What’s new: China exported 682,000 vehicles in the first two months of 2023, a 43.2% increase from the same period last year, China Customs reported Tuesday.
The value of the vehicle exports increased 78.9% to 96.83 billion yuan ($13.91 billion), the data showed. During the period, China imported 106,000 vehicles, down 30% from a year earlier. The import value decreased 17.5% to 49.47 billion yuan.
New-energy vehicles (NEVs) are the core growth category of China’s auto exports, mainly to the Western Europe and Southeast Asia markets, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association.
The background: BYD Co. Ltd., SAIC Motor Corp. and Nio Inc. are all stepping up efforts in overseas markets. A BYD executive told Caixin that the electric vehicle giant will roll out a large number of dealerships in Europe in 2023.
BYD, which is already set to build its first Southeast Asia EV production facility in Thailand, is in an advanced stage of discussions with the Philippines for an EV assembly plant, according to the country’s trade undersecretary.
Zhang Xinghai, chairman of Chinese automaker Seres (601127.SH), recently said China’s NEV exports generally face three problems: competition from European and U.S. auto giants, difficulty in export certification and export logistics restrictions. He suggested that the government give policy and technical guidance to help carmakers develop foreign markets in addition to coordinating solutions for problems such as high shipping costs and insufficient shipping capacity.
Contact reporter Denise Jia (huijuanjia@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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