China's automobile exports continue to rise, and the global market is blossoming at multiple points

Recently, the latest data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that in the first half of this year, China's automobile exports were 3.083 million units, a year-on-year increase of 10.4%. Against the backdrop of increasingly fierce competition in the global automotive market, China's automobile exports have shown strong growth momentum.

From a regional perspective, the Chinese automobile export market is showing diversified development. Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, pointed out that China's automobile exports have gradually shifted from a high proportion in Central and South America and strong performance in Southeast Asia, South Asia and other Asian regions in the past to relatively strong performance in Central and South America and the Middle East. In June of this year, the top ten countries for China's automobile exports were Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the Philippines, Belgium, Brazil, Kazakhstan, and Australia. Among them, the export growth of the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Algeria, the United Arab Emirates, and Kazakhstan is relatively large. According to the cumulative export data for the first half of the year, Mexico ranked first with 280000 vehicles, followed closely by countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The Middle East market became an important support for export growth.
Among many car companies, BYD's performance is particularly outstanding. In July of this year, the first batch of models from BYD's Camasari factory in Brazil were officially launched, including the Seagull and Song Pro. In May of this year, BYD held simultaneous Seagull launch events in 15 European countries including Italy, France, Germany, and Spain, and began pre orders. At present, BYD's new energy footprint has spread across six continents and more than 110 countries and regions worldwide. BYD's overseas sales exceeded 470000 vehicles in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 132%. It is expected that the overseas sales for the whole year of 2025 will exceed 800000 vehicles. Chery Group has also achieved remarkable results. In May of this year, the group exported 100700 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 7.7%; From January to May, the group exported a total of 443900 cars, with an average of one Chery car going overseas every 29 seconds. As of the end of May, Chery Group has accumulated over 16.7 million global users, including over 4.94 million overseas users.

New energy vehicles have become an important growth point for China's automobile exports. In the first half of this year, China exported 1.06 million new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 75.2%. The export volume in June reached 256000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 92%, accounting for 41% of the total automobile exports for the month, an increase of 7 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The export of new energy vehicles is showing a rapid growth trend, with plug-in hybrid and hybrid electric vehicle models becoming new growth points, especially plug-in hybrid pickup truck exports showing impressive performance. From the perspective of export destinations for new energy vehicles, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Mexico, Australia, Brazil and other countries are the main markets. In the first half of the year, Belgium ranked first with an export volume of 143000 new energy vehicles, followed closely by countries such as Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The trend of new energy vehicle exports expanding to the Middle East and developed markets is evident, especially in Western Europe and Asia.
At the same time, there have been some changes in the international market. The US government began imposing a 25% tariff on imported cars in early April, which has had a serious impact on the European automotive industry's exports to the US. At the largest port in Belgium, Antwerp Bruges, there is a large backlog of cars originally scheduled to be exported to the United States, which cannot be loaded onto ships for export. Reuters reported that in the first half of 2025, the number of new cars shipped from Antwerp Bruges port to the United States decreased by 15.9% year-on-year. According to data released by the German Federal Statistical Office on the 18th, since the United States imposed tariffs on imported cars in early April, German car exports to the United States have significantly decreased in April and May, with a year-on-year decrease of 23.5%. ​
Against the backdrop of the accelerating transformation of the global automotive industry towards intelligence and electrification, Chinese automobiles have gained an increasingly important position in the international automotive export market with their continuously improving product quality, technological innovation, and diversified market layout. They are expected to continue their growth trend in the future and explore broader space in the global market.