The CACSI, published by the China Quality Association every year, surveyed customers across 52 major Chinese cities on design, performance, quality and maintenance and sales service regarding 153 car models from 55 automobile brands.

The Hyundai Verna and Kia K2 both came in first place in the “small car under 70,000 yuan” ($11,300) category by scoring 80 points out of 100, and the Kia K3 scored 81 along with the Volkswagen Lavida and Nissan Sylphy in the “small to medium-sized car between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan” category.

The Hyundai Mistra also scored 83 points and came first in the “new car over 100,000 yuan” category and the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage both came first with 80 points in the “SUV between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan” category. The Hyundai Tucson ix also came first in the “SUV between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan” category.

A spokesperson from Hyundai and Kia Motors said both companies plan to bolster their competitiveness and release cars tailored for the Chinese market in order to increase customer satisfaction for the long term.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)