When viewed by country of manufacturer origin, South Korean brands had the highest overall initial quality with an average of 85, an improvement of 8 from 2012, followed by Japanese brands at 104, improving by 9 from 2012. European and US brands both averaged 108 with 11 and 28 fewer problems respectively.

Maintaining high initial quality is crucial as it is the most important driver of purchase decisions by new-vehicle buyers, said a JD Power's sales satisfaction study.

The 2013 China Initial Quality Study found that among owners who experienced no problems with their vehicle, 36 percent say they "definitely will" recommend their brand to others, while 18 percent say they "definitely will" repurchase the brand. In contrast, among owners who experience more than one problem with their vehicle, the rates of those who say they will recommend and repurchase decline to 25 percent and 12 percent respectively.

Major concerns

"To further improve initial quality, automakers should focus on the most frequently reported problems among Chinese vehicle owners such as issues regarding fuel efficiency and various noise problems," said Tony Zhou, automotive research director at JD Power China.

Excessive fuel consumption has remained the most frequently reported problem since 2007. New-vehicle owners in China tend to be particularly sensitive to noise problems; with brake noise and excessive wind noise the second and third-most frequently reported problems. Abnormal noises from the engine and tires are also among the most frequent complaints.

Statistics from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show that in the first nine months, combined vehicle sales by domestic brands increased 12.14 percent to 5.13 million units, accounting for 39.89 percent of the overall market, a drop in share of 0.67 percentage points from last year.

Surviving the fierce competition, especially after the international automakers entered the lower-end segments, domestic automakers should continue to invest heavily to improve the product quality, said analysts.

JD Power's initial quality study was based on evaluations from 21,181 owners of new vehicles purchased in China between October 2012 and June 2013.