China will become the world’s leading car exporter in 2023, ahead of Japan

Last year, China and its armada of electric vehicle makers dethroned Japan as the world’s leading car exporter, according to data released this Wednesday by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (Jama). China’s automobile exports totaled 4.91 million units last year, up 57.9 percent, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said. In detail, according to the country’s customs, every third car exported from China was electric (1.77 million units, +67.1% YoY).

Until now, Japan has been the world’s largest auto exporter since 2017, and China’s loss of that title last year was long predicted. However, the importance of this shift must be put into perspective as Japanese manufacturers produce twice as many vehicles in their factories overseas (17 million units in 2022) as they do in the Japanese archipelago. Conversely, Chinese manufacturers still have few factories abroad.

For the fourth year in a row, Japanese giant Toyota remained the world’s leading automaker by sales last year, even setting a new all-time record of 11.2 million vehicles sold, according to data released Tuesday.

The Chinese are accused of unfair competition

This rapid growth of Chinese manufacturers is worrying both automakers in Europe and Japan, where local manufacturers lag behind in producing 100% of the electricity as in Western countries.

Last September, the European Commission launched an investigation into alleged illegal subsidies from Beijing to Chinese electric vehicle makers, which the European auto industry accuses of unfair competition.

Chinese cars ended the year with a market share of almost 5% in Europe in 2023. An impressive figure that is expected to increase next year. So much so that Chinese electric car champion BYD (which became number one in the world in electric cars, ahead of the American Tesla in the fourth quarter of 2023) is already rapidly developing its production abroad. BYD, for example, announced at the end of December that it would build a plant in Hungary aimed at the European market, and it also has similar projects in other countries around the world, from Southeast Asia to Brazil.

China regained market share in Russia

Russia and Mexico were the two largest export markets for the Chinese auto industry in 2023, while the majority of electrified vehicle exports came from Europe and Southeast Asia. Chinese car exports to Russia have surged since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and international sanctions against Russia have driven Western and Japanese manufacturers out of this important market.