Auto exports back on track after slowdown

Demand for domestic car brands is increasing overseas

Export volumes of China's domestic-brand vehicles increased last year after four years of decreasing sales, according to a recent report by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

CAAM report said that Chinese automakers exported 891,000 vehicles last year, increasing 25.8 percent from 2016. The number included 639,000 passenger cars, up 34 percent year-on-year, and 252,000 commercial vehicles, down 8.9 percent.

Statistics from the association show that the export volumes of domestic automakers kept rising from 2009 to 2012 to a peak of more than 1 million cars. But after that, the number fell for four consecutive years.

The reasons for the increase last year included the improvement of global economic climate, the growing competitiveness of Chinese products and optimized international strategies of Chinese companies, said Xu Haidong, an assistant to the association's secretary-general.

"The 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20) is a time for China's domestic car brands to build their foundation," Xu told China Automotive News. "By improving their product quality and market competence, they will finally be able to enter the auto markets of some advanced regions."

Guangdong-based Chinese car brand Trumpchi, for example, already has a presence in Africa and the Middle East, and announced at the recent North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the United States that it will enter North America next year.

It brought to the auto show its GA4 model and a new energy concept car called Enverge, which was specially designed for the market.

Another domestic brand, SAIC Maxus, delivered 200 electric vans to Germany last October, the first time for Maske Group, the biggest light commercial vehicle rental service provider in the country, to place orders from China.

Cui Shudong, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said the increase last year mainly came from Iran, the US, Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador, noting that North America is a fast-growing market for China's car exports. The area accounted for 12 percent of total export volumes last year, increasing from just 1.9 percent in 2014.

Xu said that thanks to the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese government has offered many preferential policies to boost car exports. Cars exported to countries and regions involved in the initiative accounted for more than 60 percent of total export volumes in the first eight months of last year.

In addition, the economies in countries such as Russia and Brazil are beginning to recover, having suffered from economic downturns in the past few years. This also has helped lead to growing demand for Chinese cars, Xu said.

CAAM is optimistic about the export volume this year, expecting it to hit 1 million units. "Chinese car brands are no longer how they were years ago. Now is the time for them to go overseas and pay more attention to quality," Xu said.

However, Gao Hesheng, deputy director of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, said Chinese automakers' international expansion still faces many challenges, such as a weak economic recovery in emerging markets and rising production costs.

To promote the sustainable development of Chinese car exports, the government should provide further policy and financial support, helping local companies to match overseas governments, Gao said.

"Car financing and insurance, as well as a series of other related businesses, are also important support for overseas development," he added. "Only through multilateral cooperation can Chinese brands have a better performance on the global stage."

zhangzhao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/01/2018 page17)