Chinese consumers' willingness to buy local-brand cars rose from 22 percent in 2016 to 49 percent in 2021, a new study shows.

Consumers born after 1995 have the highest willingness to buy local brands, at 61 percent, 12 percentage points higher than the group born between 1990 and 1994, according to a report released by market research firm J.D. Power on March 25.

The proportion of potential consumers who tend to buy new energy vehicles rose from 3% in 2018 to 16% this year, the report showed.

Among consumers born after 1995, the percentage of those inclined to buy new energy vehicles is 24%, 8 percentage points higher than the average and 9 percentage points higher than the group born between 1990 and 1994.

The top three reasons they prefer to buy new energy vehicles are that they are the way of the future, low cost of use, and simple to maintain.

"The Chinese auto market is a dynamic and challenging market for local brands and new energy vehicle brands because they better meet the specific needs of contemporary Chinese consumers," said Wang Qinghua, general manager of J.D. Power's joint research in China.

The study found that the smart car experience has become one of the decisive factors for subscribers to purchase a car.

In 2021, the smart car experience has become the fourth most important deciding factor for car purchases after quality, performance, and design, and is more important than price, brand, and purchase experience.

NIO is China's best quality brand for electric cars, ahead of Tesla, report shows