China's Auto Exports in 2025: Total Growth, Impressive New Energy Vehicle Performance and Diverse Markets

The top 10 countries in terms of China's total auto exports in May 2025: Mexico with 51,927 units, the United Arab Emirates with 50,493 units, Brazil with 47,454 units, Australia with 33,290 units, Belgium with 31,118 units, the United Kingdom with 29,393 units, Saudi Arabia with 27,579 units, the Philippines with 26,944 units, Russia with 21,925 units, and Kazakhstan with 17,788 units. Among them, the top five countries with increased increments compared to the same period this period are: The United Arab Emirates had 21,625 units, Australia 18,237 units, the Philippines 16,181 units, Kazakhstan 11,052 units, and Mexico 9,371 units.

The top 10 countries in terms of cumulative total vehicle exports by 2025: Mexico 239,709 units, the United Arab Emirates 189,547 units, Russia 153,664 units, Brazil 140,993 units, Belgium 125,110 units, Australia 124,196 units, Saudi Arabia 119,564 units, the United Kingdom 107,634 units, the Philippines 97,689 units, Turkey 70,929 units Among them, the top five countries with increased increments compared to the same period this period are: the United Arab Emirates with 74,046 units, Mexico with 47,595 units, Australia with 42,561 units, the Philippines with 32,681 units, and Kazakhstan with 31,622 units. The Middle East market will become the core market for growth in 2025.

In May 2025, China's exports of new energy vehicles reached 296,000 units, an increase of 43%, accounting for 43% of total vehicle exports. This is a 7 percentage point increase from the proportion of new energy vehicle exports in May 2024. From January to May 2025, the export volume of new energy vehicles reached 1.16 million units, increasing by 33% year-on-year. The growth rate was significantly higher than the 29% growth rate in the same period of 2024, accounting for 41% of the total vehicle exports, an increase of 5 percentage points compared to the proportion of new energy vehicle exports in the same period of 2024.

The top 10 countries in terms of China's total export volume of new energy vehicles in May 2025: Brazil 35,478 units, Belgium 30,405 units, the Philippines 21,517 units, the United Kingdom 21,456 units, Mexico 14,587 units, Australia 14,250 units, Turkey 11,341 units, South Korea 10,436 units, India 10,334 units, and Spain 8,751 units. Among them, the top five units with increased increments compared to the same period this period are: 14,506 units in the Philippines, 8,143 units in Turkey, 6,181 units in Spain, 6,151 units in Australia, and 5,899 units in Mexico.

The top 10 countries in terms of China's total export volume of new energy vehicles from January to May 2025: Belgium with 119,678 units, Brazil with 105,513 units, Mexico with 84,862 units, the Philippines with 73,295 units, the United Kingdom with 72,725 units, Australia with 56,637 units, Turkey with 54,260 units, Thailand with 52,347 units, the United Arab Emirates with 37,723 units, and India with 37,377 units. Among them, the top five countries with increased increments compared to the same period this period are: Mexico 55,485 units, Turkey 43,222 units, the Philippines 28,170 units, Indonesia 17,493 units, Australia 17,299 units.

In 2025, exports to Southeast Asian countries such as Belgium, Mexico, Brazil and Thailand will be the main destinations. Recently, exports to markets such as Brazil, the vicinity of Russia, and Canada have been weak. The markets of Turkey, Israel, India and Malaysia performed relatively strongly.

China's export performance of new energy vehicles from January to May 2025 was better than expected. This was mainly due to the fact that plug-in hybrids and hybrid vehicles replaced pure electric ones as new growth points for exports. In particular, the export performance of plug-in hybrid pickup trucks was strong, becoming a highlight in the export of new energy commercial vehicles. China's new energy vehicle exports to the Middle East and developed countries' markets are showing a high-quality development trend, mainly to Western Europe and Asia. The decline in the Russian fuel vehicle market is quite obvious, while the retail volume in the Russian market has dropped relatively little. Among them, major Chinese automakers such as Geely (00175), Changan, Chery, and BYD (002594.SZ) have performed quite well.