ROKAY Car - One-stop Car Service Provider

China Auto Exports 2025: 7.1M Units Shipped, NEVs Surge 103.7% | Globalization 2.0 Era Begins

2026-01-22

After 7 Million Units: The Next Phase of China's Automotive Export Globalization

Recently, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) released data showing that China’s automotive exports exceeded 7 million units for the first time, reaching 7.098 million units with a 21.1% year-on-year growth, marking the third consecutive year as the world’s top exporter. CAAM experts noted that in 2025, automakers intensified overseas market expansion, with Chinese brands’ international competitiveness steadily rising. Joint-venture exports also performed well, while new energy vehicle (NEV) exports surged, driving overall exports to new heights.

Amid fierce global market competition, geopolitical uncertainties, and the rise of localized manufacturing, China’s automotive exports achieved (counter-trend) high growth. This reflects a systemic transformation—from product exports to technology standards, from single markets to global layouts, and from price competition to value leadership. Notably, NEVs became the core engine, with exports reaching 2.615 million units in 2025, a staggering 103.7% increase year-on-year. Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Car Association under the China Automobile(Circulation) Association, stated that as China’s domestic NEV market shifted from subsidy-driven to market-driven, its global competitiveness surged. Chinese NEV exports began explosive growth in 2021 and have since entered a sustained high-growth phase.
China Auto Exports 2025: 7.1M Units Shipped, NEVs Surge 103.7% | Globalization 2.0 Era Begins 1

▍Mode Upgrading and Industrial Chain Synergy: The Core Drivers of the "Second Wave"

Over the past decade, China’s automotive exports primarily relied on (whole-vehicle trade), leveraging cost advantages to dominate markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. However, the 2025 export surge is fundamentally different. If the past decade was the "Product Export 1.0 Era," 2025 marks China’s full entry into the "Standard Export 2.0 Era" with deepened strategies. While whole-vehicle exports continue, the proportion of localized models exporting standards has grown significantly.

Leading automakers no longer focus solely on "shipping cars overseas" but aim to "root and grow locally." Deepened localization is the most visible transformation. To bypass increasingly complex trade barriers and meet overseas demands, major automakers accelerated overseas production base and R&D center layouts, forming a new "Global Resources + Local Manufacturing" paradigm.

BYD built a European headquarters and R&D center in Hungary, transformed Ford’s idle plant in Brazil into a fully operational facility within 15 months, established a fully integrated factory in Thailand with an annual capacity of 150,000 units, and even launched eight Ro-Ro ships to form a dedicated shipping fleet, integrating the entire chain from R&D to manufacturing, logistics, and sales. Chery has established 10 overseas factories globally, covering the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, embodying its strategy of "In somewhere, For somewhere, Be somewhere" (Be present, serve locally, integrate into the community). SAIC Motor adopted a "Glocal" (Global + Local) strategy, setting up CKD assembly lines in Indonesia, Thailand, and India, leveraging RCEP origin rules to reduce component tariffs to zero, making its final prices significantly lower than Japanese competitors.

This localization is not just a defensive strategy to bypass trade barriers but an active effort to align with user needs. For example, Chinese automakers optimized cooling systems and air-conditioning efficiency for Saudi Arabia’s harsh desert climate; MG’s ZS model in right-hand drive versions features bilingual (Arabic/English) smart cockpits; in Norway, NIO built battery-swapping networks and introduced a "battery leasing + subscription service" model, allowing users to pay €550/month for an all-inclusive package.

Southeast Asia has become a strategic hub for China’s automotive exports. BYD’s electric vehicle plant in Thailand’s Rayong Province began production, with initial models exported to Thailand and Malaysia. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Cambodia also saw explosive growth. Leveraging infrastructure connectivity like the China-Laos and China-Thailand railways, along with RCEP’s zero-tariff benefits, Chinese automakers are transforming Southeast Asia into a third major overseas production and consumption base after Europe and Latin America.

A deeper transformation lies in the collective overseas expansion of China’s automotive industrial chain, extending competition from vehicle manufacturing to technology standards and supply chains. CATL built Europe’s largest battery plant in Hungary; Horizon Robotics obtained the world’s first ISO/PAS 8800 certification for automotive AI functional safety; Alibaba Cloud supports NIO’s overseas data compliance.

▍From Russia-Mexico Dual-Hub to Multipolar Markets

A notable feature of China’s 2025 automotive exports is the comprehensive reshuffling of markets and brand portfolios. The previous reliance on single markets is fading, with multipolar growth emerging. Both independent brands and joint ventures now form a structured, diversified export force, replacing the past fragmented, homogenized competition.

Geographically, China’s exports are shifting from "single-point dependence" to "global balance." Russia, once the top export market for two consecutive years, saw exports plummet to 513,000 units (a 47.7% decline) due to stricter import policies and domestic capacity recovery, dropping to third place. Mexico surged to the top spot with 573,000 units (+39.9%), driven by automakers leveraging USMCA rules to "curve into the U.S." while serving Latin America’s booming demand. The UAE followed with 465,000 units (+60%), becoming a Middle East highlight.

Other markets like Australia, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia also grew rapidly, reflecting China’s diversified global footprint. Cui Dongshu noted Russia’s decline stemmed from 2024’s market saturation and policy adjustments.

In brand strategies, 2025 saw a "independent brands leading, joint ventures supporting" export landscape. Among independent brands, Chery, SAIC, and BYD formed a "trinity": Chery led with deep overseas channels and localization experience; SAIC grew steadily with its full-industry advantage; BYD became the largest growth driver, selling over 1.0496 million passenger cars and pickups overseas (+145%), leveraging NEV technology to penetrate global markets. Meanwhile, Geely, Great Wall, and new entrants like NIO and XPeng formed differentiated tiers—Geely focused on affordable sedans and SUVs; Great Wall dominated pickups and off-road vehicles; NIO and XPeng targeted premium (European and U.S.) markets with intelligent, high-end positioning, ending the past perception of "low-quality, low-price, homogenized" Chinese exports.

Equally notable was the shift in export entities. Previously, independent brands dominated overseas expansion. In 2025, joint ventures emerged as new growth engines. For example, Hyundai, Volvo, and Ford saw their export volumes double in the first half of 2025. More joint ventures now treat China as a critical global production and R&D base, leveraging its manufacturing and supply chain advantages to produce models for global markets.

In 2025, China’s automotive exports evolved from single-product exports to ecosystem-driven globalization, from price wars to value competition via technology and services, and from regional dependence to multipolar prosperity. Headliners like Chery, BYD, and SAIC established three major manufacturing hubs in China, Europe, and Southeast Asia. New entrants like NIO and XPeng leveraged intelligent technologies to target premium markets, while joint ventures reversed trends by exporting globally using China’s supply chain edge. Looking ahead, as Chinese automakers transform large models, urban NOA (Navigate on Autopilot), and vehicle-cloud synergy into daily global user experiences, China’s true competitiveness will no longer just be "selling more" but being "needed, trusted, and followed."

References: