How the Chinese buy their cars

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Forbes.com has a great article detailing about how the Chinese buy their cars. China Car Times follows similar rules, but is not Chinese, I guess we’ve just been around the Orient for a bit too long. Great article:

Chinese car buyers do not follow conventional wisdom when it comes to making purchasing decisions. They go with word of mouth and, surprisingly, the Internet and auto shows.

In this fast-growing market that is now the world’s second-largest after the U.S., potential car owners have chosen to ignore traditional modes of advertising, such as TV commercials or magazine and newspaper displays.

They also instinctively distrust car dealerships, most of which are staffed with inexperienced managers who, like 75% of the Chinese car owners, are for the first time in their life enjoying the opportunity to own an automobile, let alone trying to sell one.

In a new survey issued this month, TNS research and KPMG found that, more than anything else, Chinese car owners turn to family and friends when making car purchase decisions, with more than 40% of respondents saying that advice from familiars was the most credible source of information. The Internet, a popular forum for Chinese public to air personal opinions and grievances in blogs and chatrooms, ranked second, with more than 30% of those polled citing it as a credible source.

“Chinese car buyers are less experienced than their counterparts in a developed market. That’s why they need so much recommendation and advice,” said Klaus Paur, Shanghai-based automotive director at TNS China, “Word of mouth is also important elsewhere, but it is extremely important in China.”

By extension, the Internet is a platform for amplifying word of mouth, given the proliferation of blogs and easy availability and the transparency of information. “Information spreads in blogs quickly,” Paur said, “It’s a very powerful communication tool.”