China exported 2.341 million cars in the first half of 2023, up 76.9% year-on-year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China.

Meanwhile, according to data released by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, the number of cars exported by this country in the same period was 2.02 million units, up 17% over the same period. This is the first time that the number of cars exported by China in the first 6 months of the year has surpassed Japan, ranking first in the world. Previously, in the first quarter of 2023, China also surpassed Japan for the first time in quarterly car exports, becoming the largest car exporter in the world.

Workers assemble NEV new energy vehicles at a factory in Yuncheng city, Shanxi province, northern China.

The data also shows that there are two main reasons for China's strong auto exports this year: sales of conventional fuel vehicles have increased significantly in the Russian market, while new energy vehicles are increasingly exported to European and Southeast Asian markets.

Since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, many foreign-invested car manufacturers have announced their withdrawal from the Russian market. Famous multinational car manufacturers such as Honda, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, General Motors have announced a temporary suspension of car exports to Russia. Renault even sold all of its assets in Russia. Chinese car companies have immediately filled this gap in the Russian car market.

Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, said that in the first half of this year, China's auto exports to Russia exceeded 370,000 units, an increase of 622%. Russia has become China's largest auto importer.

Mr. Thu also said that the main export markets for Chinese new energy vehicles are Western Europe and Southeast Asia. In the past two years, countries in Western and Southern Europe, such as Belgium, Spain, Slovenia and the UK, have become bright spots for China's energy vehicle exports. Meanwhile, this year, the number of vehicles exported to Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand has also increased sharply.

China exported 800,000 new energy vehicles in the first half of this year, up 105% year-on-year and accounting for 34% of total vehicle exports. China had previously surpassed South Korea and Germany to become the world's third and second largest auto exporters in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

According to Vov.vn

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