China overtakes Japan in auto exports with boost from EVs

12 comments

1. Hi all! Emma from Nikkei Asia here.

   I wanted to share this article, but please let me know if reports about Japan’s auto sector aren’t of any interest.

   *China became the world’s largest exporter of automobiles last year for the first time, knocking Japan off its perch thanks to strong overseas sales of electric vehicles.*

   *Japan exported 4.42 million vehicles in 2023, up 16% from the previous year, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said Wednesday. The volume fell short of the 4.91 million vehicles China exported last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the total soaring 58% on the year.*

   *The figures represent the first time in seven years Japan has lost its crown, comparable data shows. Japan was last edged out in 2016 by Germany.*

   *A large driver of China’s auto exports was Russia, a market that Japanese and Western automakers withdrew from in response to the war in Ukraine.*

   *Another significant driver was an 80% surge in China’s exports of new energy vehicles, a category that includes EVs.*

   *Symbolic of this rise is BYD, which outstripped Tesla in global EV sales for the first time ever during the fourth quarter.*

   [The full story can be read here.](https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Automobiles/China-overtakes-Japan-in-auto-exports-with-boost-from-EVs)

2. Well of course, they have been actively harassing foreign makers and smearing them.

3. Well when your cars need to be replaced every year you’re bound to export more of them..  

    Edit: CCP bringing the downvote brigade. I’ve never owned a chinese car but my thai friend tells me it’s not worth it

4. But as we saw with the Chinese property market, they key is whether Chinese automakers are profitable. When subsidies run out and the market is saturated what will happen then?

5. The denial is strong in the comments here. China is following the same path that Japan and Korea did earlier: first compete on price, then dial up the build quality and design.  Plus they’re getting a big boost from focusing on EVs when their competition has their heads in the sand (looking at you, Toyota).

6. I honestly do not believe it, the numbers are skewed there are a number of youtubers who show evidence of china messing with numbers by producing vehicles that just sit out and decay in fields. It is just padding the numbers so why technically cars are made they are not actually sold or used in the end. Thousands upon thousands of ev vehicles sit in abandoned areas to never be used.

7. I would never buy a Chinese car

8. All those wonderful features like spontaneous combustion thanks to the poor quality materials used in their batteries.

9. I am surprisingly OK with this. When it comes to EVs I’d sooner source one from North Korea than purchase a Tesla from Elon Musk..

10. The Chinese cars are cheaper than Korean and Japanese here in Manila

11. I might be tempted by a BYD when I’m looking for a new car. Saw some reviews and it looked really nice. China seems to be at the forefront of EV stuff lately. The uptake of EV cars is huge there.

    I think it will take a few years for more reliability data, but I saw some of the Chinese brands are scoring well these days. Time will tell.

12. Hmm….

    The question is – is the quality levels good enough to justify the price of the Chinese EV cars, I wonder?

    If the Chinese cars only fail on a low enough percentage to overcome its selling price – then Japanese Car makers may indeed be in serious Trouble; But only time can tell at this point, whether the Chinese cars are reliable enough in comparison to its (relatively) cheap prices.