China set to double EV shipments in 2023, snatching Japan’s crown as largest exporter globally: analysts
- China’s exports of electric cars are expected to almost double to 1.3 million units in 2023, further boosting its global market share
- Chinese EVs are expected to account for 15 to 16 per cent of the European auto market by 2025, according to forecasts by analysts
China’s electric vehicle (EV) exports are expected to almost double this year, helping the nation overtake Japan as the biggest car exporter worldwide as US rivals like Ford rue their competitive struggles.
They will contribute to a surge in combined exports of petrol and battery-powered vehicles to 4.4 million units from 3.11 million in 2022, the research firm added. Japan’s exports in 2022 totalled 3.5 million units, according to official data.
Aided by their design and manufacturing heft, Chinese EVs are “value for money and high-quality products, and they can beat most of foreign brands,” Canalys said in a report published on Monday. Battery-powered vehicles, which comprise pure electric and plug-in hybrid models, are becoming a major export driver, it added.
Chinese carmakers exported 1.07 million vehicles of all types in the first quarter, surpassing Japan’s shipments of 1.05 million units, according to the China Business Journal. The US is “not quite yet ready” to compete with China in the production of EVs, Ford’s executive chairman Bill Ford Jnr said in a CNN interview on Sunday.
In the past decade, auto firms from established Chinese car makers such as BYD, SAIC Motor and Great Wall Motor to EV start-ups like Xpeng and Nio have developed a variety of battery-powered vehicles to cater for different classes of customers and budgets.