South Korean media: "Chinese electric vehicles are an inevitable trend" and are advancing at full speed!

On June 5, the South Korean media "Seoul Economic Daily" published an article stating that although the position of the world's most populous country has been taken over by India, China is still the world's largest automobile consumer market. China accounted for one-third of global car sales in the first quarter this year.

In particular, car sales in the first four months of this year exceeded 10 million units for the first time, and the Chinese market also continued to grow this year.

Last July, the penetration rate of Chinese electric vehicles in passenger cars broke through 50%, and electrification has become an inevitable trend. Moreover, with "trade-in" policies, electrification is accelerating. In addition, as local brands such as BYD continue to increase their shares under the promotion of electrification, the positions of global auto giants like Volkswagen and Toyota are shrinking.

China's ambition to lead the electric vehicle industry with the world's largest automobile consumer market seems to be becoming a reality.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, car sales in China reached 10.06 million units in the first four months of this year, an increase of 10.8% year-on-year. In particular, sales in the first four months broke through 10 million units for the first time. Last year, China's automobile market sales reached 31.43 million units, setting a new record, and continued to maintain growth momentum this year.

During the same period, sales of electric vehicles reached 4.3 million units, an increase of 46.2% year-on-year, with electric vehicles accounting for 42.7% of total sales, making them mainstream. Car sales in China include commercial vehicles and passenger cars, as well as overseas exports. Sales of Chinese electric vehicles surged from 1.367 million in 2020 to 12.86 million in 2024, more than nine times higher, and last year the proportion of electric vehicles exceeded 40%.

The proportion of electric vehicles in passenger cars is even higher. In July last year, the sales share of electric vehicles in China's passenger car market reached 51.1%, exceeding internal combustion engines for the first time, and the share of electric vehicles has consistently exceeded 50% since then.

In particular, with leading domestic brands such as BYD, Geely Auto, XPeng, and Li Auto driving electrification, the localization of the Chinese automobile market is accelerating. From January to April this year, domestic brands in the Chinese passenger car market continued to grow, with sales reaching 5.94 million units, up 27.4% year-on-year. The market share of domestic brands was 68.7%, an increase of 8.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

In the late 2010s, the market share of domestic brands remained around 40%, but it has risen to around 70% with the acceleration of the electrification transformation. On the other hand, the shares of global auto giants like Volkswagen, Toyota, and General Motors have been continuously declining. In the early stages of the development of the automotive industry, China required foreign auto companies like Volkswagen to enter the market through joint ventures with Chinese auto companies, with a maximum shareholding ratio of 50%. Previously, joint brands almost dominated the Chinese automobile market, but the trend of electrification transformation reversed this situation.

The share of German brands dropped from over 20% to 13.2%, Japanese brands were only 9.4%, and American brands were only 5.8%. Hyundai and Kia accounted for 1.7%, and European brands like France accounted for 1.2%.

Data from the China Passenger Vehicle Market Information Joint Conference showed that in April, domestic brand electric vehicles accounted for 72.8% of passenger vehicle sales.

This year from January to April, China's automobile exports increased by 6% year-on-year to reach 1.94 million units. In 2023, China exported 4.91 million units, surpassing Japan (4.42 million) for the first time to become the world's top automobile exporter. Last year, exports reached 5.86 million units, far exceeding Japan.

The growth of electric vehicle exports this year is particularly noteworthy. From January to April, exports of electric vehicles reached 640,000 units, up 52.6% year-on-year. This means that electric vehicle exports offset the 7.9% decline in internal combustion engine vehicle exports, driving overall export growth this year.

From January to April this year, the top five automobile exporting enterprises in China were Chery Automobile (341,000 units), BYD (293,000 units), SAIC Motor (271,000 units), Changan Automobile (202,000 units), and Geely Automobile (140,000 units). Except for SAIC Motor, private enterprises led the way.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1834092843920458/

Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.