Foreign automakers drive China’s vehicle exports

SHANGHAI – With vehicle exports surging 76 percent to 2.14 million in the first six months, China is well on track to overtake Japan to become the world’s largest light-vehicle exporter this year

And global automakers are quickly becoming a fresh force behind China’s vehicle exports. 

The trend is evident when it comes to the exports of electric vehicles. Tesla Inc. has established itself as the largest EV exporter in China.

In the first half of the year, shipments overseas of electrified vehicles from China soared 160 percent to some 534,000, with 34 percent, or 182,400 units, coming from Tesla’s Shanghai factory, according to the China Passenger Car Association. 

By contrast, BYD Co., China’s largest electrified-vehicle maker, only exported around 81,000 vehicles in the same period.

Last year, Tesla completed the expansion of its Shanghai plant, raising the factory’s annual production capacity to 750,000. 

In the first six months, exports accounted for 38 percent of vehicle shipments at the plant. 

Going forward, the Shanghai factory will continue to increase exports, Grace Tao, Tesla's global vice president, said at an auto industry conference in Shanghai this month.  

For a long time, Chinese automakers, led by Chery Automobile Co. and SAIC Motor Corp., have accounted for nearly all exports of traditional vehicles from China. 

But the situation is changing. 

With the Chinese market rapidly pivoting to electrified vehicles, most global carmakers are rapidly losing market share due to a lack of competitive electrified products. 

To keep their China plants running, an increasing number of foreign mass-market brands are striving to ship more China-built vehicles to other markets.

Kia seems to be doing well on that front. In June, the Korean brand shipped 8,664 vehicles from its production site in Yancheng to other emerging markets, lifting its vehicle exports from China in the first six months to 26,157. 

Kia aims to ship more than 100,000 vehicles from China this year and double annual export volume by 2026. 

Hyundai also is targeting an increase in annual exports from China to more than 100,000 in 2025. 

Last year, Jiangling Motors Co., Ford Motor Co.’s truck joint venture, shipped more than 60,000 Ford-badged models including the Territory crossover, the Equator Sport SUV and Transit van to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South America. 

In May, it signed a framework agreement with Jiangling Motors to expand exports of vehicles produced at the partnership. The models planned for export include traditional commercial vehicles as well as affordable EVs, Ford’s China unit said.

At a news briefing in Japan this week, Nissan Motor Co. CEO Makoto Uchida said the carmaker must consider new measures, including exports, to shore up its China operations. 

In the first six months, foreign brands’ aggregate share in China’s passenger vehicle market dropped 5.9 percentage points to 46.9 percent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Most global, mass-market automakers are now scrambling to address the problem of severe excess production capacity in China. 

That will prod more of them to boost exports from the country where they have long been focused on producing for the local market.