China’s passenger car exports surged in April as automakers leaned harder on overseas markets, even as sales at home continued to slide for a sixth straight month, according to an industry group. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said exports of passenger cars last month jumped almost 85% from a year earlier to about 796,000 vehicles, up from about 748,000 exported in March. The export boom was particularly strong in the new-energy segment, which includes battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, the group said.
Among the April totals, the CAAM said exports of new energy passenger vehicles jumped more than 120% from the year before to about 420,000 units. At home, however, CAAM data showed passenger car sales fell 25.5% year-on-year in April to 1.3 million vehicles, extending a prolonged period of weaker demand.
Auto analysts pointed to government policy changes and softer economic conditions as part of the reason domestic buyers have held back. The report said demand weakened due to dialed-back government support this year for drivers to switch to new energy vehicles, and also because China’s uncertain economic outlook has been shaped by a prolonged downturn in the property sector.
Competition among Chinese automakers has remained intense despite the domestic slowdown. At the Beijing auto show in April, more than 1,450 vehicles were showcased as companies displayed new models and technologies, ranging from AI-infused cars to advanced ultrafast-charging battery systems.
Some analysts expect conditions inside China’s car market to improve later this year as more models come to market and as consumers adjust to subsidy changes. Yichao Zhang, an automotive practice partner at consultancy AlixPartners, said more new models would likely lift momentum, and added that “More Chinese consumers will also probably start buying new cars again as they increasingly adjust to the government subsidy changes this year.”
Overseas, the report said Chinese brands including BYD and Geely Auto have made inroads while expanding capacity abroad. In addition to export growth, some automakers have built production facilities in regions such as Europe and Latin America, the report said.
The wider energy-price environment could also help support global demand for EVs. As the war in Iran drives up petrol prices, the report said there were expectations that more drivers globally would switch to EVs, citing federal data for Australia that showed one in six new vehicles sold in April were electric vehicles, with BYD the second-highest-selling brand behind Toyota. Claire Yuan, an auto analyst at S&P Global Ratings, said elevated fuel prices would “incentivize consumers to buy EVs and this will benefit Chinese EV exports.”
Still, trade barriers and negotiations remain part of the outlook for exporters. The report said China has made progress in talks with the European Union and Canada over their imports of Chinese EVs, while some industry figures are watching potential talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping later this week during the American leader’s visit to Beijing.
The report also described pushback from the United States against Chinese automakers’ access to the American market, saying Chinese EVs became virtually blocked from entering the United States after a 100% tariff was imposed in 2024 by former President Joe Biden’s administration.