China’s auto exports surged 63.7% in 2023 while domestic sales, boosted by year-end incentives, rose 4.2%, an industry association said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
The surge in exports, to 4.1 million according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, may propel China past Japan as the world’s number one exporter of cars. Japan exported 3.6 million cars in the first 11 months of the year, with a final tally expected on Jan. 31.
Chinese automakers have aggressively expanded exports in search of growth missing at home as China’s economy slows. They have also pushed into electric vehicles as government subsidies transformed China into the world’s largest EV market, even as car sales have stagnated overall.
Auto sales inside China totaled 21.9 million cars last year, down from a peak of about 24 million in 2017.
