China is now emerging as the world’s largest automobile exporter. With 1.07 million units shipped outside its territory in the first quarter of 2023, the second world economic power doubles Japan, up to 954,185 vehicles, as stressed an article of echoes.
Compared with the same period last year, exports of China-assembled vehicles rose 58.3% in the first three months of the year, when Japan’s were up just 6%.
First explanation: the rise in sales of electric cars in the world while China has specialized in these vehicles for several years.
Tesla’s Model Y SUVwhich became the world’s best-selling car in the first quarter of 2023, is manufactured, for example, at the Shanghai plant, just like the Model 3s destined for Europe.
In total, the number of models exported by the US manufacturer from China is estimated at 271,000 units, making it one of the main exporters in the country. Just after SAIC, the Chinese group which sells the MG brandwith sales growing strongly in recent months in Europe.
In the Model Y, however, we can notice a recent rebalancing, with the rise of the Berlin factory.
In 2022, about 70% of the Model Y sold in Europe came from China, this rate dropped to 33% in the first quarter of 2023, that is, two thirds of the models sold “Made in Europe”, tells us the firm Inovev.
This boom in Chinese car exports is also explained by the withdrawal from Russia of the main European and Japanese brands, underlines the Les Echos article.
“Chinese automakers are filling the void left by rivals such as Germany’s Volkswagen and Japan’s Toyota, forced out of the country by Western trade sanctions on Moscow,” he said.
Exports to Russia would have tripled in 2022 alone, to 140,000 units. However, this only represents less than 5% of Chinese automotive exports in 2022 and in a context where sales collapsed in Russia.
The rise of the Chinese industry continues to take a new step with this first position in exports, which should be confirmed throughout 2023. Last year, China had already surpassed Germany in this field.
Fearing that sales of Chinese electric models will flood the European market, and in particular the French one, The Government plans to set new criteria to regulate purchase aid. In particular, with an ecological bonus that would take into account the carbon footprint of vehicle production. However, using in particular electricity that is still too “carbon intensive”, the models produced in China (and thus potentially also a Dacia Spring), you would no longer be entitled to the ecological bonus.
Source: BFM TV
