Luxury car owners call for better service

Luxury auto dealers need to better serve their customers and potential buyers to gain an edge in the Chinese market, the China Luxury Cars Report suggests.

Although international luxury auto sales have grown tremendously in China, their services are not recognized here, said Zhou Ting, dean of the Fortune Character China Institute, which specializes in lifestyle studies of Chinese rich people and released the luxury car report on Wednesday in Beijing.

Long waiting times, high maintenance costs and bad service attitudes are top three reasons for complaints, she said.

China imported 983,816 cars in 2011, up by 27 percent year-on-year, according to the report. In the first quarter of this year, China's auto imports amounted to 370,058, up by 25 percent year-on-year, with an average price of $40,200 for each car. Among the luxury brands tracked by the Fortune Character China Institute, the growth rate for imports in the year 2011 was 70 percent.

According to China's wealthy, Rolls-Royce is the number one luxury car brand, followed by Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

Zhou explained that although China's auto market has not fared very well recently, it may be the right time for wealthy people to buy luxury cars as auto dealers may have enough funds to offer discounts.

The China Luxury Cars Report was based on face-to-face interviews with 41 people in charge of luxury car brands, scholars, advertisers and public relation practitioners. Data from public organizations such as the United Nations and China's National Bureau of Statistics were also taken into account.