Growth of Chinese EV Exports Decelerates

Chinese cars continuing to make inroads around the world is reflected in the country's export figures which have been soaring post-pandemic. However, as of 2024, the share of EVs in Chinese vehicle exports is no longer growing. While in 2023, 4.9 million cars were exported from China, this rose to 5.9 million in 2024. At the same time, EV exports only rose from 1.2 million to 1.3 million. New EU tariffs imposed on EVs in October of last year led to a slowdown in one of China's most important overseas EV markets. Chinese carmakers have started to produce EVs in the EU also, however.

While most news about Chinese cars in Europe and North America focus on the nation's electric vehicles, they are far from the biggest export as China continues to ship a large number of conventional cars to Asia, the Middle East and Africa. As EVs sales have been slowing in China, carmakers are making bigger pushes to export that are felt overseas. The export of cars from China increased from around 1 million to 2 million between 2020 and 2021 to much media attention and has since continued to climb, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Reuters reported this week that China was aiding its car export growth by selling so-called zero-mileage vehicles as used in order to create more demand and sell new cars at much lower rates overseas. Also under scrutiny are the massive amounts of aid China has given its carmakers, allegedly breaking international trade law.

Customs data showed China as the biggest car exporter in 2024 at 6.4 million units of the world's fourth most valuable export good. Based on the dollar value of exported cars, China came third last year.

Chinese cars have received a mixed reception in the West as excitement about price advantages in the still-very-expensive electric vehicle segment has met security and quality concerns. Surveys in different European countries show how negative perceptions of Chinese cars remain high. The U.S., where the cars have made the fewest inroads, a tariff of 100 percent was introduced earlier in 2024 and the country even launched a probe into data security concerns around Chinese connected cars the same year.