Milestones in China's automobile exports: Leap to world number one, with car companies intensively going global in 2023
On January 12th, the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs showed that China's automobile exports in 2023 were 5.221 million units, a year-on-year increase of 57.4%.
In a few years, China's automobile exports have already entered the fast lane. From 2021 to 2022, China's automobile exports have successively surpassed those of South Korea and Germany. In 2022, China became the world's second largest exporter of automobiles. According to the latest forecast from the Japan Association of Automobile Manufacturers, Japan's total automobile exports in 2023 will be approximately 4.3 million units, which means that China's automobile exports will surpass Japan's in 2023 and officially become the world's largest automobile exporting country.
Xu Haidong, Deputy Chief Engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the product competitiveness of Chinese automobile companies is very good. It is precisely because Chinese automobile companies can produce products that meet the needs of overseas market consumers that overseas market consumers will accept and recognize Chinese automobile products, which is also the core advantage of their own brands.
Russia becomes the main incremental market for new energy vehiclesDrive explosion
The day before the General Administration of Customs released the data, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as "CAAM") released the data. In 2023, the export volume of new cars in China was 4.91 million, a year-on-year increase of 57.9%. The contribution rate of exports to the growth of total automobile sales reached 55.7%.
Xu Haidong said in an interview with a reporter from Beike Finance of the New Beijing News that the difference in export volume data between the General Administration of Customs and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers is that the data collected by the General Administration of Customs includes the export volume of used cars.
In terms of vehicle models, the export volume of new passenger cars in 2023 was 4.14 million, a year-on-year increase of 63.7%; The export volume of new commercial vehicles was 770000, a year-on-year increase of 32.2%.
In terms of fuel form, the export volume of new traditional fuel vehicles in 2023 was 3.707 million, a year-on-year increase of 52.4%; The export volume of new energy vehicles was 1.203 million, a year-on-year increase of 77.6%.
With the release of data, the top ten countries in China's automobile exports in 2023 will be announced simultaneously, including Russia, Mexico, Belgium, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and Spain. Among them, China's export volume to Russia increased by five times year-on-year.
Xu Haidong analyzed that the rapid growth of China's automobile exports in 2023 is largely due to the growth of the Russian market. Overall, nearly 800000 vehicles are sold to the Russian market, which is an opportunity market that Chinese automotive companies have seized.
"The surge in China's automobile exports has taken the world's top spot, mainly due to the global demand of over 60 million yuan in the international market." Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Conference, told a reporter from Shell Finance, "The improvement of the quality and intelligence of China's independent brand fuel vehicles have enhanced competitiveness, coupled with the international trend of leading pure electric vehicles, bringing a new blue ocean to overseas markets."
Cui Dongshu believes that in 2023, automobile exports will exhibit several major characteristics. Firstly, China's automobile industry chain has strong resilience, achieving good supply guarantees for exports and domestic demand; Secondly, the contribution of new energy vehicles has increased, and currently, the export market of independent brand economy pure electric vehicles has made a huge contribution; Thirdly, independent brand enterprises strive to achieve excellent export performance; The fourth is the comprehensive development of exports, with high-quality growth in exports from developed countries. With the gradual enhancement of intelligence, the potential for China's automobile exports in the future is enormous.
Zhang Junyi, Managing Partner of Aowei Consulting, told a reporter from Beike Finance that China's new energy vehicles have entered developed countries, forming a supplement to local vehicle models. Many car companies see that most of the overseas new energy vehicle market is still in a blank period, and thus accelerate their overseas market layout and seize market share.
The General Administration of Customs has revealed that currently, one out of every three exported cars in China is an electric vehicle.
Car companies are intensively going global, gradually becoming successfulSecond growth curve
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the top ten companies in terms of vehicle export volume in 2023 are SAIC, Chery, Geely, Changan, Tesla, Great Wall, BYD, Dongfeng, BAIC, and Jiangqi. Among them, SAIC, Chery, and Geely exported 1.099 million, 925000, and 408000 new cars in 2023.
In terms of growth rate, BYD's new car export volume in 2023 was 252000 units, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 times; Chery's new car exports doubled year-on-year last year; Last year, the export volume of new cars from Great Wall was 316000, an increase of 82.5% year-on-year.
The competition in the domestic automobile market is intensifying, and automobile exports may have become the second growth curve for automobile companies. In 2023, the production and sales of China's automobile market exceeded 30 million vehicles for the first time. Based solely on data, the overall performance of the automobile market in 2023 was significantly stronger than in previous years. However, according to the sales results released by major car companies, the completion rate of most mainstream car companies in the market is not optimistic against the background of unexpected growth in overall car market sales.
A reporter from Beike Finance found that most car companies have not achieved their annual sales targets in 2023, with nearly 70% of them achieving a completion rate of less than 90%. Only a few car companies such as BYD, Geely Automobile, and Ideal Automobile have achieved their annual targets.
SAIC Group stated that with the rapid increase in overseas sales, SAIC's overseas business will achieve "scale profitability" in 2023; Great Wall Motors has also stated that the overseas market contributed about 30% to its overall profit in the third quarter; Chery Automobile revealed that exports have created a huge source of profit for Chery, with Chery Automobile exports accounting for nearly half of its total sales in 2023.
A reporter from Beike Finance noticed that in the past year, there have been frequent actions of cars going overseas. Last February, Chery announced an investment of $400 million to build a factory in Argentina. In the same month, Jianghuai invested 1.452 billion yuan in a joint venture factory with local partners in Mexico. In March, Nezha Automobile's Thailand factory officially began construction. After that, BYD announced the official groundbreaking of its factory in the Rayong Industrial Zone of Thailand, expected to start production in 2024, and will establish a large production base complex consisting of three factories in Brazil.
In April 2023, the Geely Krypton brand released its European strategy, while Changan launched its "Embracing All Rivers" plan, which aims to complete the layout of major European markets within 2-3 years; In July, SAIC revealed that it was planning to establish a complete vehicle factory in Europe.
Nezha Automobile CEO Zhang Yong once told a reporter from Shell Finance that no matter how difficult it is, we must enter the European market. Regarding how to tell a good brand story in Europe, he said that the first thing is to do a good job with the product, the second is to do cultural benchmarking and communication, and the localization of the product is needed. The third is to build the brand.
It is still in its early stages and requires further cultivationlocalization
Although China's automobile exports have peaked, industry insiders such as Zhang Junyi generally believe that the overall export of Chinese brand cars is still in its early stages, and world-class well-known automobile brands such as Toyota, Volkswagen, and Tesla have not yet formed, lacking strong brands. Secondly, although domestic new car manufacturers gather in Europe, their overall market share is not large, and labor and manufacturing costs are not low. As a springboard, symbolic significance outweighs actual contributions, and the overseas high-end test of new car manufacturers has not yet stirred up waves. "At present, there are still many trade exports and few local factories built, and it will take some time to achieve high-quality exports."
In Zhang Junyi's view, Chinese automobile companies should not only engage in simple trade exports, but also engage in local localization, starting from the manufacturing and supply chain ends, and deeply cultivate in the local area.
Xu Haidong candidly stated that currently, China's direct trade model exports more, and car companies such as Japan, Germany, and the United States rely more on overseas production for their export models. In this regard, China is still in a backward stage. In the future, if Chinese automotive companies can smoothly carry out direct investment overseas and achieve results, it may indicate the internationalization success of Chinese automotive companies or the Chinese automotive industry.
Xu Haidong believes that in the future, with the gradual construction of system capabilities, especially the integration of overseas service capabilities into local society, China's automobile exports will continue to maintain their advantages.
Regarding car exports in 2024, Xu Haidong stated that Chinese car companies have shown competitiveness in recent years and can maintain rapid growth appropriately. It is expected that the new car export volume will increase by over 600000 units this year, reaching 5.5 million units.
Sun Xiaohong, Secretary General of the Automobile Branch of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, predicts that in the next two years, China's automobile exports are expected to surpass Japan in terms of export value, reaching a global share of about 10%, with a growth rate of 15% -20%.
Wang Linlin, reporter from Beike Finance of the New Beijing News
Editor Wang Jinyu
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