In which countries are Chinese cars selling the hottest? The first place turned out to be it

Economic Observer Network reporter Pu Zhenyu China's hottest overseas country for automobile sales, do you know where it is? It is neither on China's doorstep nor in any populous country, but in a southern hemisphere country that is 20,000 kilometers away from China and has a population of only 20 million.

Recently, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers compiled the general administration of customs data show that in 2021, China's top ten countries in terms of vehicle export volume are Chile, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Belgium, Australia, Mexico, Egypt, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom and the Philippines, covering Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, Oceania and South America.

It is these ten countries that support the explosive growth of China's automobile exports in 2021. In 2021, China exported 2.015 million vehicles, doubling year-on-year. Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and secretary general of the China Automobile Association, stressed: "For the first time, the export of mainland automobiles exceeded 2 million vehicles, achieving a breakthrough of about 1 million vehicles that has been hovering around 1 million for many years. ”

As the number one export destination, Chile stood in the "C position" of China's automobile export stage for the first time in 2021. What is the magic of the world's narrowest country that attracts the most cars exported by Chinese car companies? In China's auto export map, in addition to Chile, what are the remaining nine countries that have not changed for many years, and which are the "new friends" who have just arrived?

Taking advantage of the epidemic and chip shortage?

In 2008-2020, when publicly available data is available, Chile has never topped the list of countries with China's automobile export volume. However, the South American country's presence on the list over the past decade has not been weak, with the worst ranking being sixth and the best being third.

"Chile is a country with no threshold, no tariffs, basically any brand can enter, and the competition is quite fierce." As the head of SAIC's export business, Yu De, general manager of SAIC International, recently commented on Chile's automobile market.

Yu De's words are believed to be the voice of many Chinese car companies. As early as 2006, with the signing of a free trade agreement between China and Chile, Chinese automobiles and other products began to enter Chile with zero tariffs. Zero tariffs mean that, in addition to logistics costs that may be higher, Chinese car companies sell cars to Chile at the same low cost as they do domestically.

Moreover, Chile's natural environment is very special, its land length is about 4352 kilometers from north to south, equivalent to the distance from China's Heilongjiang River to the Paracel Islands, the east-west width is only about 180 kilometers, equivalent to the distance from Shanghai to Hangzhou, coupled with the very diverse terrain of Chile, chilean consumers are very much in need of cars, which is a highly adaptable means of transportation.

Such a big cheap and opportunity, but any Chinese car company with a little strength or ambition will not let go. In 2019, the number of Chinese car brands in Chile reached 26 at one point. At present, in addition to a few brands such as Zotye and Lifan, which are heading for bankruptcy and restructuring, there are still more than 20 Chinese brands exporting cars to Chile.

But then again, zero tariffs and strong market demand have been there for more than a decade, so why did Chile only rise to the top in 2021?

"At present, there is a lack of cores, and the developed countries do not have something to export, so we have taken advantage of an epidemic and obtained a huge increase [of exports to Chile]." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, told the Economic Observer Network reporter.

Cui Dongshu's logic is easy to understand. Chile also has a low bar for cars from other countries. This has led to fierce competition in the Chilean market, and if Chinese car companies want to increase exports, they must grab "meat" from the mouths of car companies in other countries. With the impact of the epidemic and the lack of cores, the production capacity of many car companies in other countries has been seriously weakened, which naturally gives Chinese car companies more opportunities to export to Chile.

Specific to enterprises, as the largest car company in China's automobile export scale, SAIC's export volume growth in 2021 is quite due to the Chilean market. Among them, SAIC Maxus's annual sales in chile exceeded 30,000 vehicles, driving South America to become one of the four major markets of SAIC Maxus; SAIC MG's sales in Chile also increased by 86% in 2021.

Not only SAIC, chery Automobile has ranked first in the local SUV market in Chile for 8 consecutive months in 2021, with a market share of 7.5%, continuing to increase year-on-year; in the Chilean car sales ranking in November 2021, Changan Automobile has also successfully ranked fourth, surpassing Toyota and Hyundai.

Faith is often not only a spiritual force, but also a real money. International relations often directly affect the layout and revenue of Chinese car companies in overseas markets. Recently, Yu De, general manager of SAIC International, said that SAIC motor is planning a new overseas base, but the specific plan still depends on changes in local politics, "with the development of the epidemic, different national policies have changed, and the rules of international trade between countries are also changing, and we have been paying close attention to these things."

Cui Dongshu believes that the continuous improvement of relations between China and Chile has given Chinese car companies more adequate market confidence. And the two countries have begun to settle in rmb, the two sides have strengthened exchanges, China has imported a large number of mineral products to Chile, and Chile has imported cars and other products from China, which is another positive factor for China's automobile exports to Chile in 2021.

However, the fiery exports of Chinese automobiles to Chile in 2021 are still not enough to rely on the confidence of Chinese car companies. After all, to achieve the sale of automobile exports, not only the seller needs to have sufficient production capacity, but also the buyer needs to have no money in his pocket, have sufficient consumption ability and willingness to consume.

Yan Jinghui, an analyst in the automotive industry, said that among China's auto export destinations, Chile is one of the countries with the best economic recovery in 2021, and the market demand has recovered relatively well, which is also a positive factor for China's auto exports to the country.

In 2021, in order to stimulate domestic consumption, the Chilean government has frequent policies, not only issuing inclusive financial assistance such as "household emergency income", but also allowing citizens to withdraw pension account balances in advance, releasing a large amount of liquidity to the market. Chile's economic activity index grew by 10.2% in 2021, according to central bank data. According to this calculation, Chile's GDP growth will reach about 12% in 2021.

Saudi Arabia and Russia return to the front row

Saudi Arabia, the "oil kingdom", is one of the richest resource-based countries in the world. As the second country in China's automobile export volume in 2021, Saudi Arabia has soared in the ranking in the past few years, ranking thirteenth, fifth and first in 2016, 2019 and 2020 respectively.

In Cui Dongshu's view, the West Asia region where Saudi Arabia is located has always been an important destination for Chinese automobile exports, especially Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are in great need of overseas auto products. In the years before 2020, the decline in Saudi Arabia's ranking was mainly affected by many political and economic factors, and it was normal for its ranking to return to the front row in the past two years.

The reporter noted that among the Chinese car companies INC, Chery, Changan and Dongfeng, which ranked first in terms of export volume, Saudi Arabia or the Middle East market (most of which are located in West Asia) were listed as overseas key markets.

According to the data, Changan Automobile sold nearly 20,000 vehicles in Saudi Arabia in 2020, and the export volume from January to October 2021 increased by 81% year-on-year, ranking first in the export volume of Chinese brands; the Middle East market is the second largest market for SAIC MG, with sales of 41,000 vehicles in 2021, an increase of 49% year-on-year; the Middle East market is also one of the four major markets of SAIC Maxus.

Russia, which ranks third this time, is also an "old partner" in China's automobile export map, like Saudi Arabia. From 2008 to 2014, Russia has been ranked in the top four of China's automobile export volume list, but the ranking has dropped slightly from 2016 to 2019, and it is only tenth in 2019.

In 2021, the Russian auto market ushered in a rebound recovery, reliable quality, affordable prices, stable supply of Chinese-made cars are favored, Haval, Chery, Geely Automobile in Russia sales increased by 125%, 224% and 59% respectively, of which Chery market share accounted for the first place in Chinese brands, Haval ranked among the top ten monthly sales of Russian cars for several consecutive months.

In addition to Saudi Arabia and Russia, the "old partners" in the top ten list also include the Philippines and Egypt, of which the ASEAN, where the Philippines is located, signed a free trade agreement with China in 2010. The Philippine government has also been welcoming chinese cars into the country, and in 2018, Philippine President Duterte also made a special welcome speech for GAC to enter the Philippine market.

"After the epidemic is over, you have the opportunity to travel to Singapore, and you can see that many taxis in the streets of Singapore are MG." From Yu De's recent remarks, it is not difficult to see that Chinese car companies have strong confidence in the development of the ASEAN market.

As one of the countries with the best economic situation in Africa, Egypt has a population of nearly 100 million, but in 2018, the number of cars per 1000 people was only 24 (170 in China), and the market potential is huge. In addition, Egypt has signed a number of trade preferential agreements with Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan, and Chinese car companies use Egypt as a base to produce and sell cars, which can radiate to the Middle East, Africa and even Europe.

Belgium, Australia "newcomer"

Among the top ten countries in China's automobile export volume in 2021, the country with the largest change in ranking is Belgium. In 2008-2020, Belgium has never been in the top fifteen at one time, but in 2021 it jumped to fourth in one go.

According to another list, the surge in Belgium's rankings is closely related to new energy vehicles. In 2021, China's export volume of new energy vehicles ranked in the top ten countries, Belgium ranked first, and China exported more than 100,000 new energy vehicles to it.

Cui Dongshu said that according to the statistics of the Association, China's exports of belgian new energy vehicles in 2021 will mainly come from Tesla's Chinese factories.

Belgium is an important new energy vehicle market in Europe and a hub for Tesla's Chinese production capacity exports to Europe. In November 2020, the first batch of more than 3,000 Chinese-made Tesla Model 3 vehicles exported to Europe arrived at the Port of Zeebrugge, Belgium, on the evening of November 26 after more than a month of sea voyages.

Australia, which ranked fifth this time, is also a "new friend" in China's auto export map, and it only ranked in the top ten for the first time in 2020. Prior to this, Australia had only been eleventh in 2011, and not even in the top fifteen in other years.

Australia is a sparsely populated country with just over 25 million people. However, its sparse population is only relative to its huge land area, which ranks sixth in the world. In absolute terms, Australia, with more than two-thirds of its population, is still not to be underestimated, at least more than Chile.

Australia has four major automakers: Toyota, Mitsubishi, GM and Ford. Mitsubishi withdrew from Australia during the 2008 financial crisis, and in the past two years, under the pressure of transformation and performance, two American giants, Ford and GM, have also announced their withdrawal from the Australian auto market.

It is worth mentioning that China and Australia signed a free trade agreement in 2015. Faced with the opportunities brought by the departure of two AMERICAN giants, some Chinese car companies have strengthened their exploration of the Australian market. Recently, BYD's first "strategic sea" global passenger car PLUS, which was highly anticipated by BYD, recently opened a pre-sale in Australia.

According to the data, in 2021, Australia and New Zealand (Ausz) are the largest overseas markets for SAIC MG, with exports reaching 43,000 units, an increase of 155% year-on-year; the ANZ market is also one of the four major markets of SAIC Maxus, with annual sales of more than 50,000 vehicles. In January 2021, Chinese cars sold 4,198 vehicles in Australia, surpassing German and American cars.