China Surpasses 30 Million Vehicle Production and Sales for the First Time Last Year... "Expecting to Become the World's No.1 Exporter"

China Association of Automobile Manufacturers Announcement
Vehicle Export Volume Reaches 4.91 Million Units... 60% Increase Year-on-Year

China's production and sales of automobiles each surpassed 30 million units for the first time last year, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on the 11th. The export volume also approached 5 million units, making it highly likely that China will overtake Japan to become the world's number one, the media outlet said.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

CCTV cited data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers on the same day, reporting that last year, China's automobile production increased by 11.6% year-on-year to 30.161 million units, and sales rose by 12% to 30.094 million units.

This is the first time that China's annual automobile production and sales have each exceeded 30 million units. China's automobile production and sales surpassed 10 million units each in 2009 and broke through 20 million units in 2013, four years later.

Along with this, China maintained its position as the world's number one in automobile production and sales for the 15th consecutive year. Last year, production and sales of new energy vehicles such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and hydrogen vehicles each exceeded 9 million units for the first time. Production reached 9.587 million units, and sales recorded 9.495 million units, increasing by 35.8% and 37.9% respectively compared to the same period last year.

On a monthly basis, both production and sales exceeded 1 million units for the first time in December last year.

China's automobile exports last year totaled 4.91 million units, a sharp increase of 57.9% compared to the previous year. Among them, exports of new energy vehicles reached 1.203 million units, up 77.6% from the previous year, surpassing 1 million units in annual exports for the first time.

Local Chinese media reported, "It appears highly likely that China overtook Japan last year to become the world's number one automobile exporter." They added, "It took China 55 years to reach 1 million automobile exports (in 2012), but after surpassing 2 million units in 2021, it is rapidly dominating the global market, approaching 5 million units in just two years."