Auto exports from China have surged this year as domestic automakers look to establish themselves beyond their home market.
Through September, a total of 2.2 million passenger cars, trucks, buses and other vehicles were exported from China. That is up 54 percent from the same period last year and already more than double the average from 2012 through 2020.
Electric vehicles are the biggest contributor to the surge, with 342,000 passenger EVs exported in the first three quarters of the year.
That is 29 percent of all vehicle exports in this segment and a big increase from 2019, when EVs accounted for just 2 percent of exports.
There are several factors driving China’s EV export growth. Its dominance of EV battery and materials supplies has allowed domestic auto markets to ramp up production.
Western automakers are using the country’s lower production costs and established supply chain to churn out EVs for customers around the globe as inter…