"BYD Closes In on 23-Year Chinese Export Leader, Overtaking Even Internal Combustion Giants"

BYD Halted Internal Combustion Engine Production in 2022
Narrowing the Gap with Chery Relying Only on Eco-friendly Vehicles
A Clear Signal of Rapid Transition from Internal Combustion to Electric Cars

The long reign of Chery, which has maintained the number one position in China's automobile export market for 23 consecutive years, is now being challenged. BYD, a company that produces only eco-friendly vehicles, has nearly caught up to Chery, which leads in internal combustion engine vehicles, in the total number of passenger cars exported.

According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on September 11, Chery ranked first in the total number of Chinese passenger cars exported last month, exporting 193,069 units. Its market share stood at 21.8%.

BYD, in second place, exported 183,746 passenger cars last month, representing a 130.8% year-on-year surge and capturing a 20.7% share. The gap with Chery, the top exporter, has narrowed to just 9,323 units (a difference of 1.1 percentage points). Considering that the gap between the two companies' market shares stood at 2.8 percentage points in July, the difference has now more than halved in just one month.

This development carries significant implications for the landscape of Chinese automobile exports. From 2003 up to last year, Chery held the top spot in the export of Chinese-brand passenger cars for 23 straight years, without yielding it even once. Chery cemented its throne by supplying large volumes of gasoline SUVs, such as the 'Tiggo' series, with strong price competitiveness to emerging markets including Russia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

In contrast, BYD completely ceased production of pure internal combustion engine cars in 2022. Now, BYD—without a single internal combustion model in its lineup—is threatening Chery's export dominance, even when Chery's numbers include internal combustion engine vehicle sales.

BYD's growth rate is also remarkable. Last year, BYD exported more than 1 million vehicles annually for the first time, recording 1,046,083 units. At that point, the gap with top-ranked Chery (1,344,020 units) was about 300,000 units. However, with BYD's accelerated overseas expansion this year, its cumulative exports from January to August have already reached 1,126,797 units. In just eight months, BYD has surpassed last year's total annual export figure, and the gap with Chery has narrowed to about 200,000 units.

Industry insiders interpret this as a clear sign that China's automobile export focus has undergone a full generational shift, from internal combustion vehicles to eco-friendly electric models.

An industry official commented, "In fact, all 10 of the top retail passenger car models in China last month were eco-friendly vehicles," adding, "High oil prices are accelerating the transition from internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.