ECG — 2023-01-17
News from ECG
Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) shows that over 3m vehicles have been exported from China in 2022, up 54% year-on-year(y/y).
A total of 3,092,100 finished vehicles have been exported from China in the 2022 period marking an annual increase of 54.4% y/y the CAAM has said in data released today.
Of the total volume 675,000 units were new energy vehicles (NEVs) which are defined as battery electric vehicles (EVs), plug in hybrids (PHEVs) and fuel cell vehicles (FCEV). NEV exports have risen 120.2% y/y, marking a significant jump in demand for Chinese built electric vehicles.
The CAAM states that the main global export destinations for EVs from China are Belgium and the UK. Belgium, of course, being a distribution hub for Europe. According to reports from Chinese State Media, a total of 181,254 NEVs have been exported to Belgium in the first 11 months of the year, while 99,812 units have been exported to the UK.
A total of 324,000 vehicles were exported in December alone, up 45.5% y/y, but down slightly from the 329,000 units exported in November.
The average export value of an automobile built and exported from China has risen to USD 18,900 per unit on average in 2022 up from USD 12,900 in 2018. Pure electric vehicles have seen a higher hike in prices and now average USD 25,800 a unit .
While export demand for NEVs has risen significantly—these vehicles only account for 20.8% of the total vehicles exported from China. In terms of the top destinations for Chinese vehicle exports, as per data from the ITC, in the first half of the year, the top markets globally which imported the highest total value of Chinese vehicles were Belgium, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. In the H1 2022 period Chinese passenger vehicle exports hit a value of USD 16 bn. China is a growing base for international OEMs to build vehicles destined for overseas markets with models such as the Dacia Spring, BMW iX3, Tesla’s Model 3 already imported to Europe from China, while Volkswagen will begin imports of the Cupra Tavascan from 2024.
Meanwhile brands such as MG, owned by SAIC, have seen export volumes rise significantly to Europe, with sales over 100,000 units in 2022. SAIC Group’s global exports which include the MG and Maxus brands, as well as vehicles made at its joint ventures, hit 1.017m units in 2022, the company has said in a filing. This marks a 45.92% y/y increase for the automaker.
Geely Group saw exports of its Lynk & Co brand hit 14,571 units to Europe in 2022. In total Geely Auto saw exports of 198,242 units in 2022, up 72.37% the company has said in a filing.
Great Wall exports have risen 21.28% in 2022 to reach 173,180 units, while Chery Automobile exports are up 70.9% to over 400,000 units. Chery mainly exports to developing markets in South America, Asia and the Middle East.