BEIJING, July 25 (TMTPost)— Recent data showed Russia remained leader in importing vehicles from China so far this year, highlighting ongoing momentum of Chinese automakers’ filling vacuum since the Russia-Ukraine war.

Credit：Visual China

China exported 370,000 vehicles to Russia in the first half of the year, representing a 622% year-over-year (YoY) increase, and the sharp increase in exports of duty trucks and tractors has made a hug contribution to Russia, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), in his report earlier this week.

China’s auto exports totaled 2.34 million vehicles from January to June with a 73% YoY growth, accelerating from a year earlier that recorded yearly increase of 39%, according to Cui’s report. Cui commented that export growth remained robust compared with the gradual recovery of domestic sales. He believed auto exports were mainly driven by improvement in competitiveness of Chinese auto brands, breakthroughs in the European and American markets, as well as Chinese brands’ complete replacement of the international brands in Russian market. While these three main drivers are the same as the previous months, Cui noted exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including the battery electric vehicle (BEV) and the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), acted as a significant impetus in export growth as Chinese NEV makers has become more competitive in overseas markets.

Cui noted that China’s auto industry made a major breakthrough in exports to developed European markets from 2021 to 2022, with NEV as the core growth engine. Since then the landscape of auto exports that heavily relied on developing countries’ imports has been changed. There were 1.12 million NEVs exported last year, more than doubling the year 2021 that saw exports of 590,000 units. Chinese companies and automobile manufactures based in China exported 800,000 NEVs in the first half of the year, jumping 105% YoY, and 770,000 units of them are new energy passenger cars, up 113% YoY.       

The major export destinations of NEVs are Western Europe and Southeast Asia, Cui said. While European countries including Belgium, Spain, Slovenia and the United Kingdom have become the leading import destinations in the past two years, NEV imports from Thailand and other Southeast Asian counties strengthened this year. In terms of overall auto export volume, Russia, Mexico, Belgium, Australia and U.K. are main markets for finished vehicle exports this year, especially the first two countries. Cui added that China’s largest carmaker SAIC Motor and the top EV manufacturer BYD Co., Ltd are two powerhouses for exports.

Chinese brands quickly grabbed market shares after major automakers in the West pulled out of Russia as economic sanctions were imposed following the Russia-Ukraine war initiated in February, 2022. Earlier this month, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) also released data which demonstrate Russia is still the leading export destination for vehicles made in China.

China’s exports of finished automobile rose 92.8% YoY to 438,000 vehicles in May, and 68,000 of them exported to Russia, almost twice as many as the second highest Mexico, CAAM cited customs data. Mexico, as the last year’s No.1 export destination, received 42,000 cars in May, and Belgium took the third place that month with imports of 32,000 units. Russia also ranked No.1 from January to May by exports with a total volume of 287,000 vehicles. Mexico and Belgium imported 159,000 units and 120,000, respectively.

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