According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China’s auto exports in July 2024 were 469,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 19.6% and a month-on-month decrease of 3.2%. Among them, the export of passenger vehicles was 399,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 22.4% and a month-on-month decrease of 1%.
According to data compiled by third-party media, in July 2024, the top ten auto brands in China’s auto export volume were Chery, MG, Geely, Haval, BYD, Tesla, Changan, Kia, Baojun, and Jetour.
Specifically, in July, Chery, MG, and Geely ranked in the top three of the list, with sales of 69,800 units, 32,400 units, and 30,400 units respectively, but all showed month-on-month declines of 7.7%, 0.3%, and 7.4% respectively. In detail, there is a significant sales difference between the Chery brand and the latter two, almost the sum of the sales of the latter two. Of course, this is also related to the layout of the Chery brand. Nowadays, Chery’s export business has become an important source of its overall sales. According to official data from Chery, as of the end of July, the cumulative export sales of the Chery brand during the year increased by 27.4% year-on-year to 622,400 units, accounting for 48.01% of the 1,296,400 units of Chery Group, continuing to hold the first place in China’s auto exports. In 2023, Chery’s export sales increased by 101.1% year-on-year to 937,100 units, accounting for about half of the total sales, and the growth rate also far exceeded the average level of 56% in the industry.
Among the detailed models, in July, four models of the Chery brand, including Tiggo 7, Tiggo 5X, Omoda, and Tiggo 8, all entered the top ten of the export model list, which is the brand with the most listed models. The sales were 18,200 units, 13,200 units, 8,300 units, and 7,700 units respectively. Outside the top ten of the list, Explore 06 entered the fourteenth place of the list, with sales of 7,100 units.
MG and Geely ranked second and third on the list respectively. Among them, MG ZS and MG 3 ranked third and fourth on the list respectively, with sales of 14,000 units and 13,900 units respectively; the Haval brand squeezed into the fourth place on the list, with sales of 30,200 units. The Haval First Love model under it entered the fifth place on the list, with 13,400 units, a month-on-month increase of 15.9%.
BYD ranked fifth, with an export sales volume of 30,000 units in July, a month-on-month increase of 11.2%. However, no models under BYD entered the top ten model list. Song PLUS, Song Pro, and Seagull ranked thirteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth on the list respectively, with export sales of 7,200 units, 6,000 units, and 5,800 units respectively. Among them, Song PLUS decreased by 11.2% month-on-month. Tesla followed BYD, with an export sales volume of 27,900 units in July, a month-on-month increase of 137.4%, which was the brand with the highest increase in the list. It was mainly due to its Model 3. The export sales volume in July skyrocketed by 155.9% month-on-month to 22,800 units, ranking first on the July export model list. By contrast, the export sales of Model 3 and Model Y in June were 8,905 units respectively. However, Model Y failed to enter the top twenty model list.
In addition, the four brands of Changan, Kia, Baojun, and Jetour all entered the top ten of the list, with export sales of 17,700 units, 15,800 units, 13,300 units, and 12,600 units respectively. Among them, Kia increased by 10.5% month-on-month, while the other three brands all declined month-on-month, by 8.3%, 1.2%, and 17.5% respectively.
Outside the top ten of the list, JAC Motors, Roewe, Polestar, Exeed, and Buick ranked eleventh to fifteenth on the list respectively, with export sales of 12,000 units, 9,600 units, 6,800 units, 6,400 units, and 5,700 units respectively. Among them, Buick decreased by 17.4% month-on-month, while the other four brands all increased month-on-month. While GAC Trumpchi, Lincoln, Volvo, Tank, and Wuling entered the sixteenth to twentieth places on the list, with export sales of 5,100 units, 4,700 units, 4,500 units, 3,700 units, and 3,000 units respectively.
Overall, the export performance of major brands in July was mixed, among which Tesla performed relatively well. Looking at the period from January to July this year, the data shows that from January to July 2024, China’s auto exports were 3.262 million units, a year-on-year increase of 28.8%, among which the export of passenger vehicles was 2.738 million units, a year-on-year increase of 30.1%. From the perspective of the overall market, the sales of domestic export vehicles continued to maintain high growth in the first seven months of this year, which also indicates that the competitiveness of Chinese automobiles in the international market has been recognized.
For Chinese auto companies, going overseas is the inevitable way to become stronger, and the exports of Chinese independent brands have become increasingly advantageous. Data shows that China’s total auto export volume was 2.02 million units in 2021, and it climbed to 4.91 million units in 2023, surpassing Germany and Japan to become the world’s largest auto exporter.
With the increasingly fierce competition in the domestic market, more and more Chinese auto companies are going abroad. Brands including Great Wall, BYD, Changan, SAIC, and Chery have all begun to invest and build factories in overseas markets. Take BYD as an example. At present, the overseas market is becoming its new growth engine. It is reported that BYD will launch more models to accelerate going overseas this year, and the annual export volume may be 500,000 units. Industry insiders believe that more auto companies will join the ranks of going overseas in the future, and more domestic cars will go global by then.
It is worth noting that although domestic auto export volumes have grown rapidly in the past two years, and the export of Chinese new energy vehicles has continued to strengthen as a result, at the same time, some problems are also faced. On August 20, the European Commission adjusted the tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Among them, BYD, Geely Automobile, and SAIC Group will be levied additional tariffs of 17.0%, 19.3%, and 36.3% respectively, other cooperative companies will be levied 21.3%, and other non-cooperative companies will be levied 36.3%. Tesla, as a Chinese exporter, implements a separate tariff rate, which is currently only 9%. Compared with the previously announced tax rates, BYD was lowered by 0.4%; Geely was lowered by 0.7%; SAIC Group increased by 1.8%; the tax rates of the other 17 companies cooperating with the EU investigation also increased from 20.8% to 21.3%; while Tesla enjoys a separate special countervailing tax rate of 9%.
Industry insiders believe that if the EU implements high tariffs, it will undoubtedly pose a challenge to the export of Chinese electric vehicles in the short term, which will not only increase export costs but also weaken the price competitiveness.
