According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), the country’s automobile sales in the first half of this year amounted to 15,653,000 units, an increase of 11.4% year-on-year. Among them, 6,937,000 new energy vehicles were sold, an increase of 40.3% year-on-year, and new energy vehicle sales accounted for 44.3% of total new vehicle sales.
At the same time, Chinese automakers are accelerating their sailing to the sea, injecting new momentum into the world automotive industry with technological innovation and localization strategies. In the first half of the year, China exported 3.083 million vehicles, an increase of 10.4% year-on-year, of which the export of new energy vehicles grew rapidly, amounting to 1.06 million vehicles, an increase of 75.2% year-on-year.
According to data from eCar statistics, the top three destinations for China’s auto exports in the first half of 2025 were Mexico, the UAE, and Russia, with exports of 234,500, 214,300, and 171,000 units, respectively, with Mexico up 30.7% year-on-year, the UAE up 58.5% year-on-year, and Russia plummeting 59.2%.
Mexico became the first Chinese auto exporter, mainly because BYD’s demand in Mexico has increased dramatically, the main models of the Seagull, Song PLUS DM-i, etc. have been listed in Mexico, and the UAE’s rapid sales growth is mainly due to the UAE as a distribution center of Middle East auto imports, Geely’s export growth to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Middle East markets since this year, driving the overall Import volume climbed.
As for Russia, it is the country with the biggest drop in the list, down 59.2 percent. Some analysts said, first, because Russia this year to raise the car loan interest rates and vehicle import scrapping tax, resulting in local consumers to increase the cost of car purchases, the terminal sales decline; second, the previous Chinese car companies in Russia inventory is high, this year’s sales encountered a bottleneck.
For other countries, the fourth to tenth places on the list are Brazil, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the Philippines and Kazakhstan, among which Brazil declined by 7.9% year-on-year, while Kazakhstan was the country with the largest increase on the list, up 105.0% year-on-year.
Looking at the car companies again, Chery held on to the top spot with 544,900,000 units sold, but up 3.5 percent year-on-year. Exports have always been Chery’s strength, and as a “veteran” of China’s auto exports, Chery has plowed into overseas markets over the years, establishing a comprehensive sales network and production base. Especially in Russia, the Middle East, Latin America and other regions, Chery cars are loved by local consumers. In addition, in the face of the uncertainty of the global trade environment, Chery accelerated overseas localized production, effectively avoiding tariff barriers.
BYD followed closely behind, with cumulative exports of 443,100 vehicles in the first half of the year, up 118.2 percent year-on-year, making it the Chinese manufacturer with the biggest gain among the top 10 automakers. With advantages in core technologies such as batteries, motors and electronic controls, BYD has launched a series of models favored by overseas consumers.
In addition, BYD has actively promoted localized production and independent shipping, which has effectively responded to the high tariff barriers in Europe and the United States and other regions, and further enhanced its competitiveness in overseas markets.
Shanghai Automobile Motor (SAIC) Passenger Vehicles (SAIC) ranked third with 242,600 units, down 4.1 percent year-on-year, with the decline in export volume perhaps related to factors such as intensified competition in some markets and instability in the supply chain. The main brand exported by SAIC Passenger Vehicles is MG, and despite the decline in export volume, the MG brand has a good market performance in Europe, Southeast Asia, India and other regions.
Shanghai Automobile Corporation (SAIC)’s deepening reform has been effective, and its own brand and new energy vehicles have become the main drivers of growth. However, SAIC has been committed to technological innovation and product upgrades, and is expected to regain its growth momentum in overseas markets in the future.
In addition,Great Wall Motor exported167,600million units, down5.5% from a year earlier. Changan Automobile exported146,900,000 units, down 3.9 percent year-on-year. SAIC-GM-Wuling exported 11190,000 units, up 20.0 percent year-on-year.
Tesla’s China exports10.11 million units, down31.9 percent year-on-year. Although Tesla is a globally recognized brand of new energy vehicles, its export performance has suffered a serious decline, which may be related to factors such as the intensified competition in China’s new energy vehicle market and policy changes in some overseas markets, as well as a series of Musk’s political behavior.
In the list, Jiangsu Yueda Kia exported 85,800 units, up 20.6 percent year-on-year. As a joint venture brand, although Yueda Kia’s performance in the domestic market is average, it has also become a new growth point for its performance through domestic exports. In recent years, with the rise of China’s own brand vehicles and the rapid development of the global new energy vehicle market, joint venture brands are facing increasing challenges in overseas markets.
Jiangsu Hyundai Kia needs to speed up product upgrades and upgrade its technology to adapt to market changes and revitalize its export business. In addition, Beijing Hyundai has also begun to export, exporting 34,800 units in the first half of the year, up 248.4 percent year-on-year, making it the car company with the biggest increase on the list.
From the rankings, it’s easy to see that China’s independent brands have become more and more dominant in exports, with the exception of Tesla and Hyundai Kia in the top 10, all of which are independent brands, with Chery Automobile and BYD leading the pack, especially BYD, which has seen year-on-year growth of118.2 percent, making it the Chinese manufacturer with the most potential for exporting to overseas markets. Chinese manufacturers, which is related to BYD’s frantic layout of the overseas market, while most of the joint-venture brands, including Yueda Kia and Beijing Hyundai, began exporting their products to overseas markets for sale as sales pressure emerged in the domestic market.
The competition in the international automobile market is exceptionally fierce, and many internationally renowned automobile enterprises have long been laying out their business in the global market for many years, with profound brand heritage, advanced technology and perfect sales and service networks. Chinese automobile enterprises are facing great challenges to stand out in such a market environment. Compared with international automobile enterprises, there used to be a big gap between Chinese automobiles in terms of brand awareness, technology level and product quality, but in recent years, by continuously increasing investment in R&D, improving technological innovation capability and optimizing product quality, the competitiveness of Chinese automobiles has been significantly improved. Today, China’s new energy vehicles in the battery technology, intelligent driving and other areas have been at the forefront of the world, and can compete with international car companies.
