According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), automobile sales in January-July 2025 amounted to 18.269 million units, up 12% year-on-year, of which 3.68 million units were exported, up 12.8% year-on-year. Chinese car companies accelerate the sail to the sea, with technological innovation and localization strategy for the world automotive industry pattern to inject new momentum.
According to the statistics of the Passenger Federation Branch, the top three destinations of China’s automobile exports in January-July 2025 were Russia, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates, with exports of 197,577, 152,306, and 145,111 units, respectively, with Mexico declining 8% year-on-year, the UAE growing 43% year-on-year, and Russia plummeting 60%.
From the perspective of the top ten countries, the biggest increase was Algeria, with exports of 48,540 vehicles, up 237 percent year-on-year. Russia is the largest decline in the country, some analysts said, first, because Russia this year to raise interest rates on car loans and vehicle import scrapping tax, resulting in local consumers to increase the cost of purchasing a car, the terminal sales decline; the second is that the previous Chinese car companies in Russia inventory is high, this year’s sales encountered a bottleneck.
Looking at the car companies again, according to the list released by eCar, Chery Automobile held the first place with 662,900 units sold, up 6.9 percent year-on-year. Export has always been Chery’s strength, as a “veteran” of Chinese auto exports, Chery has been deeply cultivating overseas markets for many years, and has established a perfect sales network and production base.
Especially in Russia, the Middle East, Latin America and other regions, Chery vehicles are popular with local consumers. In addition, in the face of uncertainty in the global trade environment, Chery accelerated overseas localized production, effectively avoiding tariff barriers.
BYD followed closely behind, exporting a total of 521,500 units from January to July 2025, up 123.4 percent year-on-year, the biggest rise among the top 10 Chinese manufacturers. With advantages in core technologies such as batteries, motors and electronic control, 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 241,300 units, down 11.7 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 had 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.
GeelyAutomobile exported 218,200 units of 218,200 units of , an increase of 3.0% year-on-year. Through a series of overseas mergers and acquisitions and strategic cooperation, Geely has rapidly enhanced the international influence of its brands. Its brands, such as Volvo and Link, have performed well in the European market, especially the Link brand, which has successfully attracted the attention of young European consumers with its unique design, advanced technology and high-end positioning. In addition, Geely is also actively laying out in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other regions, constantly expanding its overseas market territory. Through localized production and marketing, Geely better meets the needs of local consumers and drives the growth of its export business.
Additionally, Great Wall Motor exported 203,400 million units, down 4.2 percent year-on-year. Changan Automobile exported 14,400744 thousand units, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier. SAIC-GM-Wuling exported 133,400 thousand units, up 24.9 percent year-on-year.
Tesla China exports128,300 million units, down27.2 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 as well as policy changes in some overseas markets.Tesla’s sales in Europe and other markets have seen a sharp decline.
In the list, Jiangsu Yueda Kia exported 98,800 units, up 13.7 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 Yueda Kia needs to accelerate product renewal and upgrade its technology to adapt to market changes and revitalize its export business. In addition, Beijing Hyundai also started to export, exporting 39,400 units, up 215.1% year-on-year, becoming the car company with the biggest increase in the list.
From the rankings, it is easy to see that China’s own brand exports have become more and more advantageous, in addition to Tesla and Yueda Kia in the top ten rankings, other than the independent brands, including Chery Automobile, BYD a distant second, especially BYD, year-on-year growth of 118.2%, becoming the most growth potential of Chinese manufacturers exported overseas, which is related to the frantic layout of BYD in the overseas market, and the majority of joint venture brands, including Yueda Kia Hyundai and other joint venture brands, most of them are in the domestic market sales pressure, began to export their products to overseas markets for sale.
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.
