BEIJING, July 13 (TMTPost)— Russia maintained the leading export destination for vehicles made in China this year as it imported much more cars than any other China’s trading partner in the first five months.

Credit：Visual China

China’s exports of finished automobile rose 92.8% year-over-year (YoY) to 438,000 vehicles in May, and 68,000 of them exported to Russia, almost twice as many as the second highest Mexico, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (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. Customs data showed Chinese automakers exported 1.933 million vehicles in the first five months, increasing 79.8% from a year ago, and exports of new energy vehicles (NEVs), including the battery electric vehicle (BEV) and the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), totaled 154,000 units, doubling the same period last year. Belgium, U.K. and Thailand were the top three destinations for Chinese NEVs.

In the quarter ended March, China exported 112,000 vehicles to Russia, nearly the same amount it sold there for the whole year of 2022, consultancy AlixPartners estimated in June. China's General Administration of Customs said the country’s total exports that quarter amounted to 1.07 million vehicles with a YoY increase of 58%, overtaking long-time leader Japan, whose exports stood at 954,185, up 6% YoY.

The overwhelming auto imports of Russia highlighted Chinese firms’ quickly response to the exodus of Western companies. Chinese brands are grabbing 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.

While sales of Chinese brands in Europe and U.S. are relatively limited, AlixPartners expected their shipments in those markets to surge 67% by 2026 as BYD and other companies ramped up their overseas expansion. It said Chinese automobile companies could outsell their foreign rivals in homeland market this year, for the first time in over four decades.

CAAM recent data showed robust export growth of domestic carmakers. The fastest-growing export automakers are BYD, Chery Automobile, and Great Wall Motor in the first half of the year, with year-on-year growth of 10.6 times, 1.7 times, and 0.98 times respectively. BYD recorded an elevated growth rate in the first half of 2023 mainly because of base effect. The leading electric vehicle maker exported in small quantity in the first half of 2022 and only started to gain momentum in the second half of the year, according to Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of the CAAM.

Chinese automobile sales increased 9.8% YoY to 13.239 million units in the first half of the year, and 3.747 million units, or about 28.3%, out of them are NEVs. NEV remained a spotlight in auto sector as its sales jumped 44.1% YoY.

According to CAAM, the first six months of the year saw demand gradually recovered and the auto industry achieved higher growth, driven by stimulus policies to boost consumption, marketing activities of automobile enterprises, and a large number of new models on sale in the market. The auto industry body expected potential of consumption to be further unlocked as effect of the stimulus policy continues, and mild recovery of the macro economy in the second half of the year, along with good performance of NEVs and auto exports, will help auto industry achieve a stable growth throughout the year.