On January 12, the latest data released by the General Administration of Customs showed that my country’s automobile export volume in 2023 will be 5.221 million units, a year-on-year increase of 57.4%.
In a few years, my country’s automobile exports have entered the fast lane. From 2021 to 2022, my country’s automobile exports will successively surpass South Korea and Germany. Also in 2022, China will become the world’s second largest automobile exporter. According to the latest forecast from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Japan’s automobile export volume in 2023 will be approximately 4.3 million units. This means that China’s automobile export volume will surpass Japan’s in 2023 and will officially become the world’s largest automobile exporter.
Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, said that the products of Chinese car companies are very competitive. It is precisely because Chinese car companies can produce products that meet the needs of consumers in overseas markets that consumers in overseas markets will accept and recognize Chinese car products. , which is also the core advantage of independent brands.
Russia has become a major incremental market, driven by new energy vehicles.
The day before the General Administration of Customs released the data, the data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as the “China Association of Automobile Manufacturers”) was released. In 2023, my country’s new automobile export volume will be 4.91 million units, a year-on-year increase of 57.9%. Exports contributed 55.7% to the growth of total automobile sales.
In an interview with the Beijing News Shell Finance reporter, Xu Haidong said that the difference in export volume data between the General Administration of Customs and the China Automobile Association is that the data collected by the General Administration of Customs includes the export volume of second-hand cars.
In terms of vehicle models, the export volume of new passenger cars in 2023 will be 4.14 million units, a year-on-year increase of 63.7%; the export volume of new commercial vehicles will be 770,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 32.2%.
In terms of fuel form, the export volume of new traditional fuel vehicles in 2023 will be 3.707 million units, a year-on-year increase of 52.4%; the export volume of new new energy vehicles will be 1.203 million units, a year-on-year increase of 77.6%.
With the release of the data, the top ten countries for my country’s automobile export volume in 2023 were simultaneously announced, namely Russia, Mexico, Belgium, Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Spain. Among them, my country’s exports to Russia increased five times year-on-year.
Xu Haidong analyzed that China’s rapid growth in automobile exports in 2023 is largely due to the increase in the Russian market. Overall, nearly 800,000 vehicles were sold to the Russian market. This is a market of opportunity, and Chinese automobile companies have seized the opportunity.
“China’s automobile export volume has surged and ranked first in the world, mainly due to the international market demand of more than 60 million units worldwide.” Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, told a reporter from Shell Finance, “The quality of China’s own brand fuel vehicles Upgrading and intelligence will enhance competitiveness, and lead the international trend of pure electric vehicles to bring a new blue ocean to overseas markets.”
Cui Dongshu believes that automobile exports in 2023 will show several major characteristics. First, China’s automobile industry chain is highly resilient, achieving good supply guarantee for exports and domestic demand; second, the contribution of new energy vehicles has increased, and the current export market contribution of independent brand economical pure electric vehicles The third is the efforts of self-owned brand enterprises and excellent export performance; the fourth is the comprehensive development of exports, the high-quality growth of exports from developed countries, and with the gradual increase in the effect of intelligent blessings, China’s automobile export potential is huge in the future.
Zhang Junyi, managing partner of Oliver Wyman Consulting, told Shell Finance reporters that my country’s new energy vehicles have now entered developed countries, complementing local models. Many car companies see that most overseas new energy vehicle markets are still in a blank period, and thus accelerate their overseas market layout and seize market share.
The General Administration of Customs revealed that currently, one out of every three cars exported by my country is an electric car.

Car companies are intensively going overseas, gradually forming a second growth curve
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that the top ten companies in terms of vehicle export volume in 2023 are SAIC, Chery, Geely, Changan, Tesla, Great Wall, BYD, Dongfeng, BAIC and Jiangxi Automobile. Among them, the new car export volumes of SAIC, Chery and Geely in 2023 will be 1.099 million, 925,000 and 408,000 vehicles.
In terms of growth rate, BYD’s new car exports in 2023 will be 252,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 3.3 times; Chery’s new car exports last year will double year-on-year; Great Wall’s new car exports last year will be 316,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 82.5%.
Competition in the domestic automobile market has intensified, and automobile exports may have become the second growth curve for automobile companies. In 2023, my country’s auto market production and sales will exceed 30 million vehicles for the first time. Judging from the data alone, the overall auto market performance in 2023 will be significantly stronger than in previous years. However, according to the sales results announced by major car companies, against the backdrop of higher-than-expected sales growth in the overall car market, the target completion rates of mainstream car companies in most markets are not optimistic.
Shell Finance reporters found that most car companies have not completed their annual sales targets in 2023. Among them, nearly 70% of car companies have a completion rate of less than 90%. Only a few car companies such as BYD, Geely Automobile, and Li Auto have completed their annual targets.
SAIC Group said that with the rapid increase in overseas sales, SAIC’s overseas business will achieve “scale profits” in 2023; Great Wall Motors also said that overseas markets contributed about 30% to its overall profit in the third quarter; Chery Automobile It was revealed that exports have created a huge source of profits for Chery. In 2023, Chery’s automobile exports will account for nearly half of its total sales.
Shell Finance reporters noticed that in the past year, cars have been going overseas frequently. In February last year, Chery announced that it would invest US$400 million to build a factory in Argentina. In the same month, Jianghuai invested 1.452 billion yuan in a joint venture factory with a local partner in Mexico. In March, Nezha Automobile’s Thailand factory officially started construction. After that, BYD announced that its factory in Rayong Industrial Zone, Thailand, had officially laid the foundation stone. It is expected to be put into production in 2024 and will set up a large-scale production base consisting of three factories in Brazil. body.
In 2023, car companies have intensively announced plans to go overseas – in April, the Jikrypton brand released its European strategy, and Changan released the “All-inclusive” plan, planning to complete the layout of major European markets in 2-3 years; in July, SAIC revealed that it was planning to Establish vehicle factories in Europe.
Zhang Yong, CEO of Nezha Automobile, once told reporters from Shell Finance that he would enter (the European market) no matter how difficult it is. Regarding how to tell a good brand story in Europe, he said that the first thing is to make good products, the second thing is to do cultural benchmarking and communication, the localization of products is needed, and the third thing is to build a brand.
It is still in its early stages and still needs to deepen its localization efforts.
Although China’s automobile export volume has reached the top, industry insiders such as Zhang Junyi generally believe that the export of Chinese brand automobiles is still in its infancy, and world-class well-known automobile brands such as Toyota, Volkswagen, and Tesla have not yet formed, and there is a lack of strong brands. Secondly, although domestic new car manufacturers have gathered in Europe, their overall market share is not large, labor and manufacturing costs are not low, and their symbolic significance as a springboard is greater than their actual contribution. The overseas high-end testing of new car manufacturers has not yet made waves. . “At present, there are still many trade exports and few local factories. It will still take some time to achieve high-quality exports.”
In Zhang Junyi’s view, Chinese automobile companies cannot just do simple trade exports, but must carry out localization, starting from the manufacturing end and supply chain end, and deeply cultivating the local area.
Xu Haidong said frankly that at present, my country exports more through direct trade, and the export models of Japanese, German, American and other car companies are more based on overseas production. From this aspect, our country is still in a backward stage. If the direct investment of Chinese automobile companies overseas can be carried out smoothly and achieve results in the future, it may prove the success of the internationalization of Chinese automobile companies or the Chinese automobile 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 said that Chinese car companies have become more competitive in recent years and can maintain rapid growth. It is expected that new car exports will increase by more than 600,000 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 Machinery and Electronic Products, predicts that in the next two years, my country’s automobile exports are expected to surpass Japan in terms of export value, reaching a global share of about 10%, and the growth rate will remain at 15%-20%.