China's exports of electric vehicles doubled in September as competition at home intensifies

Key Points

• China's electric vehicle exports doubled in September to 222,000 units compared to the same month last year, despite a slight decline from August's figures.
• Domestic passenger car sales rose by 11.2% year-on-year in September but dropped from a 15% increase in August, indicating a slowdown in the market.
• Due to reduced profit margins from increasing domestic competition and price wars, Chinese automakers are increasingly targeting international markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia.
• BYD, a major player in the Chinese EV market, reported a 880% surge in sales in the UK, making it its largest market outside China.

HONG KONG (AP) — China’s exports of electric vehicles doubled in September from a year earlier as its automakers expanded their reach into overseas markets.

Domestic passenger car sales climbed 11.2% year-on-year in last month down from a 15% rise in August, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday.

Exports of “new energy vehicles,” including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, jumped 100% to 222,000 units in September, the industry organization said. That was slightly lower than the 224,000 units exported in August.

China’s EV makers have been increasingly looking abroad to markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia as overcapacity and price wars back home have pressured their profit margins. They invested more abroad than inside China last year, for the first time since 2014, the U.S.-based consultancy Rhodium Group said in a recent report.

BYD -– one of China’s largest EV makers -– said this month that the United Kingdom has become its largest market outside China. Its sales there rocketed 880% year-on-year in September.

Chinese automakers increasingly are expanding investments in the Middle East and Africa after the European Union, U.S., Canada and other countries imposed stiff tariffs on Chinese-made EVs.

In China, manufacturers have been cracking down on price wars that have raged due to fierce competition.

BYD’s monthly domestic sales fell in September for the first time since February 2024, down 5.5% from the same month a year earlier, while some of its rivals still recorded strong growth in sales.

September is a traditional peak period for auto sales in China, with carmakers launching various new models in a month dubbed “Golden September.”

Subsidies for trade-ins for new energy vehicles have helped lift domestic demand and sentiment, though some local governments have suspended such payments in recent months.