Chinese auto exports rose 64% in 2023, with strong push by EVs, as makers expanded overseas
ABC News
An industry association reports that China’s auto exports surged 63.7% in 2023 while sales at home rose 4.2%
BEIJING -- China's auto exports surged 63.7% in 2023 while sales at home, boosted by year-end incentives, rose 4.2%, an industry association said Thursday.
Chinese automakers have aggressively expanded exports in search of growth missing at home as China’s economy slows. Government subsidies have transformed China into the world's largest market for electric vehicles, even as car sales have stagnated overall.
Auto sales in China totaled 21.9 million cars last year while exports jumped to 4.1 million, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported. Domestic sales are down from a peak of about 24 million in 2017.
The surge in exports may propel China past Japan as the world’s number one exporter of cars. Japan exported 3.6 million cars in the first 11 months of the year, with a final tally expected on Jan. 31.
The manufacturers' association does not provide a breakdown for electric vehicles, but data released earlier this week by the China Passenger Car Association showed that electric vehicles accounted for 24% of new car sales in China in 2023, up from 12% in 2021. Including hybrids, the share of new-energy vehicles in total sales reached 36% last year.
