作伙伴生產的汽車通常被算作外國車而不是本土車。

While the quality of Chinese brands has risen over the past two decades, it still lags that of western automakers, according to market research group JD Power, which publishes data on the global auto industry. In its 2016 Initial Quality Survey of new autos, JD Power found 112 problems per 100 Chinese-brand vehicles, compared with 98 in foreign brands.

根據發佈全球汽車業數據的市場研究集團君迪(J.D. Power)的說法，過去二十年中國品牌汽車的質量雖然已有所提高，卻仍然落後於西方汽車製造商。在君迪發佈的《2016中國新車質量研究》(IQS)中，該公司發現中國品牌每百輛車問題數爲112個，國外品牌爲98個。

Recalls in China are supposed to be initiated by consumer complaints that are reported either to automakers or directly to AQSIQ.

在中國，汽車召回理論上應由報到汽車製造商或直接報到國家質檢總局的消費者投訴發起。

AQSIQ declined to provide information on complaints or how recall decisions are made.

國家質檢總局拒絕提供有關投訴或召回決策過程的信息。

Anecdotal evidence suggests domestic automakers prefer to fix problems discreetly and directly with consumers, rather than via public recalls. “Chinese automakers are still concerned about whether recalls will have a negative impact on their brand, thus they are less likely to initiate recalls and might find other ways to solve their quality issues,” said Xing Lei, chief editor of China Automotive Review.

坊間證據顯示，中國本土汽車製造商寧願通過私下直接與消費者接觸來解決問題，而不願通過公開召回的方式解決問題。《中國汽車要聞》(China Automotive Review)主編邢磊表示：“中國汽車製造商仍然擔心召回是否會對其品牌造成負面影響。因此，它們不太可能發起召回，而可能尋找其他途徑處理它們的質量問題。”

Xu Haidong, assistant secretary-general of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that domestic car companies were more “intimidated by the idea of car recalls” than their foreign counterparts.

中國汽車工業協會(China Association of Automobile Manufacturers)祕書長助理徐海東表示，比起國外車企，本土車企“對汽車召回更加聞之生畏”。

Meanwhile, rising consumer nationalism in China has made foreign companies particularly trigger happy when issuing recalls, experts said.

同時，專家還表示，中國不斷高漲的消費民族主義，令外國企業發起召回時“寧可錯殺、不可放過”。

In 2015 a number of foreign automakers were featured on a consumer rights programme aired on state television that accused them of overselling repairs and spare parts to drivers. In order to avoid such scrutiny, “foreign brands usually make active moves such as auto recalls to show their initiative in maintaining quality in China. . . to maintain their relationship with the government”, said Mr Xing.

2015年，中國官方電視臺播出的一個消費者維權節目曝光了多家國外汽車製造商，指控這些製造商在維修和更換零部件時“宰客”。邢磊表示，爲避免遭受這樣的拷問，“外國品牌通常會採取汽車召回等積極舉措，以顯示它們積極主動地維持在華產品質量水準……並維護與政府部門的關係”。

Mr Xing added that multi-country recalls of faulty parts are another reason recalls of foreign brands were higher.

邢磊還表示，有缺陷零部件在多國被召回，是外國品牌召回比例更高的另一個原因。

Last year 11m autos were recalled in China, just over 120,000 of which were domestic brands, according to AQSIQ.

根據國家質檢總局的數據，去年中國被召回的汽車有1100萬輛，其中本土品牌汽車超過12萬輛。