Inventory of China's vehicle exports in the first half of 2024: Chery sold the most, and BYD grew the fastest

The latest statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (hereinafter referred to as CAAM) show that in June, my country exported 485,000 vehicles, a month-on-month increase of 0.7% and a year-on-year increase of 26.9%. Among them, passenger car exports were 403,000, a month-on-month increase of 1.4% and a year-on-year increase of 29.1%; commercial vehicle exports were 82,000, a month-on-month decrease of 2.5% and a year-on-year increase of 16.9%.

From January to June this year, my country exported 2.793 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%. Passenger car exports were 2.339 million, a year-on-year increase of 31.5%; commercial vehicle exports were 454,000, a year-on-year increase of 25.7%.

Overall, in the first half of this year, my country's vehicle exports have maintained an upward growth trend in terms of both total volume and month-on-month and year-on-year growth indexes.

Chery surpasses SAIC, and the top spot in overseas exports changes hands

From the perspective of vehicle manufacturers, in the first half of this year, the overseas export performance of several key vehicle manufacturers was particularly eye-catching.

The first is the position swap between Chery and SAIC.

In 2023, SAIC Motor (600104) exported 483,000 vehicles, ranking first among all domestic brands. During the same period, Chery's vehicle exports were 394,000, ranking second among all domestic brands.

A more obvious contrast is that compared with the same period in 2023, Chery's overseas exports in the first half of this year increased by 10.14%, while SAIC's exports declined by 9.1%, making it the only domestic auto company that declined among the top 10 domestic auto companies in vehicle exports.

BYD's exports increased by 160% year-on-year, and new energy overseas growth potential is huge

It is also worth mentioning that in the first half of this year, BYD (002594), the "king" of domestic new energy sales, ranked fifth with 207,000 vehicles exported.

This is mainly because, due to the differences in the acceptance of automobile power types in overseas markets, my country's automobile exports are still dominated by traditional fuel vehicles at this stage.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in June this year, my country exported 399,000 traditional fuel vehicles, a month-on-month increase of 4.2 and a year-on-year increase of 31.1%; in the first half of this year, traditional fuel vehicles were exported 2.188 million, a year-on-year increase of 36.2%.

In comparison, in June this year, my country exported 86,000 new energy (600617) vehicles, a month-on-month decrease of 13.2% and a year-on-year increase of 10.3%; in the first half of this year, new energy vehicles were exported 605,000, a year-on-year increase of 13.2%.

However, it should be added that BYD's overseas exports of complete vehicles have the largest growth rate among many automakers.

In terms of year-on-year growth, BYD's exports increased by 160% in the first half of this year; Great Wall Motors (601633) increased by 62.6%; Changan Automobile (000625) increased by 60.4%.

For this reason, many investment institutions in the industry are optimistic about the huge growth potential of BYD's overseas exports of complete vehicles.

Data provided to industry media by Li Yanwei, an expert member of the Expert Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, showed that BYD exported 203,000 new energy vehicles in the first half of this year, while Chery and MG exported 14,000 and 39,000 new energy vehicles respectively.

In addition, Changan Automobile ranked third with 285,000 vehicles exported overseas; Geely ranked fourth with 242,000 vehicles exported overseas; Great Wall Motors ranked sixth with 202,000 vehicles exported; Tesla ranked seventh with 148,000 vehicles exported; JAC ranked eighth with 120,000 vehicles exported; BAIC ranked ninth with 117,000 vehicles exported, and Dongfeng ranked tenth with 112,000 vehicles exported.

Europe - an important "hinterland" for new energy exports, with both opportunities and challenges

According to the data of the General Administration of Customs compiled by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from the perspective of China's vehicle export destinations, from January to May this year, among the top ten countries in my country's automobile export volume, Russia, Mexico and Belgium ranked in the top three in terms of export volume. During the same period, the top three overseas markets for new energy vehicle exports were: Brazil, Belgium and the United Kingdom.

Focusing on the top three overseas markets for new energy vehicle exports, European countries account for two-thirds of them.

In recent years, Europe has introduced a series of tightened tariff policies against my country's automobile industry, which has had a certain degree of adverse impact on my country's automobile exports.

Take SAIC as an example. On July 4, the European Commission announced that it would begin to implement temporary anti-subsidy duties on pure electric vehicles imported from China. Among them, SAIC's additional tax rate is as high as 37.6%. Combined with the EU's existing 10% automobile import tariff rate, this means that SAIC's total tariff for entering the EU market will reach 47.6%.

In the 2023 overseas report released by SAIC, its sales in the European market last year reached 330,000 vehicles. During the same period, SAIC MG sold more than 230,000 vehicles in the European market, accounting for 70% of the total sales of Chinese brands in Europe and 20% of its total exports (over 1.2 million vehicles).

At present, SAIC has asked the European Commission to hold a hearing on the tariff issue, but perhaps the tariff threshold will still cause trouble for SAIC's European sales in the short term.

In order to cope with the tariff "thresholds" of overseas countries, most Chinese automakers have taken measures to build factories overseas.

For example, in April this year, Chery acquired the former Nissan Motor factory in Barcelona, Spain, and is expected to start producing electric vehicles at the factory by the end of this year. At the same time, it is considering building a second factory to support Chery's medium- and long-term plans in Europe.

BYD has currently invested in and built factories in many overseas regions such as Brazil, Hungary, and Thailand, and its new energy vehicle footprint has spread to more than 400 cities in 88 countries and regions.

Information source: Hexun.com