China is the world’s largest automobile producer and exporter. Just a little-known reality is that China first turned the world’s largest automobile exporter again in 2023, with low-cost EV corporations BYD and Chery within the highlight. The nation’s auto sector has been steadily increasing since then, with Chinese language manufacturers reaching an all-time excessive of 69.4% of home passenger car market share in Q1 2025.
The rising reputation of higher-tech, EV automobiles has aided China’s auto sector. BYD overtook Tesla to turn out to be the world’s prime EV firm. BYD truly surpassed Tesla by way of income again in 2018, however the two corporations had tight competitors. As of 2024, BYD exported 4.27 million autos worldwide, in comparison with Tesla’s 1.79 million car gross sales. In 2025, BYD delivered 416,388 BEVs, exceeding Tesla’s 336,681 autos for 2 consecutive quarters. BYD surpassed Tesla in annual income for the primary time in 2024, producing $107 billion (29% YoY enhance) after experiencing a 40% enhance in battery electrical and hybris car gross sales. Tesla posed a slight 0.95% YoY progress in 2024, producing $97.7 billion in income, however auto gross sales accounted for less than $72.5 billion of complete income.
Total, China exported 5.86 million autos in 2024, a 19.3% annual enhance. Mexico, Russia, Brazil, and the UAE have been the highest patrons. China bought 4.96 million passenger vehicles (19.7% YoY enhance), 900,000 industrial autos (17.5% YoY enhance), and 1.28 million new power autos, in addition to 987,000 battery-electric autos.
Japan is the world’s second-largest automobile exporter, exporting 4.22 million autos in 2024. This marked a -4.5% decline from 2023. Toyota stays Japan’s main car, accounting for $312.28 billion in income and 830,048 million autos.
Germany is holding onto third place in auto exports. In 2024, Germany exported 3.4 million passenger automobiles, marking a 2.5% annual enhance. Round 25.9% of all autos exported from Germany final 12 months have been electrical. Volkswagen Group stays Germany’s star, producing $354.86 billion in income for the 12 months.
In February 2025, China’s autos accounted for 27.5% of complete auto gross sales globally. Now, these automobiles usually are not solely cheaper than what different nations like Germany or the US can produce but in addition extra technically superior. Governments have been putting levies in China’s auto sector for the previous few years, as there’s a perception China has an unfair benefit. Chinese language corporations usually are not separate from the federal government.
The CCP has been injecting tons of capital into non-public corporations to broaden quickly and undercut opponents’ costs. These corporations even have diminished danger as they’ve the federal government’s backing. Labor prices are far cheaper in China, and the nation doesn’t must export car components for manufacturing. Total, China has been in a position to quickly infiltrate the worldwide auto markets and turn out to be the worldwide chief.
