The development trend of electrification, intelligent network connectivity and digitalization has created invaluable opportunities for China’s automotive industry to achieve the goal of “from big to strong”, but at the same time, under the influence of factors such as the intensification of geopolitical risks around the world, China’s new energy vehicles are facing heavy obstacles in going overseas.
Recently, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Antai School of Economics and Management, Industry Research Institute of Intelligent Networked Vehicles line research team and 21st Century Institute of Multinational Enterprise Strategy, multinational supply chain strategy and operation research team, in conjunction with JATO Dynamics, organized China’s automotive industry chain to go to sea forum, and the “2024 Automotive Going Overseas Research White Paper” was released at the same time.
According to the whitepaper, China’s auto exports have entered a period of rapid growth since 2021, and sales in the global light vehicle market have steadily rebounded in 2024, with China leading the development of the global passenger car market, contributing one-third of the market share.
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), China exported 4.91 million vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 58%, surpassing Japan and becoming the world’s top automobile exporter. 2024, China’s automobile exports continued to maintain a high growth trend, with exports of 2.793 million vehicles in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%, with the full year expected to hit a new high of 6 million vehicles.
The electrification transition presents an opportunity for Chinese cars to start hitting the world stage – Chinese auto brand BYD will be ranked No. 7 in the world in 2024, surpassing veteran Ford, while Geely Group, Chery Group, Changan Group and Great Wall Motors are all in the Top 20 of global car companies.
In terms of new energy vehicle exports, China’s performance is even brighter.Starting in 2021, exports rebounded and continued to grow, reaching more than 1.2 million vehicles by 2023, close to five times the pre-epidemic level.China’s exports of new energy vehicles mainly consist of two types, pure electric and plug-in hybrid, with pure electric vehicles accounting for more than 90% of the total.
From 2020 to 2023, China’s passenger car exports continue to grow significantly, from 805,400 units in 2020 to 4,433,200 units in 2023, with a CAGR of more than 60%; and the proportion of passenger car exports to wholesale sales rises from 4.07% in 2020 to 19.43% in 2023.This trend indicates that the influence of Chinese passenger cars in the international market is increasing year by year, and the scale of exports is steadily expanding.
In terms of vehicle types, SUVs dominated China’s passenger car exports in 2023, with exports reaching 2.829 million units, up 67% year-on-year, demonstrating the strong appeal and high demand for SUVs in the international market.Sedans followed, with exports reaching 961,000 units, up 70% year-on-year, consolidating their solid position in the traditional market.
In contrast, the export volume of MPVs was 85,000 units, a 37% year-on-year increase despite the smaller total, indicating that this market segment is also gradually developing.In terms of sales structure, SUVs accounted for the highest share of 71.93%, followed by sedans at 27.01%.Overall, SUV and sedan models are the main forces driving the growth of China’s passenger car exports, and both show strong growth momentum in 2023.
The export volume and average export price of China’s commercial vehicles show a continuous upward trend from 2020 to 2023, with China’s commercial vehicle export volume reaching 788,100 units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 21.37% compared with 2022.
The research team pointed out that the rapid growth of China’s auto exports in recent years has been influenced by a combination of factors, including insufficient overseas supply, China’s production capacity advantage, and the increased competitiveness of China’s auto industry.
In the past few years, the regional distribution of China’s auto exports has undergone significant structural changes – Europe, Eurasia and Russia, Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand, three regional export sales soared, in the total sales of the proportion of increasing; South America, the Middle East and North America, although there is also a significant increase, but its share gradually shrinking.
In this regard, the research team believes that the future opportunities for China’s automobile overseas can be analyzed based on two factors: the market size of the target overseas region and the growth space, and the need to take the overall layout, distribution and promotion strategy.
This article originated from: Xinmin Evening News
