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 million 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, China’s auto enterprises to accelerate the sail out to sea, with technological innovation and localization strategy for the world auto industry pattern to inject new momentum. In the first half of the year, China’s auto exports 3.083 million units, up 10.4% year-on-year, of which the export of new energy vehicles grew rapidly, amounting to 1.06 million units, 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, Kazakhstan, etc. Among them, 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 units sold, but up 3.5 percent year-on-year. Exports have always been Chery’s strength. As a “veteran” of China’s auto exports, Chery has plowed into overseas markets over the years and established a perfect sales network and production base. Especially in Russia, the Middle East, Latin America and other regions, Chery cars are popular among 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 Passenger Vehicle (SAIC) ranked third with 242,600 units, down 4.1 percent year-on-year, and the decline in exports may be related to factors such as intensified competition in some markets and instability in the supply chain.
Shanghai Automobile Passenger Vehicle’s main brand for export 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.
Geely’s exports in the first half of the year amounted to 182,000 units, up 7.4 percent year-on-year. Through a series of overseas mergers and acquisitions and strategic cooperation, it has rapidly improved the brand’s international influence, and 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 has also been expanding its overseas market territory by actively laying out in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Through localized production and marketing, Geely better meets the needs of local consumers and drives the growth of its export business.
In addition, Great Wall Motor exported 167,600 units, down 5.5 percent year-on-year. Changan Automobile exported 146,900 units, down 3.9 percent year-on-year. SAIC-GM-Wuling exported 111,900 units, up 20.0 percent year-on-year.
Tesla’s China exports of 101,100 units fell 31.9 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 intensified competition in China’s new energy vehicle market and policy changes in some overseas markets, as well as Musk’s series of political behaviors.
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, but through the domestic export has also become its new performance growth point.
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 own brand exports have become more and more advantageous, in addition to Tesla and Yueda Kia in the top ten rankings, the other are all independent brands, of which Chery Automobile, BYD is far ahead of the others, especially BYD, year-on-year growth of 118.2%, becoming the most potential for growth in exports of overseas Chinese manufacturers, which is related to the frantic layout of BYD in the overseas market, and joint-venture brands including Yoda Kia, Beijing 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.
Competition in the international automobile market is extremely 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, technical level and product quality, etc. However, in recent years, by continuously increasing investment in R&D, improving technical innovation capability and optimizing product quality, the competitiveness of Chinese automobiles has been significantly improved.
Today, China’s new energy vehicles have been at the forefront of the world in areas such as battery technology and intelligent driving, and are able to compete with international car companies.
Article source: love car life family lai family
