China surpasses Japan to become the world's largest car exporter

The growth of China's auto industry is greatly helped by the electric vehicle segment.

Chinese automakers are taking advantage of the electric vehicle trend to expand their influence outside of China, while the Russia-Ukraine war has left a gap in the Russian car market that they can exploit.

According to statistics by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers CAAM, the number of vehicles exported from this country to international markets in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 58% to 1.07 million units.

This figure helps China surpass Japan to become the world's number one car exporter.

Asian rivals exported just 950,000 vehicles (up 6%), according to figures from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.

Total vehicle exports from China in 2023, thanks to the above figures, could reach 4 million units, equivalent to a growth of 30% for the whole year.

The data also marks a new milestone for China's auto industry.

The growth of the Chinese car industry has been greatly supported by the electric vehicle segment. The government 's tax and price subsidies and its push to develop electric vehicle infrastructure have turned the electric vehicle segment into a "paradise" for both domestic car manufacturers and users.

The markets that Chinese cars are targeting during this period include Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe, while they are preparing more carefully to enter North America from the middle of this decade onwards.

It is also the electric vehicle segment that has boosted the number of cars Chinese people export to other countries.

Of the 1.07 million exported vehicles, 380,000 were new energy vehicles (including electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and hydrogen fuel vehicles), equivalent to a 93% increase over the same period last year.

The automaker that exports the most cars from China to foreign countries is... Tesla with 90,000 cars. Followed by SAIC Motor at 50,000 cars and BYD at 30,000 cars.

The countries that import the most Chinese electric vehicles are Belgium, Australia and Thailand. Thailand is being chosen by many Chinese car manufacturers as a destination to expand their influence in the fertile Southeast Asian market, which was previously a playground for the Japanese.

Including internal combustion engine vehicles, the country that imported the most Chinese cars in the first quarter was Russia, with 140,000 vehicles. This figure is more than triple the same period last year.

Since the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, many international car manufacturers such as Toyota and Volkswagen have closed down, sold factories and withdrawn from the Russian market, thus leaving a gap for Chinese car manufacturers to exploit.

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