China surpassed Japan to become the world’s largest vehicle exporting country in the first half of this year, according to data from trade groups of the two countries.
The latest tally of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association shows Japan’s vehicle exports rose 17 percent year on year to 2.02 million in the first six months.
By contrast, automakers in China shipped 2.34 million vehicles overseas in the period, a jump of 77 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
For the same period, the value of China’s vehicle exports spiked 110 percent to $46.4 billion, CAAM said this month, drawing on customs data.
China’s vehicle-export surge was driven by overseas demand for electrified vehicles including full electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
In the first half, exports of electrified vehicles from China soared 160 percent to some 534,000, CAAM said last month.
In 2022, with vehicle exports surging 54 percent year on year to 3.1 million, China eclipsed Germany as the world’s second largest vehicle exporting country.
