Vehicle Exports from China hit 2.94 million, Jan-Aug
ECG — 2023-09-29
News from ECG
Finished vehicle exports from China hit 408,000 units in August as per data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). This brings the year-to-date volume of vehicle exports from China to over 2.94 million units, marking an increase of 62.13% year-over-year.
The top exporters in August were led by Shanghai Auto Industry Corp (SAIC), which saw total exports of 96,000 units in the month alone. Chery Automobile was in second place, with exports of 87,000 units. In third was Great Wall Motors with 31,000 units exported in the month, followed by Geely with 29,000 units. BYD comes in fifth spot, with volume exports of 25,000 units in the month. In sixth is Changan Auto with also 25,000 units, while Tesla is seventh with exports of 19,000 units in August, from its production base in China. Meanwhile in eighth spot is Dongfeng Motor, with 17,000 units followed by Jianghuai Auto Corp (JAC) with 13,000 units. In tenth place is Beijing Auto Industry Corp (BAIC) with exports of 13,000 units in the month, as per data from CAAM.
However, in the YTD data there is slight variation in the ranking of the top 10 vehicle exporting companies from China. SAIC, which owns brands such as MG and Maxus, continues to lead with exports of 667,000 in the January to August 2023 period. In second place is Chery, which owns brands such as Tiggo and Exeed, with exports of 558,000 units. In third spot is Tesla, which exported 235,000 units in the first eight months of this year from China. In fourth spot is Changan with 231,000 units and in fifth is Geely with 213,000 units, Great Wall is sixth with 182,000 units, while Dongfeng is seventh with 139,000 units exported. In eighth place is BYD with 125,000 units, while JAC is in ninth with 113,000 units. BAIC, maintains its tenth place, with 104,000 units exported in the eight-month period.
The question is –what types of vehicles are exported most; are these ICE or NEVs? And the next question that needs answering is: Where are the vehicles going?
Data from CAAM for destinations and type of vehicles exported is only so far available for the January to July 2023 timeframe.
Let’s look first at July volumes. The top market was Russia (93,000), followed by Mexico (33,000), Australia (18,000), UK (17,000), Saudi Arabia (20,000) followed by Uzbekistan, Philippines, Spain, UAE and Turkey.
But in the YTD data, the top destination markets for finished vehicle exports from China are: Russia (464,000), followed by Mexico (224,000), and in third spot is Belgium (149,000) followed by Australia (136,000) and Saudi Arabia in fifth spot with imports of 120,000 units in the eight month period. The UK saw 118,000 units brought to its shores direct from China in the period, followed by Thailand (90,000), the Philippines (85,000), the UAE (85,000) and direct shipments to Spain of 84,000 units.
Main Takeaway
Why was Belgium missing from the July data? As those working in the FVL industry are aware the ports are heavily congested and there are large stockpiles of unsold vehicles, not just from China.
And therefore was there a slow-down in direct exports of finished vehicles from China to Belgium in months of June and July to ease the burden on the ports and allow the existing stock build up to be moved. Or was demand so strong in ICE markets such as Russia and Mexico that volume and capacity was diverted?
The vehicles exported to four of the five top volume markets in July were predominantly ICE vehicles.
Meanwhile, in the YTD data, Belgium which is the main port of entry to the EU, stands in third spot with 149,000 units imported. These are predominantly NEV vehicles imported from China. It will be interesting to see if volume will return to the EU in autumn.