Shannon Brandao
Shannon's excerpt from the article: "🎯 WSJ [excerpt]: #China’s overseas #auto sales surged to a record last year, on track to surpass Japan as the world’s biggest #car #exporter and marking a tectonic shift for the global industry.
While China has become acknowledged as a world leader in electric vehicles, traditional gas-powered autos were the main driver of the increase, with demand surging especially in #Russia.
Chinese carmakers seized the void left in the country by the departure of Western carmakers following the war in Ukraine, selling at least five times as many vehicles there last year than the 160,000 it sold in 2022, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
The association on Tuesday estimated 5.26 million made-in-China vehicles were sold overseas last year and said that would likely be almost a million more than exports of made-in-Japan cars. Japan shipped just under four million vehicles abroad during the first 11 months of 2023, according to the country’s most recent official data.
Exporting gas-powered cars to markets such as Russia and #Mexico, where demand remains resilient for such vehicles, has helped #automakers that have been slow to ride the electric wave in China and are grappling with excess output at their factories there.
Concern about a potential flood of Chinese vehicles from companies with overcapacity in China has risen in recent years in major auto markets. The U.S. largely shuts out Chinese #imports with prohibitive tariffs, while #EuropeanUnion regulators in September unveiled an antisubsidy probe centered on low-cost electric vehicles from the country. Beijing has denounced the #EU’s investigation as protectionist.
China’s next wave of exports is likely to include more #electricvehicles and #hybrids. Makers of such vehicles also saw a rise in overseas shipments last year and they are planning to significantly increase exports now that years of tearaway growth in China’s #EV market is slowing, after government subsidies for buyers have been scaled back.
...Global automakers with factories in China are also looking to export vehicles made there. #Volkswagen will for the first time ship its made-in-China vehicles overseas, shipping up to 60,000 China-made Cupra Tavascan EV coupes to #Europe this year, a company spokesperson said.
...The rise of China as the center of the world’s automaking industry represents a hard-won victory for Beijing’s industrial policies, following similar achievements in solar panels and batteries.
China has long been the world’s biggest auto market and production center, but growth was driven by foreign carmakers until recent years, when domestic brands embraced electrical vehicles and hybrids as the state bankrolled local manufacturers and subsidized sales.
Now it has added the top exporter crown as, over the past three years, it rapidly moved past long-dominant rivals Japan, Germany and South Korea."
#news #geopolitics #business