BEIJING, December 15 (TMTPost)— China’s automotive industry is not just developing domestic market but rapidly expanding into export markets, driven by the booming electric vehicle (EV) sector,

Credit：Visual China

China exported 3.32 million vehicles in 2022, with a year-over-year (YoY) growth rate of 57% and battery-electric vehicle exports account for more than one-in-four total exports, data from China's General Administration of Customs stated. The pace shows no signs of slowing year-to-date. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers(CAAM) estimated vehicles sales in local market rose 24.3% YoY to 2.488 million units in November, and export volume that month surged 46.3% to 482,000 vehicles. From January to November, local sales popped 4.7% YoY to 22.526 million units, and exports totaled 4.412 million units with a 58.4% YoY increase.

The auto market seems to maintain the momentum in December and the overall outputs and exports are expected to break their annual records in 2023, better than this year’s forecast, an official at CAAM said at a recent press conference. The official pointed out the auto market remained booming through November, driven by promotion during the Double 11, or Singles’ Day, the most important shopping festival in a year, and other waves of consumption recovery, since the demand for automobiles was further unlocked. The official commented the market continued improving and the improvement was even stronger than expectation that month. He noted new energy vehicles (NEV), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), and car exports are leading force for growth of the whole industry.

CAAM data showcased NEV remained a key driver with an auto market share of 34.5% in November. There are 1.074 million vehicles produced and 1.026 million vehicles sold that month, representing the YoY growth of 39.2% and 30% respectively. Over the past eleven months this year, NEV outputs jumped 34.5% YoY to 8.426 million units and sales gained 36.7% to 8.304 million units, accounting from 30.8% of the market.

Major automakers accelerated their sales last month. From January to November, top ten manufacturers by sales sold 22.983 million in total with a 8.6% YoY growth, which was 3.1 percentage points more than the increase during the first ten months. These automakers made up 85.3% of total sales as of November this year. The eleven months saw NEV makers sold 7.207 million vehicles with a 47.3% increase and a share of 86.8% in the NEV market, 6.2 points up from the same period last year.

Previous forecast from an international credit ratings agency suggests China is on the track to overtake Japan as the world’s top car exporter this year.China made heads turn through the pandemic as it strutted past South Korea in 2021 and Germany in 2022, making it the second-largest car exporter, a Moody’s Analytics report in August said. The report noted China is closing the gap between Japan as the shortfall averaged at around 70,000 vehicles per month in the second quarter, compared to almost 171,000 a year ago. At this pace, Japan will cede the global ranking crown which it has claimed since 2019 to China by the end of 2023, according to the report.