An ACNielsen study found that more people had heard of Honda than General Motors and Toyota, even though Honda's adspend was less than a third of its rivals. Audi also managed to overshadow GM and Toyota with a far smaller spend.
However, the biggest spender, Volkswagen, dwarfed rival brands, both in adspend and brand awareness, with over half of the people interviewed recognising the brand. By contrast, the second most recognisable name, Audi, was known by less than one in five.
ACNielsen China's director of automotive research, Philippe Coquelle, said the results could worry some auto firms. "It seems that heavy advertising, one of the major means of marketing communications, may not necessarily result in high consumer awareness of individual car brands in China."
Four brands -- Citroën, Hyundai, Mazda and SAIC Chery -- were known by less than 10 per cent of the people interviewed in the survey, which was conducted in China's three first-tier cities. Nielsen interviewed 2,500 people by telephone.
The results come as car sales in China appear to be plateauing after attaining record levels of growth last year. Adspend by automotive firms reached Rmb 4.6 billion (US$555 million) last year, doubling in size since 2002, with Rmb 2 billion on TV and Rmb 2.6 billion spent on print.
"To improve and sustain brand recognition in China, manufacturers need to deliver a car that satisfies the needs of consumers, in conjunction with a desirable service package," he said. Awareness of locally produced brands was significantly higher in Beijing, suggesting that car ownership in Shanghai and Guangzhou is more corporate driven.
Nielsen study casts doubts on impact of China car ads
With advertising by car brands in China reaching record levels, a survey showing that people are less aware of some of the biggest spending auto firms than of companies spending significantly less has cast doubt on how well ads are helping consumers recognise different car brands in China.