(China Daily) Exports of new energy vehicles, or NEVs, soared nearly 93 percent in September from a year earlier, helping consolidate China’s position as the world’s top vehicle exporter, the country’s top vehicle exporter said Wednesday. trade association of the country.
More than 96,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles from international automakers like Tesla and local brands like SAIC were shipped overseas last month, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
The growing popularity of Chinese-made NEVs helped push the country’s total vehicle exports in the month to 444,000 units, up nearly 48% year-on-year.
CAAM said September was the second consecutive month in which China’s overseas vehicle shipments exceeded 400,000 units. China’s NEV exports from January to September reached 825,000 units, up 110% year-on-year. They brought the country’s total vehicle exports to 3.39 million units during the same period, an increase of 60% year-on-year.
The three main destinations for Chinese-made NEVs are Belgium, Thailand and the United Kingdom, CAAM said.
About 95 percent, or 91,000 units, of NEV exports in September were passenger vehicles, a sign of their growing acceptance among overseas passenger car buyers, the China Passenger Car Association said.
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, said the association opposed last week’s decision by the European Union to launch an anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles made in China.
The investigation follows European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech in September in which she claimed global markets were being “flooded” with cheaper Chinese electric cars.
Cui said the rise of China’s NEV sector is not due to government subsidies but a result of the country’s industrial chain gaining an advantage through open competition.
The EU investigation is a disguised effort to curb or prevent the development of Chinese NEV-related technologies and violates the World Trade Organization’s fairness rules, Cui said.
He said the EU should view the development of NEVs in China in a fair and objective manner instead of unilaterally using trade tools to curb its growth in Europe.
BMW Chief Financial Officer Walter Mertl said he did not approve of the EU’s decision, saying the investigation and possible punitive tariffs could “do more harm than good.”
The automaker exports its iX3 EV from its factory in northeast China’s Liaoning province and plans to also export its MINI electric vehicles from around 2024.
Volkswagen plans to export NEVs made at its factory in eastern China’s Anhui province to Europe.
Besides NEV exports, China’s vehicle production and sales also increased in September, CAAM said.
A total of 2.85 million vehicles rolled off the country’s assembly lines last month, an increase of 6.6% year-on-year. Some 2.41 million units were sold to Chinese consumers, up 4.5% year-on-year.
Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of CAAM, said third-quarter results were better than expected, thanks to a series of consumption-boosting policies as well as recent new model launches by automakers.
He said sales momentum is building and will continue into the fourth quarter. CAAM estimated in September that vehicle sales in the country would see an increase of 3% or more this year compared to 2022.
Source: By Li Fusheng | China Daily | Updated: 2023-10-12 07:36