(Yicai Global) Sept. 21 -- The China Association for Quality and China National Customer Commission released the country's automobile industry user satisfaction index for 2017 on Sept. 20. The overall reading reached 78 points for the year, which was up 1 point to mark the first improvement in the past five years.

The results show that this year's increase was driven by brand image and product quality. The survey's score for brand image in China's automobile industry increased by 0.4 point annually. Satisfaction levels regarding reliability were at 77.3 points, an annual improvement of 0.5 point, state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported.

This year's survey covered the 195 best-selling models during the year, involving 56 automobile manufacturers and 63 car brands.

A car's brand image effects consumer satisfaction 20 percent more than it did in 2012, the survey data show.

Geely, Great Wall, Changan, SAIC, Chery were among the top independent domestic brands this year, narrowing the gap between them and joint ventures. New-energy vehicle users scored 75 points, unchanged from last year, while user loyalty increased by 2 points to 72 points. User complaints also significantly declined.

Satisfaction levels related to after-sales service fell 1 point to 76 points, due to increasing consumer demand that dealers improve their service level. Key issues include the time spent during maintenance and whether vehicle failures can be fixed during a single visit to a dealer.