Posted on 19 Jun 2025
China, the world's top automobile manufacturer, posted a 22.2% on-year gain in car exports during May to reach 690,000 units, the latest data from the country's General Administration of Customs (GACC) on June 18 showed.
This brought total exports for the first five months of 2025 to 2.85 million units, up 16.8% from the same period last year, the GACC data indicated.
Last month, China's exports of passenger cars and commercial vehicles stood at 591,220 and 103,311 units respectively, jumping by 20.5% and 32.6% on year. Over January-May, their numbers came in at 2.42 million and 434,044 units, or up 15.2% and 26.4% from the corresponding period in 2024.
For the country's booming new-energy vehicle (NEV) segment, the export volume jumped by 39.8% on year to 1.33 million units during January-May, or accounting for 46.5% of the total car exports. For May alone, 341,837 NEVs were shipped abroad, surging by 49.2% on year.
"Chinese automakers' export performance has been steadily strengthening in recent years. Leading companies such as Chery, SAIC, BYD, Great Wall Motor, and Geely are demonstrating strong momentum, with BYD's export growth particularly remarkable," said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association.
BYD sold 382,000 electric vehicles abroad during January-May this year, skyrocketing by 1.1 times on year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Chery led in export volume with 442,000 units, albeit edging up 1.6% on year, the CAAM data show.
In contrast to the higher exports, China's automobile imports for May and for the past five months both declined on year, with the former falling by 25.5% on year to 50,000 units, and the latter dropping more sharply by 32.8% on year to 180,000 units, according to GACC.
Source:Mysteel Global
