In the first 8 months of this year, SAIC Group's cumulative overseas sales reached 1.016 million units, a year-on-year increase of 52.9%. Among them, the MG brand cumulatively sold 241,000 units in Europe, a year-on-year increase of 22.3%.

When overseas business enters the million-unit scale, the standards for measuring a car company's globalization capability also begin to change. In the past, exporting cars focused more on whether products could be sold and whether sales volume could be built up; but when a regional market grows from tens of thousands of units to hundreds of thousands, what a car company truly faces is a complete set of overseas operating problems: Is transportation stable? Can the product adapt to the local market? Is production and supply chain close enough to users? Can the sales, after-sales, and financial systems support a larger scale? These capabilities do not appear naturally with sales volume; they require long-term investment and advance planning.

Currently, SAIC's subsidiary Angie Logistics owns 42 self-operated RoRo ships, has laid out three innovative R&D centers and three design centers overseas, three complete vehicle manufacturing bases in Thailand, Indonesia, and India, and a KD factory in Pakistan, as well as over 100 parts production and R&D bases and over 3,000 marketing service outlets.

These layouts dispersed across different business sectors such as R&D, manufacturing, logistics, and sales constitute the "Major Foundation" that SAIC is continuously consolidating for globalization. It is not just a factory or a fleet, but a comprehensive foundation that extends R&D, manufacturing, parts, logistics, sales, service, and even financial capabilities around a car to the global market, eventually forming a self-sufficient overseas system. After overseas cumulative sales exceeded 7 million units, SAIC's globalization is transitioning from expansion centered on products and sales volume to a stage more reliant on system capabilities.

Behind the Million-Unit Business

Logistics Is No Longer Simple Transportation

Among SAIC's globalization "Major Foundation", the most concrete part is the expanding RoRo fleet. Starting in 2022, Angie Logistics invested nearly 10 billion yuan to build 12 large RoRo ships with 7,600 vehicle capacity and above. Currently, Angie Logistics has 42 RoRo ships of various types, including 21 foreign trade and 21 domestic trade RoRo ships, with an overseas ocean transport capacity of 600,000 units per year operated independently and a capacity of 1 million units for overseas landing. From relying on external capacity to building its own large RoRo fleet, behind this change is the increasingly high demand for logistics stability and autonomy after SAIC's overseas business scale continuously expanded.

For car companies with annual overseas sales reaching the million-unit level, logistics is no longer just purchasing a transportation service. Whether capacity is sufficient, whether ship schedules are stable, and whether key markets can quickly replenish inventory will directly affect local sales rhythm. When the fleet expands to dozens of ships, what truly determines logistics efficiency is no longer just how many cars a single ship can load, but whether a stable route network covering core markets can be formed.

Currently, Angie Logistics' 8 international routes cover major export directions such as Southeast Asia, Gulf Region, Mediterranean, UK, Mexico-West US, US East, South America West, and Australia and New Zealand. The 42 RoRo ships and 8 international routes allow SAIC to arrange vehicle flow between global markets more proactively. When to depart, which areas need increased capacity, and how to connect storage and distribution after vehicles arrive at ports are all becoming a system that can be independently scheduled.

This is also the meaning of "Strong Foundation". It solves not just a single export, but how to keep million-unit overseas business running long-term and stably.

From Shipping Cars Out

To Placing R&D and Manufacturing Capabilities Locally

The logistics system solves how cars connect efficiently to global markets, but as a regional market gradually grows, relying solely on the model of producing in China and selling overseas will also approach its limit. SAIC started laying out manufacturing bases overseas very early.

In 2012, SAIC signed a cooperation agreement with Thailand's CP Group, subsequently building complete vehicle manufacturing and sales systems locally; in 2019, the India complete vehicle base was built and put into production. Since then, SAIC gradually formed three overseas complete vehicle manufacturing bases in Thailand, Indonesia, and India, and laid out a KD factory in Pakistan.

In recent years, this localization has continued to extend from the manufacturing link to R&D, engineering, and supply chain. This year, SAIC's European Engineering Center in Frankfurt, Germany was commissioned, the European production base is advancing steadily, and subsidiary sales companies in Belgium and Luxembourg were established successively, with Central Asia localization production also launched. Currently, SAIC also owns three innovative R&D centers, three design centers, and over 100 parts production and R&D bases overseas.

Behind this layout is the gradual shift in automotive globalization from "product market fit" to "capability localization". Different countries have obvious differences in regulations, road environments, climate, and consumer usage habits. The deeper the overseas market goes, the harder it is for a single model to cover all needs relying on simple global unified configurations.

For example, SAIC developed a local voice assistant for the Indian market usage habits; the Brazil version MG ZS EV optimized the battery thermal management system for the local tropical climate. These seemingly small changes actually reflect a shortening distance between the R&D system and the market.

In the past, automotive globalization was more "developed in China, manufactured in China, then sold worldwide"; as overseas R&D centers, factories, and parts bases continue to increase, part of the engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain capabilities begin to enter the target market directly. This is also a deeper layer of SAIC's globalization "Major Foundation": not just sending products out, but sending out the capabilities that support continuous product iteration and production.

The True "Major Foundation"

It Is a Global Operating System

If looking at single projects, 42 RoRo ships are a logistics investment, the European Engineering Center belongs to the R&D system, Thailand, Indonesia, and India factories belong to manufacturing layout, and over 3,000 marketing service outlets belong to the sales system. But the true competitiveness of globalization comes precisely from whether these capabilities can be connected.

The automotive industry itself is a long-chain industry. From product development to parts procurement, from complete vehicle manufacturing to logistics transport, to sales, maintenance, finance, and user services, for a brand to truly enter the local market, any link is difficult to be absent for a long time. Currently, SAIC has over 3,000 overseas marketing service outlets and established an overseas financial service company in Indonesia, with products and services entering over 170 countries and regions globally.

Returning to look at the overseas system SAIC has already spread out, its outline becomes clearer. Overseas R&D and design centers undertake product development and local adaptation, complete vehicle factories, KD factories, and parts bases provide manufacturing and supply chain support, 42 RoRo ships and 8 international routes undertake global transport, and over 3,000 marketing service outlets and financial service systems serve local users.

What these capabilities together form is no longer an export link from Chinese factories to overseas dealers, but an increasingly complete global automotive industry network. This also explains why, the further automotive exports go, the "heavier" the enterprise investment becomes.

Simple exports can be completed with the help of large amounts of external resources, but the larger the market scale, the more enterprises need to master more key links. Once a regional market reaches 100,000, 200,000, or even 300,000 units, transport capacity, supply chain, after-sales, and R&D response speed may become new bottlenecks restricting growth.

Currently, SAIC has formed one "300,000-unit level" market in Europe, and 5 overseas regional markets of "50,000-unit level" in the Americas, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand, ASEAN, and South Asia, with products and services covering over 170 countries and regions globally, and overseas cumulative sales breaking 7 million units. At such a scale, the next stage of growth is increasingly difficult to complete solely by increasing export numbers. In the end, overseas business competition is about whether a global foundation matching the sales volume can be established and sustained.

Therefore, 42 RoRo ships may be the most visible part of SAIC's globalization "Major Foundation", but what is truly important is the entire system gradually forming behind these ships: R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, sales, and services continuously extending from China to global markets and finally connecting.

In the past decade, the most obvious change in Chinese automotive exports has been export numbers continuously breaking records. As more and more Chinese car companies enter the deep waters of the overseas market, the factors determining the upper limit of globalization are also changing—from whether a single product has competitiveness, gradually expanding to whether an enterprise has the ability to rebuild a complete automotive industry system globally.

From this perspective, SAIC's continuously strengthening globalization "Major Foundation" is not just to support today's million-unit overseas sales volume. What it truly aims to solve is a longer-term problem: when Chinese cars move from "selling to the world" to "operating globally", what allows them to truly take root in different markets?

In the first half of 2026, the domestic tire industry showed a very obvious stark contrast.

From the latest semi-annual report, it is clearly visible: Leading enterprises that built factories overseas in advance saw their performance rise to new records year after year; small and medium manufacturers that stubbornly stuck to domestic capacity for export were basically passively under pressure and losing market share.

Those Who Go Global Early Enjoy the Dividends

The 2026 semi-annual report data plainly exposed the industry gap: Whether an enterprise can make money and stabilize its overseas market depends on whether its overseas capacity layout is fast and large enough.

Sailun Tyre is a solid benchmark for industry globalization, presenting its best ever half-year performance: Semi-annual revenue broke through 20 billion yuan for the first time, up 13.88% year-on-year; net profit was 2.16 billion yuan, up 17.97% year-on-year. More than 60% of the company's assets are laid out overseas (62.88%), the Vietnam and Cambodia bases continue to produce and earn steadily, forming the core profit backbone. Relying on the linkage of multiple bases in Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Africa, Sailun perfectly avoided trade barriers in Europe and the US, European orders are perpetually in high demand. Even with multiple price adjustments, customer demand remains firm. Over the next three years, there will be a concentrated release of overseas capacity, with strong confidence in growth.

Zhongce Rubber's overseas capacity expansion dividends have also been fully realized. In the first half of 2026, semi-steel tire production at the Thailand base increased by 38% year-on-year, while full-steel tire production at the Indonesia base surged by 249%. After the EU anti-dumping measures took effect, exports for many domestic enterprises were blocked, but Zhongce, relying on normal supply from its overseas bases, not only steadily held the European market but also took over a large volume of spillover orders. Meanwhile, relying on Indonesia capacity to take US orders, it successfully dodged tariff shocks. Currently, the company's new Vietnam base with a 1.04 billion yuan investment is progressing steadily, and the global capacity map is still expanding.

General Shares is a typical representative of benefiting from this round of going global, with performance taking a dramatic turnaround. In the first half of the year, net profit surged 114.84% year-on-year, gross profit margin increased by 3.31 percentage points, and profit quality improved significantly. The company's Thailand and Cambodia dual bases had booming production and sales. Seizing the EU trade policy window, semi-steel tire orders were perpetually in high demand. Overseas non-US market revenue rose steadily, successfully opening up a brand new growth space.

In addition, Zhengdao Tyres stated recently that the Cambodia base went into smooth production, tens of millions level of scaled capacity landed, completely reconstructing its overseas supply chain, and firmly standing in the international market under high barrier pressure.

Comprehensive Encirclement, Traditional Export No Longer Works

The eye-catching performance of leading enterprises is, simply put, the result of early risk avoidance and early planning. Nowadays, trade restrictions in the tire industry are no longer just about single tariffs, but comprehensive suppression including tariffs, dual anti-dumping, origin verification, and green compliance, which completely locks down domestic export paths.

The United States not only maintains high tariffs on Chinese tires but also ferociously investigates the origin in Southeast Asia, completely plugging loopholes for tax avoidance via transshipment; The EU is implementing semi-steel tire anti-dumping and pushing for anti-subsidy investigations, while stacking the EUDR zero-deforestation new regulations, raising entry barriers from tax, environmental, and compliance aspects.

Not only Europe and the US, Brazil, the Eurasian Economic Union, and many other economies are also increasing trade protection, with trade friction sweeping the globe.

On August 31, Canada officially joined the game, launching anti-dumping investigations on Chinese truck and bus tires. At this point, the three major mainstream markets of the US, EU, and Canada have comprehensively encircled, continuously squeezing the space for domestic tire exports, directly ramping up the urgency for enterprises to go global.

Why Must We Go Global Immediately?

Combining the latest financial reports and the global trade situation, there is no longer a need to hesitate about going global. It is necessary to go global as soon as possible and land capacity as soon as possible. This is the only way out for the industry to break through.

First, avoid trade barriers and protect core overseas markets. Now all major global markets are tightening policies. Without local overseas capacity, it is equivalent to directly losing export qualifications. Only by building factories overseas and local production can enterprises avoid anti-dumping tariffs, origin verification, and green compliance restrictions, safeguarding global sales channels.

Second, seize the huge market dividends left vacant by the industry. A large number of small and medium tire enterprises are being forced to exit overseas markets due to export restrictions, causing a significant global supply contraction. Meanwhile, leaders with overseas capacity like Sailun and Zhongce, taking advantage of industry supply gaps, continue to take over spillover orders and increase market share. The barriers instead become expansion opportunities for leaders.

Third, reduce costs and increase efficiency, improving profit advantages. Southeast Asian bases can purchase natural rubber locally, greatly compressing raw material and logistics costs; meanwhile, Vietnam and Thailand belong to CPTPP member countries, bringing tariff advantages. Exporting to Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia offers maximum cost-performance ratio, with profit space much higher than domestic exports.

Finally, widen the industry competition gap. The current industry reshuffle has already reached a fever pitch: Enterprises with overseas capacity continue to make money and expand share; those without overseas capacity can only stick to the domestic market and continue to shrink. In the future competition of the tire industry, the race is no longer about price, but about global capacity layout and supply chain risk resistance.

Overseas Capacity Has Become the Industry's Ultimate Moat

2026 is the decisive year for the globalization of China's tire industry.

Under the global trade pattern of encirclement by multiple countries, the old model of "Domestic Production, Global Export" has officially concluded, and localized production with regional supply has become the only path to break through.

The semi-annual report data has solidly proven: Enterprises that laid out globally in advance are continuously enjoying policy dividends, market dividends, and cost dividends.

In the next phase, industry concentration will continue to rise. Leading enterprises with a perfect global capacity network will continue to reap global market share. The era of globalization for China's tire industry has already fully arrived.

Officially singled out "frequent price cuts", warning against excessive price competition in overseas markets. Behind this lies not just the profit account, but the image account of China's automotive industry overseas.

Specifically regarding policy implementation, on September 1, 2026, the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the "Guidelines for Overseas Competition Behavior and Compliance Construction in the Automotive Industry". The content regarding pricing is worth noting. The document points out that when enterprises formulate suggested retail prices overseas, they should set clear price gradients for different vehicle configurations, avoiding "affecting the interests and brand image of overseas consumers due to frequent and significant price fluctuations".

The "knock" meaning in this sentence is obvious, referring to the "price cut actions" that everyone is very familiar with in recent years. As for why the official needs to single out such behavior so seriously, perhaps we can see a clue from relevant data. Relevant data shows that in 2025, China's automobile exports reached 8.32 million units, sold to more than 200 countries and regions, and remained first in the world for consecutive years. In the first seven months of this year, the export volume reported by the General Administration of Customs reached 6.399 million units, a year-on-year increase of 53.7%, and breaking through 10 million units for the whole year seems to be inevitable.

The ceiling of scale is visibly rising, but the profit situation is like a bucket of cold water. According to Wind data, the total net profit attributable to owners of 289 listed automotive manufacturing companies in the first half of the year was 56.531 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25.74%, with the profit margin of complete vehicle manufacturing falling to 1.5%, a record low in nearly 10 years.

When the industry begins to show a situation where more sold means less earned, it indicates that something has deviated from the normal track. In other words, this is no longer a situation that can be explained by simple exchange rates and tariff factors. The three departments singled out "frequent price cuts", indicating that the official side has seen the bookkeeping problems; in essence, it is still a guide for the long-term survival of Chinese automakers overseas.

The "Profit Account" of Overseas Price Cuts, Calculated Clearly by Three Departments

The three departments singled out "frequent price cuts", most likely having calculated a financial account clearly, that is, sales volume and profits are moving further and further apart. Even BYD, a top representative with relatively thick profits among independent brands, also has such a situation. Let's look at a set of data. In the first half of 2026, BYD sold 789,400 units overseas, a year-on-year surge of 67.9%, and the proportion of overseas sales rose from about 24% year-on-year last year to 44%. According to Orient Securities' calculation, BYD's overseas business gross margin in the first half of the year was 28.4%, while domestic was only 17%. As a sample automaker going overseas, BYD's sales and profit calculation data are both quite good.

But another layer of reality is that BYD's single car revenue is also declining. According to the same Orient Securities statistics, compared with the first half of 2025, BYD's overseas single car revenue decreased by 16,000 yuan. These two sets of data seem contradictory, but there is actually a certain "logical rationality". Why say this?

The "involution" of the Chinese automotive market has not disappeared because of going overseas. This has led to a phenomenon: on one hand, the proportion of overseas sales has surged; on the other hand, the single car revenue is declining. Some developing well automakers went overseas, propping up gross margins with high-value models. But the more and more low-price models were pushed overseas, also leading to the situation of the average price going down. When the main force of exports expands from Dolphin, Yuan Plus such medium-to-high-end models to more low-price product lines, the premium that the overseas market should belong to the brand is being thinned step by step.

Of course, this is not a problem faced by a certain automaker. Looking through the first half-year financial reports, many automakers that are heavily going overseas are experiencing such a situation. Chery's net foreign exchange loss was 2.092 billion yuan; Geely's net foreign exchange gain from the same period last year of 2.64 billion yuan was directly turned into this year's 550 million yuan net loss; Great Wall Motor had a net foreign exchange gain of 1.493 billion yuan in the first half of last year, but this year after deducting hedging locks, it actually lost 266 million yuan; Leapmotor delivered 356,000 units for half a year, a year-on-year increase of 60.8%, sitting at the top of the new force sales list, but calculated down, the single car net profit was less than 600 yuan, and the annual profit guidance was down from 5 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan.

These data mean that overseas market competition problems have begun to show. Those overseas shares won by price are being transferred in the form of profits. The selling price goes down, the gross margin goes down, and stacked with exchange rate fluctuations, the book profit will eventually become a big problem. "Avoid affecting overseas consumer interests and brand image due to frequent and significant price fluctuations" reflects the concerns of relevant departments.

The Impact Behind Price Cuts, The Whole Industry Has to Pay For It

Thinking deeper, the concerns of the three departments might not only because they calculated the profit account. If looking at it from the perspective of long-term industry development, the coverage of "frequent price cuts" and "overseas involution" is far wider than we imagine. Automobiles are different from ordinary consumer goods. Sun Xiaohong, former Secretary-General of the Automotive Internationalization Professional Committee of the China Machinery Industry Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, explained it clearly: "Overseas markets attach great importance to vehicle residual value and the usage cost of the vehicle's full lifecycle. Frequent and excessive price cuts will make consumers worried about the future residual value preservation of the vehicle, bringing a series of negative effects."

Users who just picked up the car, the next foot sees the official hanging lower prices, value retention shrinks accordingly, this is very easy to trigger users' negative emotions. If it evolves into complaints, rights protection and bad reviews, it may eventually backfire on the brand. This is not groundless worries, currently there have already been some negative cases. For example, in the Thailand market, some domestic automakers continued to cut prices in Thailand, making the dissatisfaction of car-buying users rise, and Thai public institutions also launched investigations on this.

This is just the backlash at the public opinion level; if dissatisfaction intensifies, this may cause worse results. Now, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia are tightening electric vehicle import thresholds synchronously on their own, with localized production and technology transfer as conditions. Clearly, this chain reaction will not affect just a certain automaker. Dissatisfaction from users who have purchased, fermentation of local public opinion, investigation by public institutions, government tightening of import policies, will lead to the entire industry's entry threshold rising. In the end, for this one enterprise's price cut, it is all Chinese brands operating locally who have to pay.

As Shi Yonghong, Vice President of the China Machinery Industry Import and Export Chamber of Commerce said: "Overseas market regulations are scattered, involving safety, environmental protection, data, carbon emissions, supply chain due diligence, etc. The issuance of the 'Guidelines' will help guide enterprises to rationally choose target markets, avoid low-price competition, channel conflict, gray operations, and maintain the overall image of China's automobiles."

The person in charge of the Department of Outbound Investment and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, when interpreting, summarized the intention of this guidance into three points: highlight public service attributes, highlight practical application orientation, highlight win-win cooperation concepts. Falling into policy intentions, what the three ministries truly worry about is not whether a certain enterprise sells expensive or cheap, but whether disorderly price competition will make the four words "China Automobile" become a "negative label" internationally. How to make competition no longer disorderly? Of course, this question still has to be answered with the three words "high quality".

Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun said, "Going out of quality is part of high-quality opening up, to bring long-term stable, reliable products and services to overseas consumers". He believes that enterprises going out should respect other countries' legal cultures, bringing taxes and employment to local areas. Talking about price, in the People's Daily Client "Ask the Way" column, he once spoke directly: "If I keep reducing costs, I cannot guarantee the quality of the car."

Now the development of China's automotive industry has changed from past to present. When export scale surges to 10 million units, any individual disorder will be amplified multiple times, the official must set the rules before credit is damaged.

No Price Floor, Cannot Obtain Real Share

Of course, we do not want to convey the viewpoint that "price cuts are wrong". Objectively speaking, price cuts themselves are not wrong, but if price cuts are taken as the only means of competition, then the overseas road will not go far, and real share cannot be obtained. To put it more simply, for Chinese automakers going overseas to last long, having pricing power is very important. How to have this ability? It depends on whose products have something special.

To stabilize prices, win by things outside of price, there are three dimensions of performance that are very key. One is technical differences. Technology is a barrier that can be directly perceived by users. If we can pull gaps in terms of range, safety, intelligence, etc., with powerful technical strength, we can maintain the price floor, rather than rolling down together with opponents.

Two is price stability. This is also a credit impression overseas. Chinese automakers going overseas need to open up the situation with "contract spirit" and "long-termism". Falling into operations, it is stable prices, stable products, stable services, stable expectations. A brand that frequently adjusts prices, users dare not buy now, dealers dare not stock up now, this uncertainty itself is a cost.

Three is local service network. This determines whether overseas users can be assured about the brand, and is also the decisive factor for whether automakers can maintain the price floor. If we can do well in maintenance, parts, residual value, second-hand circulation after selling cars, people's stickiness to the brand will be higher. When the after-sales system is laid out dense enough, price will not be the only selling point.

The "muscle memory" formed in intense involution in the domestic market, when it comes to overseas, will eventually have to relearn the rules. After all, there are no subsidies to support the bottom, nor infinite price war space there. In overseas, possessing the determination to establish prices is the core strategy for long-term survival.

Conclusion

Markets won by low prices are actually not stable. The four words "Made in China" cannot be labeled with "dumping" and "cheap". The purpose of the three departments' guidance is not to ban price cuts, nor to halt going overseas. It only puts a long-ignored fact on the table. Now, policies have drawn clear boundaries for Chinese automakers. Automakers used to "price involution", it is also time to make choices that conform to the guidance.

On September 1, a document stirred the entire automotive overseas expansion circle.

The Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the "Guidelines on Overseas Competitive Behavior and Compliance Construction for the Automotive Industry", which is the first time domestically specifically setting a behavioral benchmark for overseas operations of auto enterprises. To put it plainly: the era of Chinese auto enterprises going global by recklessly seizing scale is coming to an end.

In the past few years, the domestic market has been highly competitive, with price wars following one after another. Many auto enterprises have directly adopted this strategy for overseas markets: willing to lose money to lower prices, relying on low prices to quickly grab orders and boost export reports. In the short term, sales data looks impressive, but hidden dangers are planted along with it.

On one hand, frequent and drastic price fluctuations have hurt local dealers and crashed the used car residual values to smithereens, making the brand cheaper and cheaper the more it sells; on the other hand, price killing without regard for cost easily gives foreign regulators grounds for criticism, and anti-subsidy and anti-dumping investigations could come knocking at any time, with the entire industry eventually having to pay the price.

This guideline does not forbid auto companies from making money overseas, but rather to brake on disorderly competition.

Highlighting a few key points: Overseas pricing cannot indiscriminately use loss-leader prices, must be based on costs and local market supply and demand; cannot adjust prices drastically on a whim to avoid drastic price fluctuations; must manage price differences between different countries to prevent cross-regional resale; meanwhile, dealer rebates and promotional marketing must comply with local laws. Besides this, overseas factory construction and production, labor protection, data cross-border for intelligent cars, and intellectual property risks are all included in the regulatory scope. It should be noted that this is a guideline document, not hard law, but the joint statement from the three departments releases a very clear industry orientation:Going global cannot focus solely on how many units are sold.

At the crossroads of tens of millions in exports, every auto company's business model is very different

A few years ago, Chinese car exports were just supporting roles. Today, we have firmly secured the number one position in global car exports.

Looking back at the data: In 2023 exports reached 4.91 million units, formally surpassing Japan; in 2024 it rushed to 5.859 million units; in 2025 it reached 7.098 million units. By 2026, the momentum is even stronger, 17 months cumulative exports reached 6.14 million units, July single month directly broke 1.04 million units, breaking 1 million in a single month for two consecutive months. Industry generally predicts that total exports this year are expected to touch the 10 million milestone.

More importantly, the structure has changed. In earlier years, exports were mostly fuel vehicles sold to developing countries, now new energy vehicles shoulder half the sky, the proportion of new energy vehicle exports has already broken through 50%. Chinese cars no longer sell only to Southeast Asia, Russia, Latin America, starting to massively enter developed markets with high thresholds such as Europe and Australia.

But under the shiny export numbers, if you look at the financial reports, the situation varies greatly for each company.

First tier, overseas has become half of the company's lifeblood. Chery, longtime champion in domestic brand exports, overseas revenue accounts for more than half, roots in emerging markets are very deep, running fuel and new energy lines, guarding the basic market while aggressively attacking Europe. BYD's overseas growth momentum is fierce, first half of 2026 overseas deliveries close to 790,000 units, overseas sales account for more than 40% of total sales. What is rare is, its overseas gross margin is even higher than domestic, truly making a profit on every unit sold. Factories in Thailand, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil are landing successively, dual layout of emerging and developed markets. SAIC MG rooted in Europe; Great Wall Motor's overseas revenue has already exceeded domestic, making a big layout for heavy-asset factories in Brazil.

Second tier, overseas is an important increment, still climbing. Geely revives idle overseas factories, attacking the European high-end market; GAC takes the Indonesia factory as an ASEAN stepping stone, Aion enters Europe through OEM mode; Changan deeply cultivates Russia, Latin America, Brazil factory landing drives export rise rapidly.

New Forces play a different game.

Leapmotor relies on cooperation with Stellantis for OEM, entering Europe with light assets; Xpeng, NIO aim directly at the European high-end market. They generally are unwilling to participate in low-price killing, prioritize guaranteeing overseas gross profit, just the overall export base is still relatively small.

Reality is cruel: exporting tens of thousands to over 100,000 units, some enterprises achieve profitability through scale; others only exchanged for paper sales, overseas gross margin continues to be under pressure, belongs to "selling more, earning thinner", this is exactly the situation the policy wants to constrain.

The opportunities of going global are right before our eyes, but the pitfalls are equally numerous.

The wave of electrification has indeed opened a global door for Chinese automobiles.

In the fuel vehicle era, Europe, US, Japan tightly grasp brand and technical barriers, we find it hard to break through. But switching to the new energy track, domestic complete three-electricity industry chain, 800V high-voltage platform, smart cockpit and intelligent driving capabilities, became the trump cards in our hands. From batteries, parts to complete vehicles, complete industrial clusters can quickly respond to differentiated demands of various countries globally.

Domestic market fierce internal competition intensifies, existing market competition becomes more intense, overseas naturally became the second growth curve for auto companies. Southeast Asia, Latin America auto consumption is still in an upward cycle, Europe new energy replacement demand is strong. Going global is no longer just exporting cars to sell, factory building, supply chain, charging ecosystem whole system, all going out with.

But behind the glory, realistic challenges are no small amount.

Trade barriers are getting thicker/denser. EU anti-subsidy investigations, carbon tariffs, battery regulations increasing layer by layer, many countries in North America, Latin America raised tariffs, requiring local production, the path of simply transporting domestic complete vehicles to sell is getting narrower. Once geopolitical environment changes, exchange rate fluctuations and exchange gains/losses could swallow enterprise profits at any time.

Domestic involution is spilling outwards. Phenomenon of low-price grabbing share in some markets is common, export data looks good, but profits don't go up. Frequent price adjustments hurt used car residual values, also continuously amplify external regulatory risks.

Many auto companies are still stuck at "product going global", still far from true globalization. Overseas after-sales network, parts support can't keep up with user demands; Factory building heavy asset investment is large, cycle is long, also need to adapt to local labor, regulatory environments.

Brand shortcomings are even an unavoidable challenge. Many overseas consumers' inherent impression of Chinese cars is still low price, wanting to break into high-end, the road ahead is still long. Smart car going global, data compliance, privacy, intellectual property, every item is an invisible threshold, stumbling could directly lose a regional market.

The era of tens of millions in exports is imminent. In the past, measuring success of going global was seeing how many units exported. And next, sales volume is just the starting point. How to balance scale, profit, compliance, and brand is the real exam in front of all auto companies going global.

Source: Car Observation

August 25, the "2026 Silk Road 10,000 Mile Expedition · Enlightenment Road" officially concluded in Singapore. As the travel partner for the entire event, BYD's Dynasty, Ocean, Denza, Fang Cheng Bao, and Yangwang formed a new energy vehicle fleet, lasting 33 days, traveling over 10,000 kilometers. Departing from Xi'an, it crossed six provinces in China and passed through Thailand and Malaysia, finally arriving in Singapore.

Compared to ordinary road tests, the biggest highlight of this journey lies in vehicles truly experiencing continuous use over long distances, across regions, and with varied road conditions. Highways, mountain roads, urban congestion, and other scenarios appeared in turns, giving technologies such as Flash Charge and Divine Eye Assisted Driving a testing environment closer to daily long-distance travel.

Among them, Flash Charge technology focuses on "5 minutes to charge well, 9 minutes to fully charge", further reducing sensitivity to charging time for long-distance pure electric travel; the Divine Eye Assisted Driving system relies on a large amount of real road data for continuous iteration, helping to reduce driving burden during long-distance driving. For new energy vehicles, parameters are one aspect, but the ability to use stably in complex real scenarios is obviously more important.

Choosing Singapore for the wrap-up of this event also has practical significance. As of July 2026, BYD has ranked first in total brand sales of passenger cars in Singapore for 19 consecutive months. From January to July this year, BYD's market share in local passenger cars reached 24.7%, and its pure electric market share reached 40.3%. Currently, BYD has laid out 16 retail touchpoints in Singapore, with some stores entering core shopping centers.

This also reflects changes in Chinese automotive exports. In the past, more emphasis was placed on product exports and sales growth, while now there is increasing focus on channel construction, local services, and long-term brand management.

In the first 7 months of 2026, BYD's overseas cumulative sales exceeded 970,000 units, a year-on-year increase of about 76%, with new energy vehicle business entering over 120 countries and regions worldwide. From Southeast Asia to Europe, South America, and the Middle East, Chinese new energy vehicles are building their product and brand awareness in an increasing number of markets.

From Xi'an to Singapore, this ten-thousand-mile journey is both a cross-border new energy travel practice and reflects that Chinese automotive globalization is entering a deeper stage. Truly entering overseas markets ultimately relies on long-term management, technical adaptation, and local services. Deeply cultivating the local market to jointly create a green future might also be the keyword for the next stage of Chinese automotive exports.

At the 2026 Bangkok International Motor Show, Chinese brands once again took center stage. BYD, SAIC MG, and Changan Deepal led the Chinese contingent to top the rankings; among the top ten sales, only Toyota and Honda were Japanese brands. Japanese publication DiamondOnline used the headline "Shocking" to describe the changes occurring in the traditional heartland of Japanese cars.

Looking solely at sales figures, this seems like another story of Chinese new energy vehicles breaching the moat built by Japanese cars. However, while Chinese brands are still breaking order records, the challenge posed by the Thai market has shifted direction.

After the Honeymoon, Talk of Daily Realities Begins

Several years ago, the primary question for Thailand's new energy vehicle industry was "who is willing to come". To stimulate the NEV industry, the Thai government successively launched EV3.0 and EV3.5 support policies, offering significant concessions on import tariffs, consumption taxes, and vehicle purchase subsidies. Chinese automakers such as SAIC, BYD, Great Wall, Changan, and GAC followed suit and entered the market densely, successively completing sales channel construction and localized capacity layout.

Now, as the "honeymoon period" of industry introduction ends, the relationship between the two sides has begun to settle into the reality of daily operations. Thailand is concerned about another question: After coming, what can actually be left behind?

According to the EV3.5 policy, companies enjoying relevant import concessions must compensate with local production: for every 1 car imported in 2026, 2 cars must be produced in Thailand; if extended to 2027, the ratio increases to 1:3. The Thailand Board of Investment further promoted the use of local parts this year. For pure electric vehicle projects to obtain additional tax incentives, the proportion of local parts value must be at least 40%, and "Made in Thailand" certification must be obtained.

It's not just localization requirements on the production side; regulatory reach is also extending to after-sales.

In June, the Thai Cabinet approved the "Liability Law for Defective Products", locally known as the "Lemon Law", aiming to lower the burden of proof threshold for consumers in product quality disputes. The draft clarifies that if a defect is found within one year of vehicle delivery, it is presumed that a problem existed at the time of delivery. Consumers have the right to request repairs, replacement, or even refunds.

Although the "Lemon Law" is not specifically targeted at the automotive industry, nor does it specifically target Chinese brands, Chinese new energy vehicles are precisely the field of most concern in this legislation.

Thailand did not suddenly change its attitude towards Chinese new energy vehicles; precisely because the first stage of investment attraction and market cultivation has yielded results, it now begins to demand returns for the next stage - not just sales figures, but also factories, supply chains, employment, and responsibility for long-term operation.

This anxiety did not arise from nothing. In August this year, during a seminar on electric vehicle consumer rights protection by the Thailand Development Research Institute, the case of Neta Auto was specifically mentioned. After the brand's parent company fell into an operational crisis, Thai car owners successively encountered problems such as parts shortages, extended repair cycles, suspension of some service outlets, and vague warranty responsibilities. There are approximately 25,000 Neta Auto vehicles in the Thai market. As of June this year, over 220 consumers have filed complaints with local rights protection organizations.

Neta Auto's situation naturally cannot represent all Chinese automakers, but it adds an extra layer of anxiety for all Thai consumers when choosing Chinese new energy vehicles. When the expansion speed of Chinese car brands outpaces the maturity of after-sales, parts, and channel systems, the risk often does not explode at the time of purchase, but gradually manifests during the long period of vehicle usage.

The Hardest Thing for Japanese Cars to Replicate

Is the Ten Years After They Are Sold

This is exactly the barrier that Japanese automakers find hardest to surpass in Thailand - it is never the product capabilities of a single model.

What Chinese cars are best at is quickly producing a competitive new car. Relying on price, configurations, and smart experiences, Chinese cars are redefining the car-buying standards of the Thai market.

What Japanese brands leave behind after operating in Thailand for decades is "the life of a car ten years after it is sold": there are repair outlets if an accident happens, parts have stable supply channels, there is relatively mature valuation when entering the used car market a few years later, and dealers, financial institutions, and suppliers have also formed long-term business networks around these vehicles.

The Japanese industry's judgment on this Sino-Japanese competition is also shifting. Japanese financial business media THAIBIZ proposed in May this year when discussing "whether Japanese momentum can counterattack" that Chinese brands still lead in product development speed and price competitiveness. But the competition in the Thai auto market in the future will also include long-term capabilities such as local production, supply chains, and policy adaptation, which are precisely the advantages accumulated by Japanese enterprises over the years.

This does not mean Chinese brands cannot fill the gaps. As the earliest Chinese automaker to deeply penetrate the Thai market, SAIC MG entered Thailand over ten years ago, and has already built a sales service system distributed nationwide. Currently, the number of authorized dealers and service outlets has reached 126. The Chonburi Province production base has achieved localized mass production of multiple pure electric models. Factories, stores, and after-sales centers are all expanding in sync with the market size.

This may be the real challenge faced by Chinese automakers after entering the next stage in Thailand: no longer just proving the product is good enough or the price is low enough, but convincing consumers that in a few years, if the car breaks there will still be people to fix it, parts can still be found, vehicles entering the used car market will still have people willing to take over, and today's stores sprouted everywhere will not disappear rapidly with market fluctuations.

Thailand Is Also Asking a "Ten-Year Question"

Looking deeper, what the Thai government truly cares about is not just whether there will be anyone to fix a car ten years later, but more importantly, after the high-speed growth of new energy vehicle sales, how much of the relevant industrial capability will truly remain in Thailand.

In May this year, 10 industrial organizations including the Thai EV Association and the Auto Parts Manufacturers Association jointly urged adjustments to EV support policies. One of the core concerns is that Chinese EV enterprise entry speed is fast, but the driving effect on the local supply chain is limited.

Localization production is far from simply moving factories over. A survey by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) on Chinese EV enterprises in Thailand this year shows that the cost of producing electric vehicles locally in Thailand is about 20% higher than in China. The root cause is that the local supply chain maturity is insufficient, and core components are still highly dependent on imports from China.

This is the deep logic behind Thailand's recent series of policy adjustments. It is not about taking sides between Chinese and Japanese automakers, but rather at the intersection of the new energy vehicle industry changing lanes, to guard its own industrial status as the "Detroit of Southeast Asia".

In a sense, Thailand's approach is very similar to Hefei, known for industrial investment attraction: seizing the window of technological iteration, not satisfied with companies setting up and products selling well, but wanting to truly accumulate the industrial capabilities of the next generation of automobiles.

Therefore, the "going out" capability demonstrated by Chinese automobiles in the past few years, which is world-class, is only part of globalization. Thailand is now assessing whether Chinese automobiles have a world-class "staying" capability.

The order list of the Bangkok Motor Show will be revealed on the last day of the show. Whoever makes it into the top ten will be announced on the spot.

But the cycle of another report card is much longer: Are the new cars ordered today convenient to maintain in a few years? Is the residual value stable? Is the service network still solid? Looking further ahead, of the factories and capacity that have completed local layout today, how much can truly integrate into the local industrial ecosystem?

This slow report card can better test a Chinese automaker's true global capability.

This year, China's auto export volume is expected to exceed 10 million vehicles, and it may enter a faster track in the future. August 20, at the Global New Energy Vehicle Cooperation and Development Forum (GNEV2026), Chebai International Chief Expert Zhang Yongwei stated as such.

He reminded that the global development of Chinese autos is no longer just China's own matter, but has largely become a matter of global concern. Doing this well requires internal and external linkage. Relying on a single party alone, this task cannot be done well.

The window period will not be long; differentiation has already begun

Chinese brands are growing rapidly in various major overseas markets.

It is worth noting that China's auto exports hovered around the 1 million vehicle mark for about ten years, after which the curve rose steeply: 4.91 million vehicles in 2023, 7.098 million in 2025, with growth accelerating continuously.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the General Administration of Customs shows that in the first half of this year, China exported 5.096 million complete vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 65.3%. Single-month exports in June reached 1.037 million, breaking the 1 million mark for the first time in history. New energy vehicle exports reached 2.355 million, with a growth rate of 120%, accounting for 46% of total exports.

Multiple forecasts predict that complete vehicle exports will reach 10 million in 2026, with about 5 million being new energy vehicles.

The changes in the European market are very convincing. In June this year, Chinese brands' single-month market share in Europe exceeded 11%, with pure electric share at 15% and plug-in hybrid share at 34%, setting a historic high.

In the ranking of registration growth in Europe for the first six months, BYD grew 145%, Chery grew 305%, and Leapmotor even reached 558%. Chery Jaecoo 7 topped the UK monthly sales list in March; BYD's order schedules in Germany, France, and Spain have been extended.

Belt and Road Initiative countries form the basic foundation of exports, with 3.381 million vehicles exported in the first half of the year, growing at 48.1%.

In the Southeast Asian market, Chinese brands dominate the electric vehicle markets in Thailand and Indonesia, shifting from complete vehicle exports to building factories locally.

Latin America and the Middle East are quickly scaling up; Brazil has already become the largest overseas market for several Chinese automakers. BYD, Chery, and Leapmotor have all entered local best-selling lists in both mature markets and emerging countries.

Facing this speed, the world's attitudes are not unified. Zhang Yongwei categorized these reactions into three types.

One type is restriction. Some countries feel fear, believing Chinese autos entering will cause impact, so they use barriers to delay Chinese enterprises' entry. Means include increasing localization requirements, raising import tariffs, and imposing anti-subsidy taxes.

One type is embrace. Treat the rise of Chinese autos as an opportunity, attracting Chinese automakers to build factories locally, create regional export bases, and even undertake Chinese automaker capacity as a European Bridgehead to achieve mutual win-win.

Another is anxiety. Wanting cooperation but fearing being surpassed. Local automakers watch the market being diverted and cannot keep up with the pace. At the government level, there is worry about risks, yet there is a genuine need for industrial chain cooperation. The sense of anxiety is unprecedented.

"This is a dynamic attitude change. Restrictions today, opening up tomorrow. If you can't figure it out now, you will soon understand." Zhang Yongwei said. With three attitudes coexisting, using one strategy to cover the world is definitely not viable; policies must be tailored by country.

Image Source: BYD

It's not just that overseas attitudes are significantly diverging; Chinese automakers themselves stand at a crossroad of globalization.

One type of enterprise launched a globalization strategy years ago, now accelerating overseas layout and supply chain implementation, shifting from export-focused to localized operations, aiming to become global enterprises.

Another type saw the opportunity, realizing developing only domestically is becoming harder, but lacks international foundation. They have ideas but find it hard to decide. They worry about external environmental uncertainty, fear falling into the globalization trap if international capability is insufficient, and even some enterprises that have already gone overseas are starting to feel uneasy about overseas development.

Zhang Yongwei gave a direct reminder to this waiting mindset: This globalization window period will not be long because there are too many enterprises going global. Hesitation will likely cause loss of opportunity.

From 1.0 to 2.0, China Lacks No Hard Capital

Why can this round of going global trigger such a big global response? Zhang Yongwei summarizes it as China Opportunity 2.0.

The past forty years were the 1.0 era. China opened its market to multinational enterprises, becoming the world's auto manufacturing base, bringing in, doing well the local industrial chain. Global automakers enjoyed a 40-year dividend in the Chinese market. The essence of 1.0 is Building factories in China, For China in China. Multinational automakers were the protagonists, and China provided an open big market.

2.0 is unfolding. Doors must continue to open, global factors must continue to be introduced, but China must also go out, taking accumulated manufacturing, technology, and management experience out. In the past, we passively integrated into the world; now we must actively layout globally. The auto industry can at least undertake the mission of global strategy.

The players on the stage have also changed; Chinese enterprises and multinational enterprises act together. The typical model has changed from In China for China to Utilizing China's Capacity, In China for the World.

Grasping 1.0, sharing China's market growth; Grasping 2.0, sharing China's capacity dividend. Zhang Yongwei summarized the difference between the two stages this way.

Behind this is a resource pool accumulated by China's auto industry over the past decade or more, giving China the confidence to participate globally and layout globally.

The most focused is the supply chain. China's power battery and upstream materials global capacity share exceeds 60%, possessing the world's most complete electrified supply chain. The one question that overseas-going enterprises feel most deeply is I am out, can I take China's supply chain out. Being able to ask this question itself explains that this supply chain cannot find a second home worldwide. Conversely, this supply chain must also contribute to the global auto industry. Zhang Yongwei stated as such.

Technology is also concentrating in China. Frontiers of electrification and intelligence are increasingly born, original, and installed in China. AI large model integration is shifting from following to defining directions. Smart driving and intelligent cockpits are iterating rapidly. According to Zhang Yongwei, China is becoming the source of incremental automotive technology.

Changes in product development rhythm are more intuitive. Domestic new car development cycles have been compressed to 18 to 24 months; European automakers require about 45 months. Past conventions are being broken by the Chinese rhythm.

The manufacturing end is equally tough. Among the global 201 Lighthouse Factories, China accounts for 85. Digitalized line remote control and software upgrades, automated line robots and embodied robots, constitute a vast and efficient manufacturing system.

Zhang Yongwei emphasized, 2.0 is not a shock, but a win-win. Some regard China auto's globalization as a shock, this is a misreading. For the global industry, using China's capabilities well, docking well with its own development strategy, can achieve win-win; this is the most crucial point of 2.0. If not used well, one may lose China's opportunity, missing the development dividend of this round of electrification and intelligence.

For China's industry, itself must also change thinking, walking the path of win-win cooperation. He admitted that past win-win cooperation often had cooperation but not true win-win, unable to drive mutual development. If a truly win-win path cannot be found, 2.0's opportunity will be discounted. If the relationship between external environment and self-development is not handled well, the advantages in hand may not be realized.

Revitalizing Others Also Achieves Oneself

2.0 is two-way. The world must find the docking point with China's industry, and Chinese enterprises must also find the way of win-win cooperation.

Standing from the perspective of other countries, Zhang Yongwei believes finding strategic docking points is not difficult.

The premise is to thoroughly understand the latest changes in China's auto industry; there cannot be information gaps, let alone misjudgments. The depth of China's capacity, meaning cost, speed, and the pace of technology iteration, must be seen clearly. The width of China's industry, from complete vehicles, supply chain to software, ecosystem, must also be seen fully. Misjudgment or lack of understanding makes it easy to miss opportunities.

Based on this, accurately find the strategic docking point, docking the country's market, location, and industrial endowment with China's capacity.

There are many specific docking points. For example, at the market level, the two markets can be connected; this has many practices in emerging countries. At the industrial chain level, importing China's supply chain can achieve localized manufacturing. Some countries can leverage location advantages to act as transit hubs for trade exports and manufacturing, and can also undertake global capacity reshaping to create manufacturing bases. Finding the right docking point makes win-win easier.

Placing it on Chinese enterprises themselves, win-win cooperation also has several paths to walk, and there are already cases running.

Complete vehicle traction driving supporting parts is the most direct one. This round of going global coincides with the global reshuffling of manufacturing capacity; there is much idle capacity overseas. Using a global vision to revitalize this capacity benefits both sides, not necessarily building too much new. Building complete vehicle factories locally, supporting parts follow, prioritizing joint venture cooperation to revitalize local existing factories.

Geely and Ford's joint venture factory in Spain is a typical example; joint ventures revitalize European existing complete vehicle capacity, driving supply chain localization, expected to go into operation in 2027.

Overseas capacity of parts enterprises can also be used directly. Many enterprises completed overseas layout years ago, do not need too much new building; expanding capacity can connect with this round of complete vehicle going global. China's complete vehicle going global combined with parts globalization layout together, a batch of China's global parts enterprises may run out from here.

Yanfeng is the representative, ranking 15th in global auto parts, overseas layout over 220 institutions, overseas employees about 25,000.

The role of multinational parts enterprises is worth valuing. Almost all multinational parts enterprises have realized localized development in China. In the past it was outside in, now can turn around inside out, following or supporting China's 10 million level complete vehicles to go out.

They have ready-made global networks and certification channels, can achieve seamless connection. Magna is transforming into a global service provider for Chinese automakers, Autoliv is practicing In China for the World.

A higher level idea is to empower and transform overseas local enterprises. Using OEM to revitalize idle factories, output China's manufacturing capacity, form a shared supporting system.

Zhang Yongwei gave an analogy, overseas factories do limbs and hands factories, China does brain factories. Not making overseas partners disappear, but helping them meet Chinese automaker requirements on one hand, and transform and upgrade themselves, jump in place on the other, deeply participating in China's auto industry globalization. In this way, our partners will increase, and friends overseas will also increase.

He finally raised a few specific suggestions.

At the national level, a strategic docking mechanism for the auto industry must be established, doing well bilateral coordination around industrial planning, market access, and investment policies.

At critical points like tariffs and localization rate boundaries, standard mutual recognition, cross-border data, and carbon footprint, form predictable rules, so enterprises dare to invest and dare to invest long-term. This matter, ultimately still relies on national level strategic docking to underwrite.

Falling to enterprise level, must jointly shoulder China auto brands' global responsibility. In the past everyone was used to fighting alone, now must cooperate to go global, and cooperating to go global cannot stop at verbal, must be hard constraints. Do not cluster development, do not fight evil price wars in the same market, avoid Chinese enterprises' value devaluing in internal friction.

Enterprises must also root in the local, localized operations, contribute local employment and tax, do good local enterprises. In his view, individual enterprise reputation bias affects not just itself, but the entire China auto industry brand.

100-1=0, he advocates implementing global responsibility to every going global enterprise, every product, every destination market, establishing responsibility constraint mechanisms. Global responsibility has just started, already some potential, local negatives have emerged; preventing trouble before it happens is more important than anything.

In Zhang Yongwei's view, the core landing point of China Opportunity 2.0 is to bring advanced green intelligent mobility technologies and products globally, and achieve win-win with local industries.

2026First half of the year, China's vehicle manufacturing profit margin fell to 1.5%, reaching a new low in nearly a decade.

In this context, Geely's performance is very prominent.

Total sales volume in the first half reached 1.423 million units, a year-on-year increase of only 1%. However, revenue was 173.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15%; core net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46%. Gross margin increased from 16.2% in the same period last year to 17.9%.

Management summarized it in one sentence: "Revenue growth is faster than sales volume growth, and profit growth is faster than revenue growth."

Growth drivers come from two aspects.

Premiumization — Zeekr's sales volume in the first half reached 178,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 97%, accounting for 12.5% of total sales and contributing 31.7% of revenue. Zeekr's gross margin is approximately 20%, occupying about one-third of the domestic sub-market above 500,000 yuan.

Internationalization — It is the structural change in the financial report worth analyzing most closely. To understand Geely's profit explosion, one must first see the structural explosion of its overseas business.

No New Factories, Overseas Capacity Doubled Plus

In the first half, Geely's overseas export sales reached 474,200 units, a year-on-year increase of 158%, exceeding the full-year export volume of 2025. Among them, new energy vehicle exports reached 277,200 units, a year-on-year increase of 585%.

The proportion of overseas sales to total sales jumped from about 13% in the same period last year to about 33%. In June and July, overseas monthly sales broke through 100,000 units. The growth rate ranks first among mainstream automakers.

Regional markets are showing comprehensive blossoming. Latin America and Africa increased by 298% year-on-year, Europe increased by over 280%, ASEAN over 120%, Eastern Europe and Central/West Asia approached 100%.

Geely announced that it raised the full-year export target from 640,000 units to 920,000 units, and proposed challenging 1 million units.

With going global becoming a clear card and cure-all for Chinese automakers, more worth paying attention to than numbers is Geely's unique strategy for going global.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Chairman Li Shufu clearly stated: "In the new process of global transformation, we will not build new capacity. We insist on win-win cooperation with global peers and share capacity."

Behind this sentence, there are three specific details.

"1": One overseas Geely system. Back-end and middle-back-end are fully unified, not acting independently. The three brands Zeekr, Lynk & Co, and Geely maintain clear positioning — Zeekr focuses on tech luxury, Lynk & Co focuses on sports trends, and Geely plans the mainstream household market.

"23456": Five regional markets, totaling 2 million units. Europe 600,000, ASEAN 500,000, Latin America & Africa 400,000, Eastern Europe 300,000, Central Asia & Middle East 200,000.

The timeline is the next 2 to 3 years. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. Board Chairman An Conghui reiterated the long-term strategic goal: overseas markets will contribute two-thirds of sales.

The implementation of the strategy relies on three factories.

Volvo Europe Factory — Put into production in 2028, producing Geely's high-end cars.

An Conghui revealed at the earnings call that the Volvo Europe Factory will undertake the production of high-end luxury cars within the Geely Automobile Group, expected to start production in 2028. It specifically involves the Trollhättan factory in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Ghent factory in Belgium, and the newly built EV factory in Košice, Slovakia.

Previously, Volvo signed an agreement with Lynk & Co to be responsible for the exclusive import and operation of the Lynk & Co brand in the European market. Now, the production side is also included in the Volvo Europe system, forming a complete localized layout from manufacturing and import to sales and after-sales service.

Ford Spain Factory — 500,000 units capacity, Roll-off line in 2028.

On July 23, 2026, Geely and Ford signed an agreement to acquire 34% equity of Ford's Valencia plant in Spain for 221 million euros. This factory, put into production in 1976, has an annual capacity of about 500,000 units and is one of the largest manufacturing bases in Europe.

After the joint venture company is established, the Valencia factory will undertake the production tasks for 5 car models of Geely and Ford simultaneously. Geely will put into production two new energy vehicle models including EX2 (Domestic Xingyuan), with the first car rolling off the line in 2028.

It was clarified at this earnings call that the Spain factory will produce Geely Galaxy and Lynk & Co products.

Proton Malaysia Factory — From 200,000 to 500,000 units

The Proton Malaysia factory acquired by Geely is undergoing technical transformation. Capacity is increased from 200,000 units to 500,000 units, positioned as a Southeast Asia manufacturing base. In addition, the Brazil factory cooperated by Geely and Renault has an annual capacity of about 300,000 units, and the Korean factory is also continuing to increase capacity.

As of the first half, Geely's operational overseas manufacturing factories have reached 12, overseas capacity exceeds 650,000 units, and it is planned to be increased to over 840,000 units by the end of the year.

Three factories, three cooperation forms: Volvo is capacity synergy within the system, Ford is external joint venture sharing, Proton is acquisition renovation upgrade. In terms of overseas capacity layout, Geely appears to have almost no repetitive moves, possessing the flexibility of "One Place, One Policy", which exactly reflects the unified investment concept of integrating existing resources.

How the Brand Matrix Supports Overseas Expansion

"123456" Strategy, the core meaning of "1" is an overseas system, three brands with different divisions of labor. So to what extent have Geely's three brands achieved in the overseas market?

Zeekr is the highest-end brand for going global, with an average transaction price of 350,000 yuan, with a clear goal: to occupy one-third of the market in China priced above 500,000 yuan, and to also take one-third of the global high-end market.

In the first half of this year, Zeekr has entered markets such as Malaysia and the Middle East. Zeekr 7X and 007 are the current export mainstays. In the second half of the year, Zeekr 9X, 8X, and 009 will expand to more markets: Zeekr 9X lands in Central Asia in Q3 and enters Europe in Q4; Zeekr 8X enters Latin America and Europe in Q4; Zeekr 009 and 009 Glory launch European versions in the second half of the year.

According to reports, some overseas markets have already seen situations where dealers add markups to car purchases, indicating sufficient demand.

Lynk & Co is positioned as "Sports Trends + Volvo Entry-Level Supplement", has signed 10 dealers in Belgium, and the pace of entering Europe is accelerating. Europe focuses on plug-in hybrids as the main product direction, forming differentiation with Zeekr's pure electric positioning.

Galaxy and China Star are responsible for the mainstream mass market. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. CEO Gan Jiayue announced at the earnings call that Geely will no longer develop traditional fuel vehicles in the future; all fuel vehicle models will turn to i-HEV Smart Hybrid, and next year all i-HEV models will be launched to the overseas market.

The i-HEV engine thermal efficiency is 48.41%, breaking the global mass production record. This is Geely's trump card to compete head-on with Japanese hybrids overseas. In the first half of the year, China Star sales volume dropped 5.7% year-on-year, but market share increased from 8.7% last year to 10.4%, winning against the industry against the background of a 31.9% decline in the fuel vehicle market.

Conclusion

Geely is also bearing the pressure of shrinking overall volume in the domestic market.

At the earnings call, An Conghui openly shared: The brand power of Geely's system in the mainstream price range is still insufficient, lacking strong mid-range products.

In the downturn cycle of the industry, the core reason why Geely was able to submit a scorecard with 46% profit growth is that it completed two leaps in the strategic dimension: using Zeekr's premiumization to break through the profit ceiling, and using deep overseas localization cooperation to broaden survival space.

The domestic elimination race is far from over; globalization is a required course for survival. But in this interim report, Geely proved one thing to the industry: car companies that plant roots deeply into the global system early can better undertake the challenges of the times.

In addition, how to coordinate brand positioning and manufacturing standards when Volvo factories OEM Geely brand models? Can the joint venture model of Ford Spain factory be replicated to other markets? How to cope with the high uncertainty of geopolitical politics? It still needs time to test.

Let's turn back time to Quanzhou Port a thousand years ago. At that time, masts stood like a forest, and foreign merchants gathered. On the dock, Jingdezhen porcelain, Hangzhou silk, and Wuyi tea ready for shipping were stacked. They would ride the monsoon winds southward, crossing the South Seas, eventually reaching Rome, thousands of miles away.

Time arrives at 2026. A BYD convoy departed from Xi'an's Great Tang West Market, traveling south along the four thousand-year-old cultural arteries of Bozhou incense, Jingdezhen porcelain, Hangzhou silk, and Wuyi Mountain tea. Passing through Quanzhou and Chaozhou, it finally reached Shenzhen to complete the "going global" ceremony.

Porcelain, silk, tea. These were the "hard currency" of our foreign trade a thousand years ago. A thousand years later, at Shenzhen Port, roll-on/roll-off ships departed slowly one after another. Inside the holds, neatly arranged were not silk or porcelain, but tens of thousands of new energy vehicles. The destinations were surprisingly consistent with a thousand years ago, still Europe and Southeast Asia.

Some friends might consider this BYD "Silk Road Ten-Thousand Miles" event as simply a brand promotion. But if we dig deeper into its connotation, we find it is actually a cultural relay spanning a thousand years. Why say that? Let's start from that ancient trade route from a thousand years ago.

Silk Road, A Thousand-Year Name Card of China

When mentioning the Silk Road, what comes to many minds is the sound of camel bells and a land channel filled with yellow sand.

But in reality, the ancient Silk Road always operated on two lines in parallel. The land Silk Road started from Xi'an, going westward over mountains and ridges, directly reaching Rome; the maritime Silk Road started from Quanzhou, setting sail and navigating through the South Seas. These two distinct routes converged, becoming a bridge between ancient China and world trade.

Friends who have read history certainly know that what we exported on this trade route were ancient Chinese specialties like Bozhou incense, Jingdezhen porcelain, Hangzhou silk, and Wuyi tea. Although called "specialties", the weight and significance of these products back then was far heavier than we imagine.

Porcelain was the "high-tech product" of that era. Europeans didn't decipher the firing secrets of hard porcelain until the 18th century. In the hundreds of years before that, Chinese white porcelain was regarded as "white gold" in Europe. Silk and tea were also scarce "hard currency". In Rome, the price of silk was almost equivalent to gold of the same weight.

In other words, when Chinese products went overseas a thousand years ago, what was exported was not just commodities, but world-class craftsmanship and technology of that time.

And coming to today, a thousand years later, the BYD convoy is retracing not just the ancient roads in a geographical sense, but a path where "good Chinese products win the world". However, on BYD's manifest are world-leading new energy vehicles, power batteries, and a complete charging replenishment system.

From Selling Products to Building Systems, The Value of Going Overseas is Getting Higher and Higher

Looking at Chinese carmakers going overseas, sales volume is always the most intuitive entry point.

BYD's overseas sales have already broken one million units, a year-on-year increase of over 140%, with products covering over 120 countries and regions globally. From starting scale overseas expansion to reaching one million sales, BYD only took a few short years. This speed is extraordinary in the history of any previous multinational carmaker. Even Toyota and Volkswagen took decades to complete a similar global layout.

Of course, sales volume is just a partial data point. If you only focus on sales, you might view BYD's global strategy as too shallow.

What is most noteworthy about today's BYD going overseas is the two words "system". 8 own roll-on/roll-off ships shuttle regularly on global routes, delivering whole vehicles directly to Europe, America, and Southeast Asian ports. The Rayong Factory in Thailand, BYD's first passenger vehicle base overseas, localized both parts and employees, with vehicles produced locally and then exported to Europe. Besides the Thailand factory, BYD has multiple bases synchronously laid out in Brazil, Uzbekistan, Hungary, etc., forming a complete closed loop of "Domestic R&D + Overseas Localization Production + Global Shipping".

Technology export is even more important. The second-generation Blade Battery, fast charging replenishment system, are landing overseas synchronously with the vehicles. Europe's first fast charging station has been built, Uzbekistan's dedicated charging network is being laid out, and even the "PV-Storage-Charging" integrated power station solution has entered the Central Asian market.

The porcelain merchant ships a thousand years ago loaded finished products. Today's roll-on/roll-off ships load not just finished cars, but factories, technology, and standards. The carrier of going overseas has changed, and the depth of going overseas has also completely changed.

New Maritime Silk Road, Sending the Best Chinese Made to the Whole World

In this BYD "Silk Road Ten-Thousand Miles" event, actually, there is a detail worth savoring, which is that the weight of the Quanzhou stop was significantly increased.

The convoy visited the Maritime History Museum here, watching thousand-year-old techniques amidst the threads of marionettes, and reading letters home that crossed the ocean in the Qiao Pi Hall. Why specifically choose Quanzhou? Because this city preserves the most complete memory of the Maritime Silk Road. It is the origin point of China's deep interaction with the world via the ocean, and it is also a key to understanding the logic of today's China going global.

Until today, more than 80% of global cargo trade still relies on maritime shipping. Maritime routes are the blood vessels of globalization. The main battlefield for Chinese cars going overseas: Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, all actually require sea routes to arrive more economically. BYD building 8 roll-on/roll-off ships by itself is essentially holding this "blood vessel" in its own hands.

This is why, in the previous "Double Silk Road narrative", the Maritime Silk Road was actually the main focus. From Quanzhou Port to Shenzhen Port, from the Maritime Trade Office in the Song and Yuan dynasties to today's roll-on/roll-off terminals, the maritime channel between China and the world has never closed; it's just that the cargo on ships changed from silk and porcelain to batteries, whole vehicles, and PV-storage solutions, which are what is often called the "New Three Items" for going overseas today.

And the weight of this new name card is not less than the porcelain from a thousand years ago. When countries along the route use Chinese new energy vehicles, Chinese fast charging stations, and Chinese PV-storage-charging solutions, what China exports is not just products, but a complete set of green and sustainable development paths.

The moment the BYD convoy departed from Shenzhen Port, what we saw was not just the voyage of a car manufacturer, but a relay spanning a thousand years. The incense, porcelain, silk, and tea of the ancient Silk Road, and the batteries, whole vehicles, and charging systems of the new era, completed the handover in the same sea area. The carrier is indeed changing, but the core has not changed: Send the best Chinese-made to the whole world.

Fu Rong, Interns Fang Weibo, Cheng Siyu

According to data from the China Passenger Car Association, domestic car sales continued to decline under pressure in July, while overseas markets maintained significant growth, especially the overseas sales of several top automakers have accounted for "half of their total sales". Car going global has leaped from a supplementary channel to the core engine for automakers to digest capacity and maintain growth.

From July data: Chery Holding total sales 276,800 units, exports 202,500 units, overseas share as high as 73%, nearly 3 times the domestic market; BYD total sales 419,200 units, exports 179,800 units, overseas share 42.8%; Geely Auto sales 250,200 units, exports 106,700 units, share 42.6%; SAIC Group sales 338,600 units, exports 141,700 units, share 41.9%. In comparison, sales of various automakers in the domestic market showed different degrees of decline, one rising and one falling, allowing the overseas market to leap from being a "minor player" in the past to become the pillar supporting performance growth for mainstream automakers.

According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, domestic car sales in July were 1.541 million units, down 13.1% month-on-month and down 23.6% year-on-year. Data from the China Association of Auto Trade Dealers shows the auto dealer inventory warning index climbed to 61.1% that month, far exceeding the 50% threshold, with over 60% of dealers finding it hard to be optimistic about the market trend in the second half of the year, and industry inventory reduction pressure increased significantly.

In stark contrast, overseas markets continued to perform well during the same period. Mainstream automakers that implemented the going global strategy all saw significant growth in overseas sales. Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers also shows: In July, China's car export volume reached 1.043 million units, surging 81.3% year-on-year, breaking the million-unit mark for two consecutive months. Among them, new energy vehicle exports reached 553,000 units, a surge of 145.5% year-on-year, with their share exceeding 50% for two consecutive months, becoming the absolute main force of exports. From January to July, China's cumulative car exports reached 6.14 million units, a 66.8% year-on-year increase, among which new energy vehicle exports increased 1.2 times year-on-year.

Behind this structural change lies the deep layout of global strategies by top automakers. The going global model of Chinese automakers is gradually shifting from "complete vehicle exports" to combining with "industrial rooting". BYD's factories in Brazil and Thailand have started production successively; Chery is advancing multi-base projects in Spain, Vietnam, etc.; Changan's factory in Brazil has also been completed and put into production. Top automakers are rooting deeply in global core markets through a "three-in-one" approach of building factories, laying out channels, and integrating supply chains. Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America have become the three major core pivots of Chinese automaker globalization. Looking forward, tariff barriers and local operational capabilities will become the watershed of competition. From satisfying domestic demand to driving the global market, a profound transformation from "Made in China" to "Chinese Globalization" is taking place.

When a national mini car heads to the global market, what kind of answer will it deliver? In 2026, Chery's new QQ3 officially landed in Southeast Asia under the overseas name Chery Q, launching consecutively in the Thailand and Indonesia dual markets. As the first landing site of Chery QQ's globalization strategy, this car carrying the memories of two generations has once again gained recognition from a massive number of users.

Tracing back history, the old QQ model had already entered the Thailand and Indonesia markets as early as 2006, accumulating 20 years of local sentiment. After two decades, the new QQ3 returns refreshed, not simply replicating the classic, but heading overseas with unified global car-building standards, without reducing specifications and without special local versions, practicing Chery's "Happiness for All" globalization concept.

Market feedback best proves product strength. In the Thailand market, Chery Q completed its Southeast Asian global debut at the March Bangkok International Auto Show and launched pre-sales, surpassing 1,000 orders within 10 days of launch; on June 24, the official price was announced as 449,900‑519,900 Thai Baht, cumulative orders after listing surpassed 3,000 units, and the first batch of deliveries launched in July. In the Indonesia market, the naming launch was completed on May 18, and on July 31 it landed at the GIIAS Indonesia International Auto Show for formal sales, priced at 239.9 million‑264.9 million Indonesian Rupiah. As of the end of July, orders surpassed 6,000 units, with the first batch of deliveries expected to start in September. Thailand and Indonesia formed a dual-engine hot sales pattern in Southeast Asia, simultaneously forming a two-way response with the domestic data of breaking 56,000 orders in the first month of listing.

It is worth mentioning that 62% of orders in the Thailand market came from female users, with many Gen Z young people spontaneously checking in and sharing on social platforms. The compact body fits Bangkok's narrow streets, low usage cost of only 5 Thai Baht per 100 km, IP68 battery waterproofing adapts to Southeast Asia's rainy climate, plus full-identification round and square aesthetics appearance, precisely hitting the core needs of local city commuters and family transport users. Thai Autolife Thailand, Indonesian OtoDriver, and other professional auto media also gave Chery Q very high market ratings, believing it has extremely strong product competitiveness at the corresponding price point.

Being able to achieve such order results, the root lies in solid product strength. The new QQ3 possesses four core product values: high attractiveness, large vision, strong physique, and better understanding of you, holding 10 class-unique items and 13 class-leading advanced configuration items. From the Red Dot Design Double Award-winning team, round and square aesthetics design, 7 body colors plus 36 DIY roof colors, meeting young people's personalized aesthetics; 2700mm ultra-long wheelbase, 85% space utilization rate, realizing B-class space experience, 70L smart electric front trunk, 38 storage spaces across the entire vehicle, maximizing spatial imagination.

On safety levels, five-vertical, eight-horizontal cage body structure, high-strength steel ratio accounts for 82%, 1300MPa integrated hot-formed door ring, paired with Rhino battery having IP68 highest waterproof rating, completed six-dimensional electric safety certification, supported by 6 airbags, giving users enough confidence for travel. Lingxi Cockpit equipped with Qualcomm 8155 chip, Carmind large model, outside voice, outside announcement, Falcon L2 level intelligent driving, 100+ scenario automatic parking, giving rich intelligent configurations to overseas ordinary consumers.

Now the new QQ3 also forms "The World's Three Little Ones" together with MINI, SMART. Chinese premium mini cars are no longer just focusing on price-performance ratio, but outputting Chinese automotive culture with complete product strength. Old QQ is the youthful memory of a generation, the new Chery Q is a premium mini car for global young users, combining nostalgia and real strength, letting the world see the power of Chinese mini cars.

On August 8, the 20th China Brand Festival opened in Beijing. China Tire Business Network (Tirechina.net) learned that Linglong Tyre President Zhou Lingkun was invited to attend the opening ceremony's summit dialogue, engaging in exchanges around the theme "Ecosystem Going Global: From Going It Alone to 'Wild Goose Formation' Win-Win".

As the global industrial chain undergoes deep restructuring, the globalization of Chinese enterprises is stepping into a new phase — no longer a simple output of products, but a systemic evolution involving technology, standards, brands, and ecosystems. As a pioneer in the industry for going global earliest, Linglong's nearly 20-year globalization journey is a vivid footnote to this process.

From Pioneering to Ecosystem Elevation

Looking back at Linglong Tyre's path to going global, President Zhou Lingkun summarized it into four stages on site.

The first stage is pioneering. Since 2009, Linglong has ranked first in exports among Chinese domestic tire enterprises for 13 consecutive years, but at that time it was "one person carrying samples running all over the world", channels, standards, and brands were controlled by others. The second stage is building factories across the ocean. The Thailand factory started production in 2014, making Linglong one of the earliest Chinese tire enterprises to build factories overseas; In September 2024, the Serbia factory officially went into mass production, praised by President Vucic as "Serbia's largest greenfield investment project", Linglong moved from "selling products" to "building capacity".

The third stage is system supremacy. Establishing R&D centers in "three countries, eight locations", defining its own technology and product standards. The fourth stage is ecosystem elevation — rooting and integrating into every overseas market, with ESG as the core, moving from capability output to system output.

"After going through the four stages, our deepest realization is — going it alone allows survival, but to win, one must rely on the ecosystem." Zhou Lingkun said. Only with ecosystems coordinating operations can one go further and fight steadier.

Linglong Tyre's "Wild Goose Formation" Combination

When the host asked whom Linglong most hoped to come along and "fly high", President Zhou Lingkun expressed that it was not pointing to a specific enterprise, but a complete ecosystem combination.

In his view, ecosystem going global is not one enterprise going it alone, but different roles playing their respective parts and progressing together. The OEM is the "Leading Goose", Linglong participates deeply with the OEM, joint research and development, where the OEM opens up, Linglong follows where, and supports where; Professional service providers are the "Supporting Geese", financial, legal, compliance, logistics and other soft infrastructure, cannot be completed by Linglong alone, needs professional partners to support together; Industry associations, think tanks, and testing institutions are the "Escort Geese", for Chinese standards to have equal global discourse power, the whole ecosystem needs joint efforts.

Take Off Together to Fly Further

At the meeting, Linglong was awarded the China Brand Top 500 Value Certificate

Industry Comment

The "Wild Goose Formation" ecosystem going global proposed by Linglong Tyre not only summarizes an enterprise's development experience, but also reflects the collective shift in the globalization process of China's tire industry.

For the past few decades, China's tire industry completed preliminary penetration of the global market based on manufacturing cost advantages, export scale has long led globally, but has always faced industry-common difficulties such as frequent trade barriers, low brand premium, and insufficient overseas localization operation capabilities. The globalization of most small and medium tire enterprises still remains at the product trade level, the model of going it alone is both difficult to cope with complex overseas policies, compliance and supply chain risks, and also difficult to support brands breaking through to high-end markets.

With leading enterprises completing overseas capacity landing and building global R&D networks, the globalization of Chinese tires has entered the deep water area. "China brand going global is not about comparing who flies faster, but who flies further, flies steadier, flies as a team." Zhou Lingkun stated in the dialogue, there are no supporting roles in the wild goose formation, every participant has their own value, moving forward towards a common goal simultaneously.

From product output to capacity layout, then to technology standards and ecosystem system output, the globalization of Chinese tire brands is experiencing a key leap from quantity to quality. When the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain form a combined force, and go global collaboratively with a "Wild Goose Formation" posture, the Chinese tire industry can truly establish long-term competitiveness in the global market, achieve brand upgrade from "going out" to "going up", and win more recognition and respect on the global stage.

In the first half of 2026, the domestic sales and export data of China's automotive market point in two distinctly different directions.

Domestically, car sales reached 9.921 million vehicles, a sharp year-on-year decline of 21.1%, where the contraction in volume represents real operational pressure; overseas, however, presents another scene — car exports reached 5.096 million vehicles in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 65.3%, achieving a breakthrough of 5 million vehicles in exports for a half-year for the first time.

Between one cold and one hot, a clear signal has been sent: the growth engine of China's automotive market is shifting from relying on the domestic single market to a "domestic + overseas" dual-drive. Relevant predictions indicate that in 2026, China's automotive exports are expected to reach 10 million vehicles, becoming the first country in the world to break through the 10 million vehicle export mark.

But more worth questioning than the number itself is: Can this growth trend continue? How much incremental space is there for China's automotive industry on the overseas expansion line in the coming years? To answer this question, we must first understand a more fundamental proposition — on what basis can China's automotive industry continue to gain increments in someone else's home court?

What was forged in domestic "Hellish" competition?

On what basis can Chinese automakers break into someone else's home court? Is it because prices are cheap? Not entirely. The real answer must be found in the domestic market.

For European automakers, the R&D cycle for a new car is typically 5 to 7 years, and the usage cycle of a generation of platforms can last up to 10 years; whereas Chinese automakers can complete the R&D of a new car in 2 to 3 years and complete platform upgrades in 3 to 5 years. This means that while overseas competitors spend time developing a car, Chinese cars have already completed 2 to 3 iterations. This crushing advantage in time dimensions is not simply "fast" — the technological gap is widened step by step through such rhythm differences.

Secondly, cost efficiency. The cost of China's power batteries is over 30% lower than Europe's. This is not stacked by subsidies, but the result of 分摊 after volume of tens of millions, a structural advantage that no other global market can replicate.

Conversely, once leaving this cluster, the cost advantage disappears quickly — taking CATL's factory in Thuringia, Germany as an example, its production cost is clearly higher than domestic ones — this is not a management issue, but a direct reflection of the industrial cluster gap.

Image Source: Huaban Network

Additionally, it can be said that Chinese consumers have the highest requirements for intelligence and connectivity globally. The intensity of competition in the domestic market forces automakers to perfect infotainment system fluency, voice interaction, and advanced intelligent driving to the extreme. The most common evaluation European consumers have for Chinese new energy vehicles is: "Vehicle systems are like smartphones, European cars are like feature phones." Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary-General of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, uses this analogy: "Good products will naturally be favored by global consumers, which is consistent with the logic of Apple phones and Japanese cameras in the Chinese market at that time."

These three generations of disparity — faster iterations, lower costs, and better experiences — combined together, constitute the capability base for sustainable growth of China's automotive industry going global. As long as the "Hellish" competition in the domestic market does not end, industrial efficiency will not stop, and going global will have a constant supply of ammunition.

After Capability, Where Is the Growth Space?

Having capability, we still need to look at space. The incremental growth of China's automotive industry overseas in the future will not be a straight line; different markets and different strategies will release different growth curves.

First, look at the data. According to Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute data, the TOP 10 destination countries for China's passenger car exports in the first half of 2026 saw significant changes.

Russia, with 432,698 vehicles and a year-on-year increase of 154.2%, returned to the No. 1 export market, surpassing Brazil to take the top spot. The market vacuum left after European, American, Japanese, and Korean automakers withdrew is being rapidly filled by Chinese automakers. With the gradual release of localized production capacity such as Great Wall's Tula plant, Geely's Belarus joint venture plant, and Chery's KD assembly lines, exports rebound further.

Brazil, with 394,410 vehicles and a year-on-year increase of 158.6%, ranked second. In the first half of the year, Chinese automakers stocked up centrally before Brazil raised the whole vehicle import tariff to 35% in July, which was the direct cause of the export surge. Of course, the reason such "sprint" holds is the objectively existing long-term demand of the Brazilian market. In the first half of this year, Brazil's new energy sales increased by 125% year-on-year, and the penetration rate has reached 18%. As the KD assembly tariff will also be raised to 35% in 2027, local factories of automakers such as BYD, Great Wall, and Changan in Brazil have been put into production or started construction successively, and the export model is shifting from complete vehicles to localized production.

The European market remains the core growth pole for China's passenger car exports. The UK remained stable at third place with 251,290 vehicles; Belgium with 215,184 vehicles, Italy with 146,769 vehicles, and Spain with 115,264 vehicles all entered the top 10. Among them, Italy increased by 141.9% year-on-year, continuing the high-speed growth trend.

The Latin American market, however, shows obvious differentiation. Although Brazil grew strongly, Mexico's exports were 148,154 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 33.7%, affected by tariff policy adjustments and tightening of North American trade environment. The Middle Eastern market also entered an adjustment period, with UAE exports at 135,713 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 36.4%. In comparison, the Asia-Pacific market maintained steady expansion, with Australia at 211,965 vehicles, an 84.2% increase year-on-year, and Malaysia at 103,745 vehicles, breaking through 100,000 vehicles for the first time.

Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute's judgment on this stated: "Growth momentum is shifting from single market driven to multi-region collaborative development. European high value, Latin American scale, and Southeast Asian substitution effect — the combination of the three constitutes a multi-level space for overseas growth increments."

Just as Lin Huaibin, Director of China Light Vehicle Sales Forecasting at Mobility Global predicted, "The focus of China's automotive industry overseas production will shift from Russia-Belarus to Brazil-South Europe — overseas production was about 1 million vehicles in 2025, close to 4 million vehicles by 2030, and frankly stated, 'The total production volume of Spain including Hungary and the UK in Europe will exceed that of Russia.'" "

When looking at corporate overseas expansion, one cannot only focus on sales; one must see the strategic logic behind it. Actually, stripping away the appearance, everyone's commonality is to pursue "localization", but how to implement it specifically has led to different paths.

Taking BYD as a representative, it can be classified as the "Heavy Asset Self-Build School". Not only do they build RoRo ships to solve logistics themselves, but they also invest heavily in building factories in Brazil, Hungary, and other places. Although this approach requires large initial investment, once capacity ramp-up is completed, it can avoid tariff barriers, achieve full cost autonomy control from battery to complete vehicle, and firmly hold the discourse power and risk resistance capability of going global in their own hands.

Image Source: Geely Automobile

Of course, not all automakers need to take this heavy asset route. Geely and Chery have explored another solution of "Industrial Symbiosis". They are not keen on "building from scratch" but are good at borrowing strength: Geely leans towards capital and technology output, such as investing in Ford's Spanish plant and jointly producing with Renault in Brazil, exchanging European manufacturing identity with very low light asset investment, landing quickly and having strong risk resistance; Chery revived the Spanish Ebro brand through "Technology Investment", avoiding trade friction and winning local cultural identity.

As Tang Liming, Chief Product Strategy Officer of Geely Automobile Group, said: "It's not going out alone, but partners going out together." Geely cooperates with Renault on Horse Powertrain, co-builds Smart Joint Venture Company with Mercedes-Benz, and realizes industrial going global with the Proton brand in Malaysia — "What we take is not zero-sum game, but letting partners participate in ecosystem cooperation and share value."

Image Source: Leapmotor

And for new forces like Leapmotor, funds and volume determine they must take the "Light Asset Borrowing Boat" path. It directly allows Stellantis to hold shares and establish a joint venture company, comprehensively reusing the mature network and capacity of giants globally. This "leveraging small force for great effect" approach allowed Leapmotor to rapidly expand over 1,000 outlets in Europe and Southeast Asia. Not only did it take the sales champion of the Italian pure EV market, but it also realized quick profitability of overseas business with extremely low trial-and-error costs.

In short, whether it is heavy asset self-build, capital leverage, or joint venture path, everyone ends up the same, all moving from simple "selling cars" to deep "ecosystem going global".

But going global is not without hidden concerns. Lin Huaibin reminded that China's new energy vehicles in mature markets like the UK and Germany face the risk of high used car depreciation rates — "Although cars sell well, fierce price competition leads to high depreciation rates in the used car market."

Complete Vehicle Going Global Hits Ceiling, Supply Chain "Collective Move"

The quantity growth of complete vehicle exports will eventually hit a ceiling; trade barriers and tariff policies could cut off increments at any time. But once the industry chain goes global, it becomes irreversible. The upper limit of China's automotive industry going global in the coming years does not depend on how many cars are sold, but on how deep and wide the industry chain goes out.

Nowadays, parts manufacturers are following OEMs in a collective "move".

CATL invested 7.34 billion euros in a battery factory in Debrecen, Hungary, with a planned total capacity of 100GWh, serving a service radius covering the core automotive production areas of Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Mercedes-Benz has been confirmed as the first major customer of this factory, and BMW will also become one of the customers.

Image Source: Sunwoda

Gotion's four overseas bases in Germany, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand have been put into production successively. Sunwoda's first European battery factory in Hungary has also entered the key stage of construction, expected to be put into production in the second half of 2026. This is no longer simple "matching", but the entire supply chain system is moving collectively.

But this is not enough. Tang Liming emphasized, "Not only must enterprises 'go out', but also help the supply chain 'go out'." Geely established a 1 billion yuan supply chain going global special fund to provide financing guarantees and low-interest loans for SMEs — "If going out oneself, competitiveness might be weak. Taking the advantage of the industry chain out is where the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises for future overseas development lies." This judgment correlates with the trend of parts manufacturers collectively "moving": The upper limit of going global does not depend on how many cars are sold, but on how deep the industry chain goes out.

Meanwhile, intelligent solutions are also being output in reverse. Huawei Qiankun has cooperated with over 25 brands and more than 50 models, including international brands like Audi and Toyota, with total intelligent driving installations exceeding 1.9 million vehicles.

Image Source: Horizon Robotics

In the fuel vehicle era, Chinese automakers bought Bosch and Continental chassis solutions; in the smart vehicle era, overseas automakers are now buying Chinese intelligent driving solutions. Horizon's Journey series chips have received over 25 automaker and over 100 model confirmations. Even international Tier 1 giants like ZF began confirming domestic chip solutions, just to shorten development cycles and reduce costs.

The significance of this "reverse output" is that overseas increments are expanding from "complete vehicle exports" to "technology exports", the latter's growth ceiling is much higher than the former. As Chen Shihua said at the 2026 China Auto Forum: "Chinese-made new energy intelligent connected cars show strong competitiveness in overseas markets."

The deeper contest is standards. Jia Jianxu, President of SAIC Motor, made a clear judgment at the 2026 China Auto Forum: China's automotive industry is shifting from simple product output to comprehensive industry chain collaborative going global, upgrading from trade exports to full value chain local deep diving. He summarized this shift with one sentence: "China's automotive industry needs to change from going out to going in. Truly going to this country to deeply dive into this market, roots must be planted deep."

Jia Jianxu also particularly emphasized compliance awareness in local operation. He gave an analogy: "Going into someone's home as a guest, guests must follow the host's rules. If entering the host's home and not following the host's rules, you will be kicked out by the host sooner or later." Behind this is a deeper judgment: The endpoint of going global is not "selling more cars", but for China's automotive industry to change from "rule takers" to "rule makers".

Conclusion

5.096 million vehicles exported in half a year are just the tip of the iceberg of this industrial big going global.

The growth momentum of China's automotive industry on the overseas expansion line in the coming years is not linear, but stacked upward — from complete vehicles to brands, from brands to technology, from technology to standards. Each level of leap will push the growth ceiling up another tier.

Of course, this road is not smooth, but the direction is already clear.

When the domestic market falls into stock game, going global has become the most certain incremental direction. This increment is not exchanged by low-price dumping, but is the natural result of China's automotive industry capability overflow. The 2026 export breaking through 10 million vehicles is likely to become reality, but more worth paying attention than numbers is that in the overseas wave, China's automotive industry has truly completed the leap from "quantity" to "quality".

The first half of 2026 has passed, a time for summary, review, and reflection. Amidst fluctuations in the global economy, Chinese auto exports have not slowed down; growth is accelerating.

This year, the total volume of complete Chinese car exports approached 5 million units, an increase of more than 60% year-over-year.

According to the consulting firm AlixPartners, China's car exports in 2026 are expected to break 10 million units, setting a historical record for the highest annual car exports from a single country. However, this 10 million unit overseas journey is far from smooth; global regional markets are showing vastly different landscapes and policies.

US Three-Tier Firewall

The US is the world's largest consumer market, but for a long time to come, Chinese cars may be excluded from it.

Many people think Chinese cars cannot enter the US due to high tariffs, but the reality is more complex. The US has effectively constructed a three-tier blockade system, almost completely severing ties with the Chinese automotive industry.

The first layer is tariff barriers. The US levies a 25% general tariff on imported cars, plus a 100% Section 301 tariff on Chinese EVs previously imposed, resulting in a combined tax rate exceeding 125%. For example, assuming the Li Auto i8 is exported to the US with an FOB price of $40,000, the tariff at destination would be $50,000, making the cost of these two items at least $90,000. In the US market, this price is sufficient to purchase the top-spec Cybertruck.

Besides tariffs, there are technology bans. In January 2025, the US released 'Rules for Intelligent Connected Vehicles', requiring that starting from the 2027 model year, connected car software designed, developed, or supplied by entities 'owned, controlled, or subject to the jurisdiction of' China or Russia be prohibited. Starting from the 2030 model year, connected car hardware is further prohibited. This rule not only looks at where the vehicle is assembled but penetrates to the source of software and capital.

Recently, Polestar became the first automotive brand affected by this. The US Department of Commerce refused to grant Polestar sales authorization, citing that 'vehicles equipped with relevant Chinese connected technologies may collect sensitive owner information and pose national security risks'. Therefore, Polestar had to announce a complete stop on selling new cars in the US starting from the 2027 model year, which is almost equivalent to exiting the US market.

Finally, there are legislative restrictions. In May of this year, the US Congress was still pushing for a stricter 'Connected Vehicle Safety Act', planning to elevate this temporary ban to permanent law, while sealing off traditional routes to evade sanctions such as 'transshipment through Mexico or Canada or building factories in the US'.

Therefore, against the backdrop of the US-China power game, the US market is likely the market with the greatest challenge for Chinese auto companies going global.

EU Doors Half-Open

The EU is the world's second largest new energy vehicle market, and a strategic high ground Chinese auto companies must secure.

Although the previous anti-subsidy investigation and tax increase bill drew wide attention, the EU's strategy did not take a 'one-stick-kill' approach, but adopted a relatively gentle gradual means, essentially a form of self-industry protection.

In early 2026, after more than two years of negotiations between China and the EU, the EU implemented a minimum price commitment mechanism for Chinese imported electric vehicles. This means Chinese pure electric cars do not need to pay extra high taxes to enter Europe, but must price according to EU rules and cannot enter the market at too low a price.

On the surface, it seems Chinese enterprises no longer need to pay high anti-subsidy taxes, keeping profits in their own hands; but in essence, the EU is using administrative means to level out the price advantage of Chinese EVs, limiting Chinese EVs from launching price wars in the European market. This means every model and every configuration must be separately calculated for the minimum price, greatly raising compliance costs.

Therefore, for Chinese auto companies to develop in Europe in the future, they can no longer rely solely on price advantages; they must promote deep localization.

In the future European market, the pure 'complete vehicle trade export' model will have little room to survive. Chery building a joint venture in Spain and BYD's Hungarian factory production are using real investment to exchange for entry tickets, which is actually consistent with China's earlier approach of introducing foreign enterprises.

Although the threshold is raised, as long as enterprises are willing to share value and create benefits locally, the market door remains open—just a door that is 'half-open'.

Southeast Asia Builds a Backyard Garden

Southeast Asia is the regional market with the most intensive investment and most significant results for Chinese auto companies. Thailand is a typical weather vane.

In January 2026, the Thai auto market welcomed a historical turning point. According to the Federation of Thai Industries, brand pure electric car sales in January reached 31,860 units, a year-on-year increase of 354%, accounting for more than 75% of Thailand's pure electric market share. On the brand sales list, Toyota ranked first with 19,113 units, BYD stayed firmly second with 12,812 units, Chery entered the top three with 9,714 units, and six Chinese brands collectively entered the top ten. Chinese brands' combined market share in Thailand reached 47.34%, historically surpassing Japanese brands' 47.338% for the first time.

Indonesia is another key market. By the end of 2025, the market share of Chinese brands in Indonesia doubled year-on-year to 14%, and BYD sales jumped to third place. In January 2026, Indonesia's new car wholesale sales were 66,447 units, a year-on-year increase of 7%. In the electric vehicle sector, Chinese market share reached as high as 91.7%.

Looking at the whole of Southeast Asia, the market landscape dominated by Japanese cars for sixty years is facing attacks from all sides. In 2025, Japanese car sales in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and other six major countries declined by 22% compared to 2019, dropping to 68% in Thailand alone. Meanwhile, Chinese auto company sales in Southeast Asia exceeded 800,000 units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of over 120%, with average market share breaking through 35%. By the end of 2025, 7 Chinese auto companies had invested in building factories in Thailand, with cumulative investment exceeding $3 billion.

However, China's supply chain in ASEAN still has about 80% imported from China. Japanese car companies have not withdrawn, but switched tracks—Toyota invested 55 billion Thai Baht to expand hybrid production, local policies are shifting from focusing on pure electricity to technology neutrality. How to build a moat in local supply chain and product diversification is the next hard battle for Chinese auto companies in Southeast Asia.

Unexpected Opportunities in the Middle East

Chinese cars in the Middle East market are undergoing dramatic changes.

In the first two months of 2026, the UAE has jumped to the second position among Chinese car export destinations, with import volume reaching 103,900 units, a year-on-year increase of 53%. In 2025, China's car exports to the Middle East region reached 1.4 million units, of which the UAE's 570,000 and Saudi Arabia's 300,000 combined contributed more than 60% of the share. The economic report released by Saudi media in 2026 shows that Chinese car brand sales in the Saudi market are expected to exceed 120,000 units annually.

This way, the market share of Chinese brands in the Middle East has risen to above 20%, with proportions breaking through 25% in core markets such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, among which Chery and BYD are the two largest Chinese enterprises.

The key variable promoting this growth is exactly the recent change in the situation in the Middle East region. The tense situation in the Strait of Hormuz made this traditional golden route nearly paralyzed, ship traffic volume plummeted from about 130 ships per day in February to only 6 ships in March. Toyota has already planned to cut export production to the Middle East by 24,000 units, Nissan continued production cut measures, and Mazda also confirmed that exports to the Middle East would be stopped before the end of May.

The delivery period of Japanese car companies has been greatly extended, while Chinese car companies quickly filled the market vacancy with stable supply chains and more competitive products. Another significant advantage of the Middle East market is ample funds, objective recognition of Chinese brands, and geographical location that can radiate to Africa and Europe. This is also a major unexpected pleasure of Chinese auto exports this year.

Stepping Stone to Latin America or New Market?

The Latin American market is becoming one of the fastest-growing regions for Chinese auto companies.

In the first half of 2026, the sales of Chinese brands in the 7 countries of South America were between 650,000 and 750,000 units, an increase of more than 80% year-on-year, and the market share also officially exceeded US and German brands, becoming the third largest car series in the market.

In March this year, the monthly sales of Chinese brand cars in Mexico reached 15,698 units, with a market share of 11.9%, surpassing German brands for the first time. MG sales surged 54.2% to 6,166 units, ranking rising to 7th place; Geely sales surged 245.3%. Brazil was the fastest growing single market. For the entire first quarter, China exported 166,787 passenger cars to Brazil, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 242.8%. Brazil has become the country with the largest export volume of Chinese new energy vehicles.

But uncertainties facing the Latin American market are also rising. The US is pressuring Mexico to require it to limit the entry of Chinese cars into North America through the US-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement. BYD has established sales networks in Brazil and Mexico and plans to build a factory in Mexico, but how long the 'Mexico stepping stone' can play a role largely depends on policy gaming between the US and Mexico.

The Overlooked Continent of Africa

Africa has 1.4 billion people, but the current car penetration rate is low, and most car companies did not fully pay attention due to consumption power limitations. But looking at the data from the first half of 2026, important trend changes are appearing in South Africa and North Africa.

The industrial orientation of core countries such as Egypt and South Africa is very clear; they vigorously encourage local assembly models, complete vehicle import tariffs are high, but imported parts can enjoy great tax incentives. So layout in Africa, similarly cannot expect to rely solely on complete vehicle exports to achieve profitability, the core logic is still 'industry exchanging for market'.

If enterprises can invest deeply to build factories locally and drive local employment with parts assembly, it is more promising to obtain long-term market entry tickets. Although there is limited premium space at present, there are still few Chinese auto companies willing to make long-term layouts here.

Russia: A Special Battlefield for Chinese Autos

Who is the largest national market for Chinese auto exports? It is Russia.

In the first quarter of 2026, China exported 186,765 passenger cars to Russia, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of 97.1%. From January to May 2026, Russia ranked first among Chinese car export destinations with a monthly import volume of 94,301 units. In 2025, the market share of Chinese independent brands in Russia rebounded to 57.2%, accounting for more than half.

The speciality of the Russian market lies in the huge market vacancy left by the mass exit of Western car companies, and Chinese brands quickly filled this gap. However, objectively speaking, geopolitical risks remain the 'Sword of Damocles' in trade between China and Russia.

Final Thoughts

Some predict that Chinese auto exports in 2026 will cross the 10 million unit threshold, which is undoubtedly a milestone achievement in the entire history of human industry.

However, we believe this number is not the higher the better, because the higher the number, the more challenging the road ahead. Chinese auto exports need to formally move from the 1.0 stage of purely pursuing sales to the 2.0 era of system output and supply chain output. And in this more mature stage, the competitive fire between Chinese auto companies will also extend comprehensively to overseas markets.

Looking around at the current global landscape, the automotive industry is irrevocably dividing into two camps: 'China Ecosystem' and 'Non-China Ecosystem'. In overseas markets, our biggest opponent may no longer be Toyota or Tesla, but those Chinese peers who are going global together to compete.

Domestic car market competition intensifies, automaker profit margins remain under pressure, expanding into overseas markets has shifted from an optional layout to the only path for survival and development. Latest industry data shows, in the first half of 2026, China's car exports saw explosive growth, both export volume and total export value hit new highs, but overseas trade barriers continue to increase, localized production has become the core solution for automakers to break through.

Export data continues to climb, overseas markets drive growth

According to relevant statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in June 2026, domestic car exports reached 1.04 million units, up 75% year-on-year, achieving single-month exports exceeding 1 million for the first time. Car cumulative exports for the first half reached 5.1 million units, up 65% year-on-year, half-year export volume broke through 5 million units for the first time; total value of vehicle exports exceeded 600 billion yuan. Now car exports account for 35% of total domestic sales. Compared to the thin domestic profits, overseas markets offer higher gross profit margins, many automakers rely on overseas profits to support domestic business to counteract profit pressures caused by intense domestic price competition.

Leading automakers race overseas, layout strategies diverge

In the first half of the year, the overseas sales tiers of major automakers were clear. Chery led with exports of 939,000 units, overseas sales accounted for 74% of total sales; BYD followed with 792,000 units, localized production in overseas factories can effectively increase profit per vehicle; SAIC and Geely ranked third and fourth respectively. Among them, Geely's new energy vehicle exports grew rapidly, new energy vehicles accounted for 60% of its total exports. Changan and Great Wall also maintained stable overseas output. Major automakers continue to ramp up overseas capacity construction, consolidating market share by building factories overseas to cope with the continuously changing overseas policy environment.

Overseas barriers continue to increase, scope of trade restrictions expands

Behind the outstanding export performance, external challenges follow in succession. The EU imposes anti-subsidy duties on Chinese electric vehicles, and plans to extend restrictions to plug-in hybrid models, while introducing relevant bills to raise investment thresholds for foreign capital. Brazil raised tariffs on imported electric vehicles, Thailand implements production capacity commitment policies, multiple rules significantly increase the cost of direct vehicle exports. The model relying solely on vehicle exports carries increasingly high risks.

Accelerating local factory construction, automakers seek paths to break through

Facing trade barriers, domestic automakers chose to accelerate overseas localized production, forming two development paths. Chery adopts a reverse joint venture model, leveraging local brands to obtain production qualifications and reduce market resistance; BYD chose to fully self-construct factories, fully controlling the supply chain and production links. Many enterprises rushed to acquire European factories during the window period to avoid policy restrictions.

China's car exports have entered a high-growth cycle, but long-term challenges remain ahead. The overseas market is both an incremental blue ocean and a competitive battleground. Major automakers continue to improve their overseas industrial layout, resolving trade barriers by relying on localized production. In the future, whoever can better root themselves in overseas markets and balance policy with operations is expected to seize more seats in the global car competition.

"The recent wind direction seems a bit off."

A senior executive of an automaker responsible for the Southeast Asian market told Auto Industry Chronicle.

Starting July 1 this year, all electric vehicles imported fully into Malaysia (CBU) must simultaneously meet two new conditions: a minimum landed price of not less than 200,000 Ringgit (approx. 330,000 RMB), and motor power of no less than 180kW.

This does not include the restored import tax, consumption tax, and sales tax.

The reasons provided by the other party are also very sound: first, to protect local automotive brands and create space for their development, and second, to prevent Malaysia from becoming a dumping ground for excess electric vehicle production capacity from other countries.

When the model of relying on price advantages to quickly distribute goods several years ago no longer works, it also means that Chinese brands must readjust their layout thinking: either accelerate localization production or be squeezed out of the market by high tariffs.

From "Tax Exemption Dividends" to "Additional Clauses"

From 2022 to 2025, to support the rapid popularization of the electric vehicle industry, Malaysia issued a temporary relaxation policy: for electric vehicles above 100,000 Ringgit, import tax and domestic tax were exempted, only 10% sales tax was levied.

Top 20 Malaysian Electric Vehicle Brand Registrations in 2025

The generous policy dividends also attracted many Chinese brands to enter quickly.

In the top 10 Malaysia Electric Vehicle Sales Rankings for 2025, BYD, Zeekr, Chery, XPeng, and Denza all made the list (Proton ranked 2nd is strategically controlled by Geely).

BYD had held the title of local electric vehicle sales champion for three consecutive years. Taking advantage of the hot sales momentum, in August 2025, BYD announced the landing of a CKD complete vehicle assembly factory at KLK Science Park, Tanjung Malim, Perak, with a planned annual capacity of 50,000 units and an estimated investment of about 1.3 billion Ringgit.

After obtaining the temporary manufacturing permit at the end of September of the same year, the project progress advanced rapidly.

However, an accident occurred.

In March 2026, local media reported that BYD's Tanjung Malim factory construction showed "signs of suspension".

"Government requires BYD factory 80% capacity must be exported" and "Local selling price must not be less than 200,000 Ringgit" once circulated on the internet.

In response, the Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) issued a special clarification. The rumor of "80% capacity must be exported" was actually an additional clause limitation:

The annual local sales cap for this factory is 10,000 units, and this quota exactly accounts for 20% of the project's planned total capacity, and the 10,000 unit quota is a production framework jointly agreed upon by multiple parties.

Additionally, the on-road price of locally assembled CKD vehicles must not be less than 100,000 Ringgit, not 200,000.

MITI repeatedly emphasized, the additional clauses were not targeting BYD, but applied to all new automotive investment projects in Malaysia starting from September 2025, except for projects using existing local assembly facilities.

BYD Dolphin Right-Hand Drive Version

But the policy implementation node happened to coincide with BYD's factory construction cycle, inevitably leading to speculation.

After winning the local electric vehicle sales champion for three consecutive years, BYD started factory construction in September 2025, the timing was exactly covered by the new rules. Meanwhile, BYD's popular Dolphin, Atto 2, Seal models locally were priced around 100,000 Ringgit.

In the view of industry insiders, on one hand, they cannot launch models below 100,000 Ringgit, on the other hand, they are constrained by an annual domestic sales cap of 10,000 units, and the additional clauses also require the complete vehicle assembly process to be in local supporting welding workshops, coating workshops, and final assembly workshops, obviously increasing costs. The three major limits force BYD to reconsider the value of this project.

It is not only BYD affected by this.

"The additional clauses came out particularly suddenly. We were supposed to start work on local layout in Malaysia this year, now we are negotiating adjustments again." A senior executive of a central enterprise overseas told Auto Industry Chronicle candidly.

NO.2Were We Targeted?

So, were Chinese brands deliberately targeted?

In fact, behind the additional constraint clauses issued by Malaysia lies a macro consideration based on the domestic industrial chain and employment stability.

Malaysian Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Zahari Abdul Ghani explained that the relevant clauses treat all countries and brands equally, aiming to drive local assembly production capacity towards sustainable, high-value-added market segments, while avoiding replacement shocks to the existing local supplier ecosystem.

At the same time, the clause is export-oriented as its core, aiming to enable foreign investment to help Malaysia balance trade income and expenditure and deeply integrate into the global supply chain.

Industry insiders pointed out that this does not limit the total factory capacity, but is a strategic policy guiding enterprises to develop with exports as the core.

Malaysia hopes to get rid of the pure "import selling" model and expand the added value of local industries.

Currently, local brands Perodua and Proton have long occupied more than 60% of the mainstream share of the passenger car market. The industrial system supporting hundreds of parts manufacturers provides over 700,000 employment positions and is the cornerstone of stable local industrial development. Introducing advanced Chinese electric vehicle technology and industrial systems helps to quickly improve the development level of the local industrial chain.

As MITI also emphasized, projects using existing local assembly facilities are not subject to the newly issued additional clauses.

NO.3Chinese Brands Have Their Own "Tricks"

The localization layout of Chinese automakers is showing differentiation: some are trying to build independent capacity, while others choose to "borrow a boat to go overseas", embedding into the local industrial chain with lower policy risk through joint ventures or shared local production lines.

Just not far from Tanjung Malim, in Beringin High-Tech Automotive Valley, Selangor State, construction progress has never stopped.

In 2025, Chery adopted a joint venture model with local capital to build a smart automotive industrial park, with the first phase planning an annual capacity of 100,000 units, expandable to 300,000 units, and expected to start production in the second half of 2026.

Chery iCar officially rolls off the production line

Chery is one of the earlier Chinese automakers to obtain formal complete vehicle manufacturing qualifications in Malaysia. Besides the smart automotive industrial park under construction, it currently owns two production bases in the local area:

One is a CKD contract factory in cooperation with local enterprise Inokom, mainly responsible for fuel and hybrid model assembly production; the other is a wholly-owned complete vehicle factory located in Shah Alam, Selangor State, officially put into production in 2024, focusing on Jaecoo, Omoda high-end series and iCar new energy vehicle models.

Proton e.MAS 5

Geely did not build a factory, but chose the cooperation route.

In 2017, Geely entered the market by acquiring a 49.9% stake in the local automaker Proton. After years of development, relying on local CKD assembly and Geely technology empowerment, Proton's new energy sub-brand e.MAS series has flexible pricing space, with the entry-level pure electric model e.MAS 5 starting price only 56,800 Ringgit.

In 2025, Proton pure electric models registered 8,890 units, ranking second; from January to May 2026, cumulative registration was 11,642 units, climbing to the sales top with significant advantages.

Zeekr, as a high-end pure electric brand under Geely, focuses on SUV and MPV as the core promoted models in the Malaysian market.

Relying on the strategic cooperation between Geely and Proton to share local production lines, it does not need to build a new factory. Recently, Zeekr 7X will also undergo local CKD assembly, completing the transformation from pure complete vehicle import to localization production.

XPeng also chose to borrow local factories and existing production lines, adopting the CKD loose assembly mode for vehicle assembly. Just the day before yesterday, XPeng Automotive announced that its EPMB factory located in Malacca, Malaysia officially started production, and the first batch of G6s also officially rolled off the production line.

A head of a certain automaker preparing to enter the Malaysian market sighed that the local automotive consumption market volume is considerable, and relying on the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, vehicles produced locally for export to neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Indonesia can enjoy preferential tariffs, and as an export track it still has stable development space.

"But adjustments to the implementation rhythm and plan are necessary."

NO.4The Market is Huge, but Risks are Not Small Either

In recent years, Chinese automakers have gone overseas in groups to seek new growth breakthroughs.

Southeast Asia has become the first stop for overseas expansion for many brands. The gasoline vehicle market here has long been monopolized by Japanese brands, electrification started relatively late, and the local industrial chain is weak. Chinese automakers, relying on the generational advantage in tri-electric technology, cost control, and intelligence, can quickly fill the market gap and form dimensional reduction strikes.

On the other hand, these countries are also willing to open their doors wide to attract investment.

Taking Thailand as an example, its Board of Investment (BOI) provided heavy benefits such as 10-13 years exemption on corporate income tax for landing automakers, which also attracted many overseas automakers to enter.

But, there is no free lunch in the world.

BOI also set strict performance conditions; automakers need to complete indicators such as specified investment amount, localization procurement ratio, annual production, etc. If standards are not met, BOI can adjust or revoke some incentives and demand recovery of tax benefits already enjoyed plus penalty interest.

"This year is the concentrated expiration node of performance agreements. To complete indicators, Chinese automakers have also started price wars in Thailand. The industry 'involution externalization' phenomenon is obvious." A head of an automaker said.

With the improvement of local industrial chain maturity, the tightening of foreign investment import, factory construction, and export related rules has become a long-term trend, and the development space relying on low prices and high volume is being continuously compressed.

"Automakers going overseas cannot only see short-term market dividends; they must assess long-term policy restrictions in advance." This head said.

NO.5Written at the End

For Chinese automakers, the window period for overseas "low price high volume" is narrowing.

Local policies will definitely continue to adjust, and the market pattern is far from set.

Although Southeast Asia is becoming a new battlefield for Chinese automakers to seek overseas growth, however, is this battlefield really easy to capture?

On July 22, the 2026 Thailand-China Cooperation Expo was held at the IMPACT Convention Center in Bangkok. This year's expo, themed "Invest in the Future, Grow Together," aims to thoroughly implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and Thailand, and seize new opportunities for the continued deepening of bilateral economic and trade cooperation. China Tire Business Network (Tirechina.net) learned that Prinx Chengshan took this precious opportunity to actively integrate into the bilateral trade system between China and Thailand, deeply explore cooperation opportunities such as industry docking and market expansion, and assist in the high-quality coordinated development of industries in China and Thailand.

In-depth Exchange between Government and Enterprise

Localization Operation Results Recognized by Multiple Parties

During the expo, government and business representatives, including Mr. Jiang Wei, Minister-Counselor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, Mr. Lin Chuqin, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Chambers of Commerce, Mr. Liu Quanlei, Chairman of the Thailand China Business Chamber, and Mr. Somchai Dombasri, Director of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) discussed and exchanged views with Mr. Xu Jiangang, General Manager of Prinx Chengshan Tire (Thailand) Co., Ltd., on the company's deep localization, intelligent production, global layout, sustainable development, and more.

Participating government and business representatives highly affirmed the development achievements of Prinx Chengshan since rooting in Thailand in 2019, and gave high recognition and praise to the intelligent production level of the Prinx Chengshan Thailand Smart Factory (hereinafter referred to as "Thailand Factory"), its green development concept, and its contributions to promoting cultural exchange between Thailand and China and local economic development, laying a good foundation for subsequent cooperation.

Smart Manufacturing + Green Double Empowerment

Thailand Factory Strengthens Overseas Strategic Pivot Point

As the first overseas production base of Prinx Chengshan, the Thailand Factory is a key pivot point in the company's global layout strategy, strongly boosting economic and trade exchanges, industrial collaboration, and friendly exchanges between Chinese and Thai manufacturing. At the production end, the factory is equipped with internationally leading calenders and five-composite new processes, achieving automated and intelligent operation of processes such as semi-finished products, logistics, and sorting.

In terms of green and low-carbon development, the factory deeply practices energy-saving and environmental protection concepts, persistently walks the path of sustainable development, and has completed the largest single-building rooftop solar project in Southeast Asia. In terms of social responsibility, the factory actively participates in public welfare undertakings such as local education support and disaster relief in Thailand, boosts local employment, empowers youth development, actively builds cultural communication bridges, promotes interaction and integration of Chinese and Thai folk cultures, and deepens the understanding of hearts and minds between the two nations with pragmatic actions.

Flagship Products Showcase

Southeast Asian Matching Market Map Continues to Expand

Flagship products such as Prinx AQUILA PRO with outstanding core performances such as energy saving, comfort, and noise reduction were showcased at the expo. Currently, this tire has successfully been equipped with multiple overseas medium and high-end models such as SAIC MG5 PRO Thailand version, MG S5 EV Thailand version, Changan Qiyuan NEVO Q05, and more. Prinx Chengshan continues to deepen its work in the Southeast Asian matching market and makes steady breakthroughs, establishing solid and deep strategic cooperative relationships with many mainstream OEMs such as MG and Qiyuan. Working together to create high-quality mobility solutions adapting to the local market, the matching business map continues to expand, and the cooperation ecosystem moves towards higher quality development.

Deepening Industrial Chain Synergy

Jointly Drawing a New Blueprint for Going Global Development

In addition, the company also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with upstream partners, which helps to further deepen the in-depth integration and resource complementarity between the company and upstream and downstream industries such as Thailand's local rubber, and promote the coordinated development of the upstream and downstream of the regional tire industry chain.

In the future, Prinx Chengshan will continue to upgrade its product matrix, strengthen localization management and the collaborative layout of upstream and downstream industrial chains, rely on the China-Thailand economic and trade cooperation platform, actively seize precious new opportunities of the times such as regional industrial upgrading, contribute to the win-win and prosperity of China-Thailand economic and trade with "Made in China", and write a new chapter of Chinese tire enterprises going global, growing, and mutually beneficial symbiosis.

July 16, the launch of the Thunder 16-in-1 Smart Electric Drive brought Geely back to the global spotlight on electric drive technology again. But behind the excitement, a deeper thread is emerging: Chinese electric drives are transforming from "followers" into "rule makers." Star Drive Technology's products not only serve domestic brands but have also penetrated international giants such as Jaguar Land Rover, Renault, and Lotus, signing long-term orders with top European automakers. When foreign automakers begin proactively purchasing Chinese electric drive systems, this "Power Output" revolution led by Geely has quietly rewritten the competitive map of the global automotive parts industry.

I. Technology Export, System First

For Chinese electric drives to go global, it relies not on a single product, but on a production and research system capable of adapting to global standards. Star Drive Technology has taken the lead in this regard. It has established R&D and after-sales service centers in Gothenburg, Sweden, forming a 24-hour R&D network connecting Asia and Europe. From software to hardware, all development follows global standards to ensure products meet the regulations and performance requirements of various markets. This "Localized R&D + Global Collaboration" model ensures that Chinese electric drives are no longer just "sent overseas for sale," but are deeply embedded within the global innovation chain.

In terms of manufacturing, Star Drive Technology plans to build an overseas manufacturing base in Malaysia, forming a production capacity network radiating across Asia and Europe alongside its five domestic bases in Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Quzhou, and Jiaxing. An annual electric drive production capacity of 3 million units means it can handle orders from multiple domestic and international brands simultaneously and flexibly respond to market demand fluctuations. Production lines with over 95% automation rates, combined with micron-level machining accuracy, guarantee consistency in mass production and high quality. When "Chinese Smart Manufacturing" becomes replicable and exportable, overseas customers are naturally willing to open their doors to cooperation.

The verification system is also an important cornerstone of trust for technology export. The Star Drive Technology testing center has obtained CNAS certification and possesses the world's first 30,000 rpm single-motor direct-drive test rig, capable of covering over 95% of electric drive test projects. The "High-Quality Electric Drive" certification from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center and endorsement from Guinness World Records provide quantifiable verification bases for overseas clients. In cooperation with brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Renault, this "hardcore verification" becomes a key element in eliminating trust gaps. System strength is the most hardcore passport.

II. Brand Endorsement, Value Symbiosis

Geely's global journey is aided by the "ecosystem effect" of multi-dimensional mutual empowerment within the brand. Core technology matrices such as Leishen AI Electric Hybrid 2.0, Shendun Gold Brick Battery, and Ocean Super Electric Hybrid jointly form a powerful technology endorsement network. When international automakers see the outstanding performance in performance and energy consumption of brands under Geely, such as Zeekr and Lynk & Co, and then look at the electric drive products provided by Star Drive Technology, trust naturally increases. This is a symbiotic model of "sister brands prototyping, technology base supplying power," which is a competitive advantage difficult for single electric drive enterprises to replicate.

More importantly, Star Drive Technology has accumulated "luxury DNA" by serving high-end brands such as Volvo, Lotus, and Jaguar Land Rover. These brands have extremely strict requirements for the supply chain, and the ability to supply stably for a long time itself means that Star Drive Technology has reached the global top level in terms of quality, delivery, and service capabilities. This "circle of friends" effect will further attract other automakers to join. When a Chinese electric drive enterprise appears on the procurement list of global top automakers, it is no longer a simple supplier, but a key part of the technology ecosystem.

From the perspective of order volume, long-term orders signed by Star Drive Technology with top European automakers such as the UK, France, and Germany have already proven that the acceptance of Chinese electric drives in the global market is rising rapidly. The motor installation volume stayed steadily in the top 3 of the industry in the first half of 2026. Behind this achievement is the steady execution of the G2G (Gear to Global) strategy. From East Asia to Southeast Asia, from Europe to Africa, the service network is being fully rolled out. Chinese electric drives are no longer hiding behind the scenes for OEM, but standing in the spotlight, participating in global competition in the identity of independent brands.

III. Discourse Reconstruction, Pattern Subversion

The global influence of the Thunder 16-in-1 Smart Electric Drive is reshaping industry discourse power. In the past, core technologies and patents of electric drive systems were mostly held by foreign giants such as Bosch, ZF, and Denso, and Chinese brands could only circle around the mid-to-low-end market. However, now Star Drive Technology, with over 1,000 patents, has formed complete technical coverage on the 400V to 900V full voltage platform. From the world's first 900V magnesium alloy electric drive to Thunder 16-in-1, every product is a result of independent R&D. Chinese brands have finally achieved a milestone leap from "following" to "leading" in this core track of electric drives.

The subversion of the competitive landscape is also reflected in the level of standard setting. When Geely Galaxy TT refreshed the Guinness World Records with 8.20kWh/100km energy consumption and a 45.6 km dual car drift, it actually established a new industry reference system. In the future, electric drive products that want to be recognized as "benchmarks" may need to meet the dual standards of extremely low energy consumption and extreme performance at the same time. This "exam" initiated by Geely forces all participants to increase investment and shorten the R&D cycle. Geely, which completed this exam first and handed in high scores, naturally occupied the initiative to define the track.

From the perspective of national strategy, China proposed the call to cultivate "Hidden Champion" enterprises, and Geely Star Drive Technology is exactly the typical achievement of this policy. It has made up for China's weaknesses in motor technology, high-end materials, and electronic control solutions that have long relied on overseas. When this core technology achieves complete autonomous control, the "chokehold" risk of the entire Chinese automotive industry is significantly reduced. More importantly, it proves to the world that China can not only make the best batteries but also the best electric drive systems. Today, when the trend of new energy is irreversible, the comprehensive output of this "Chinese wisdom" will accelerate the process of the global automotive industry shifting eastward.

Conclusion:

From the long-term contracts of European automakers to the global certification of Guinness World Records, Star Drive Technology has broken the international monopoly with system strength and won world recognition for Chinese electric drives. "The time will come to ride the wind and cleave the waves, I will hoist my cloud-white sail to cross the sea of blue." Geely is sending Chinese power technology to every corner of the global ocean with a thunderous momentum. When Chinese electric drives are no longer just a label of "Made in China" but become part of global standards, this battle of going global can truly be said to have won the future.

In June, New Power Technology engine sales reached 17,966 units, up 26.9% year-on-year, maintaining double-digit growth for six consecutive months; cumulative sales from January to June totaled 110,533 units, up 28.1% year-on-year. Among them, self-operated export sales grew 121.6% year-on-year, becoming one of the most obvious sectors driving growth.

However, for an engine company, shipping more products overseas is not just a change in sales figures.

Once an engine is installed in a generator set, construction machinery, or a vessel, it faces complex local operating conditions, scattered customers, and a long supply chain. When equipment fails, how long until parts arrive? Where are the maintenance personnel? Do local partners have the capability to handle it? These questions often determine more than the product itself whether a brand can stay in the overseas market long-term.

This is the reason why New Power Technology has accelerated the construction of overseas offices, service stations, and spare parts pre-deployment systems in the past two years. After exports ran faster, this traditional power company began to fill the link most needing time in overseas operations: service.

From Selling Engines to Going Overseas with Original Equipment Manufacturers

New Power Technology's overseas business did not start in recent years. Qin Weiwei, General Manager of New Power International Sales Division, stated that New Power Technology began engaging in import and export business as early as the 1990s, initially leaning more towards trading.

What truly pushed New Power Technology's overseas business into a new phase was riding the wind of Chinese OEMs going global collectively.

In the past few years, construction machinery, commercial vehicle, and power generation equipment companies have begun entering markets such as Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America on a larger scale. As a power supporting supplier, New Power Technology's engines also went out together with the complete machines. According to data provided by the company, in the first half of 2026, overseas business covered more than 100 countries globally, possessing nearly 70 long-term customers and 15 core OEMs.

Currently, the company's exported products are still mainly engines for generator sets, accounting for about 90%; engines for marine engines, pumps, and construction machinery account for about 10%. These products are commonly used in scenarios such as telecom base stations, hospitals, hotels, ports, oil exploration, livestock logistics, wind power, and data centers.

An engine is a typical intermediate industrial product; what customers buy is not just a powertrain, but an entire set of capabilities for continuous operation. Especially in markets with relatively weak infrastructure, a single equipment shutdown may mean that communications, hospital power supply, port operations, or mining production are all affected.

Therefore, overseas customers' requirements for products are also shifting from "can it be delivered" to "can it be guaranteed long-term".

From Project-Based Support to Front-loading Service Capabilities

Before 2024, New Power Technology's overseas services mainly adopted two models: one was OEMs buying out service fees and taking responsibility for after-sales of exported products themselves; the other was assigning personnel to support on-site in major overseas projects. As products entered more countries, this project-based service model began to be difficult to adapt to increasingly scattered markets.

In 2024, the company established an overseas service department under the original overseas sales division. At the time of establishment, the team had only 4 people, and there were only 2 overseas offices, mainly relying on dealer networks for service; by June 2026, overseas offices increased to 20, overseas resident personnel reached 17, and the overseas sales service network reached 211.

This does not mean New Power Technology completely copied the domestically built network model overseas. More often, the company is responsible for providing technology, training, parts, and service standards, while local partners undertake on-site service and customer connection. For engine companies, this is a more realistic approach: it must form service capabilities quickly while also truly integrating services into the local market.

From 2024 to the first half of 2026, the company cumulatively built 120 new service stations and continued to expand overseas training scale. In 2024, 32 training sessions were conducted, 36 in 2025, and 21 completed in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, the overseas 7-day repair rate increased from 77% in 2024 to 88% in 2025, rising further to 90% by June 2026.

Behind the improvement of service capabilities, there is also a more fundamental parts issue.

Feng Chun, Senior Manager of New Power International Sales Division, stated that domestically, some common parts can be delivered in two to three days; but in markets like Africa and Latin America, shipping cycles can last several months, and emergency air freight is also affected by customs clearance, flight schedules, and local infrastructure conditions. In interviews, relevant overseas service personnel mentioned that facing cross-border logistics uncertainty, the company had to increase spare parts redundancy, placing common parts and some complete machines in overseas nodes in advance.

Currently, the company has already carried out parts and complete machine pre-positioning layout in Indonesia, Vietnam, Nigeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Turkey and other country and regional markets. The existing parts pre-positioning amount at 20 overseas market nodes has exceeded 2.7 million yuan, and plans are in place to continue supplementing; meanwhile, there are already 46 complete machines in pre-positioned overseas inventory.

For overseas customers, these inventories seem inconspicuous, yet they directly determine whether to wait for several weeks, months, or restore operation within a short time after equipment failure.

In Turkey, a local long-term cooperative dealer once stated that he regarded New Power Technology as "part of the family". In his view, New Power Technology product reputation is not only related to a single sale but also to whether local customers are willing to continue choosing this brand. Even if some end-users are not their direct sales targets, as long as it involves product usage experience and brand reputation, he is willing to actively assist communication.

After long-term product use and market accumulation, New Power Technology has a batch of loyal partners overseas who recognize its reliability and are willing to jointly maintain its reputation. For industrial products like engines, this trust does not come from simple transaction behavior, but from long-term stable product performance and consistently fulfilled service commitments.

Overseas Operations Compete on More Than Just Products and Prices

As the service network continues to spread, the challenges faced by New Power Technology have become more complex.

The overseas market is not simply copying domestic experience. Climate, altitude, fuel quality, operating habits, and language environments vary by country. Even if maintenance engineers have rich domestic experience, after arriving at the local market, they need to readjust to user needs and on-site operating conditions. Especially in regions where end customers mainly use local languages, relying solely on English and temporary translators makes it difficult to truly complete service downscaling.

Therefore, the product itself also needs adaptive development for overseas scenarios. New Power Technology's engines for generator sets cover a power range of 10—3000kW, all undergo highland testing at 5000 meters, and come standard with radiators adapted to 50 degrees Celsius environmental temperatures; for high-dust and special fuel quality conditions, corresponding optional solutions are also provided.

Beyond the traditional construction machinery and generator set markets, data centers are also becoming a new incremental direction. With the heating up of AI computing power infrastructure construction, demand for stable power supply and backup power at data centers is continuously rising. New Power Technology is exploring opportunities for 12VK, 16VK and other 1.8—2.4MW medium and high voltage units in the overseas data center field. In the first half of 2026, the company's generator set sales reached 3.29 million US dollars, up 21% year-on-year.

However, whether traditional power station power products or high-power products for data centers, the underlying logic of overseas market competition has not changed: selling the product is just the beginning, and subsequent service, parts, training, and local cooperation capabilities determine whether a brand can form a long-term reputation.

For New Power Technology, export growth brought new market space, and also forced it to make up for this "slow work" of overseas service. When more and more Made in China products enter the overseas market, competition will no longer be just price, performance, and delivery speed, but who can truly leave service capabilities in the local area.

At the beginning of June, all car companies announced their May sales data. Since entering the second quarter of 2026, sales for each brand have generally been steadily increasing.

It is still the familiar two giants, BYD and Geely. May sales figures were respectively383,453 units and237,637 units.But in my personal opinion, their export data is even more worth our attention.

First, looking at BYD's part, in May their passenger cars and pickupsold 160,177 units overseas, an increase of 80.7% year-on-year; cumulative sales from January to May reached 614,470 units.

Geely similarly performed excellently,May overseas export sales volume was 85,144 units, a year-on-year growth of 184%.

Actually, many readers should know, BYD's 'ATTO 3' which is the overseas version of the Yuan PLUS, and their pickup model 'BYD SHARK' sold quite well overseas.

But in fact, BYD sells more than just these products overseas, and BYD's big weapon 'Flash Charging Technology' is also still in the initial layout stage overseas.

They plan to scale up about 6,000 megawatt flash charging stations overseas by the end of 2026, simultaneously exporting flash charging models equipped with second-generation Blade Batteries.

As for Geely, their premium brand Zeekr has recently been shining overseas, not only is Zeekr 9X very popular in the Middle East market, but the video of 'Zeekr 8X Beating Ferrari' is also widely circulated on the foreign internet.

Including in some lower-tier markets, models like Emgrand, Xing Yuan are also opening up recognition, Chinese car exports can be said to be welcoming a new stage.

According to data released by CPCA,in 2025 China's car exports reached 8.32 million units, a year-on-year growth of 30%; new energy vehicle exports in 2025 totaled 3.43 million units, a year-on-year growth of 70%.

Time has come to 2026, January to March China's car exports reached 2.34 million units, year-on-year growth of 53% compared to the same period in 2025. Combining this data and the current situation, see,I think China's car export volume in 2026 is expected to break through 10 million units.

Everyone says the economy is bad now and no money to buy cars, so why are car companies constantly launching new cars? Yes, one important reason is that Chinese car export business is growing rapidly.

Although the domestic car market has already tended towards saturation, the overseas market is still very vast, and Chinese cars are very competitive.

From CPCA's Cui Dongshu's article we can see, Chinese cars are exported in large quantities to countries such as Russia, Brazil and Mexico, and like the UK, Belgium and Italy in Europe, are also important export regions for Chinese cars.

Besides new cars, exporting used cars is also a big trend.

Domestically, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles long exceeded 50%, but it is not so overseas. In recent one or two years, while domestic consumers use replacement subsidies to buy new cars, a large number of fuel cars flowed into the used car market.

But the market cannot timely digest this part of inventory, therefore many used car merchants chose to export some 'Global Models' with relatively good condition to overseas, especially Asian, African, and Latin American countries, they have a huge demand for such products.

It is not hard to see, in the long term in the future, Chinese car exports will be a very big trend. If friends are interested, they might try to enter this industry, maybe there will be good development prospects.

So how are the major car companies laying out? If friends pay attention to this side should know, new force car companies actually attach great importance to export business.

Take the familiar 'NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto' as an example, NIO had already laid out the overseas market as early as 2021, and also built charging swap stations in parts of Europe and the Middle East.

But NIO's current main focus is still on consolidating the domestic market. Indeed NIO just recently 'got better', there is not enough financial strength and energy to cope with overseas challenges, so NIO's going global speed slowed down in 2026.

But with the help of ES8 and ES9, NIO basically passed the most difficult moment. I think it is time for them to work harder on new car going overseas.A car like Firefly is very suitable for the European market, at the same time, it is already being sold overseas, I think more can be done with it.

And XPeng Motor, for example, 2025 delivered over 45,000 new cars overseas, business covering 60 countries and regions globally.

At the same time, they have also set up 3 production bases overseas, to cope with challenges in tariffs and manufacturing costs. As early as July 2025, the Indonesia base was completed and started production; September Graz, Austria factory started European localization production; December Malaysia base was also completed.

Even they set such a grand goal as 'achieving half of sales from overseas by 2033', believe XPeng has the opportunity and ability to complete it.

But among new force brands, the one with the biggest potential I think is still Leapmotor.

Nowadays Leapmotor in the domestic market can be said to be on a strong trend, continuously gaining the title of sales champion among new force car companies,and in the overseas market it relies on Stellantis Group's sales network, at extremely cost-effective prices achieved good results in the European market.

2025 Leapmotor export volume reached 67,052 units, and in 2026 I think this data is expected to improve further, after all, if they want to achieve the goal of 'millions of annual sales', overseas market naturally cannot be ignored.

Of course, there are also some new force car companies whose export business started relatively slowly.

For example, Li Auto officially started export business only in 2025, but their products were sold overseas via 'parallel export' very early, and also received good reviews.

For example, Xiaomi Motor which sold very well domestically, plans to start export business only in 2027, but according to Xiaomi Tech's layout and influence overseas, I think Xiaomi Motor also has the opportunity to sell hotly.

However, the continuous increase of Chinese car export volume is not entirely the credit of 'Chinese brands', many joint venture brands' models produced in China exported overseas also counts as Chinese car export.

This includes products produced by Tesla China factory, and models from brands under SAIC like MG, Chevrolet, etc.Some joint venture brands' products may not be welcome domestically, but placed in the overseas market that is a 'blockbuster'.

This also explains why some brands' presence domestically is not quite high, but when statistics sales data is not considered bad.

Overall, the increase in Chinese car export volume is very beneficial for promoting economic circulation, can promote the inflow of foreign exchange, provide support for reviving the economy.

And independent brand car companies should also attach more importance to export business, only then can they open up a larger market.So which car company is the biggest winner now? I think some readers should be able to guess, it is Chery Motor.

May 2026, Chery Group sold 247,823 cars, year-on-year increase of 20.5%. Among them, group new car exports were 181,871 units, year-on-year growth of 80.5%, and broke Chinese car single-month export record for three consecutive months.

In the full year of 2025, Chery Motor exported new cars totaling 1,344,020 units, a year-on-year growth of 17.4%; cumulative car exports 5.85 million units, ranked first in Chinese brand passenger car exports for 23 consecutive years.

Although I often criticize Chery's product sequence is chaotic, it is precisely the sufficiently rich product sequence that allows Chery to do well in different countries, plus early layout, let Chery Group become the unquestionable 'Chinese Brand Car Company Export No. 1'.

Nowadays the iteration speed of new cars has become incredibly fast, many friends might think 'Why are there so many people wanting to buy cars'? But after understanding this car export matter, everyone should have a new understanding.

Car companies releasing new cars is not just for the domestic market, it is also a layout for overseas business.

The domestic new car market indeed has already tended towards saturation, but if we look further and wider, from a global perspective, isn't the market very vast?

Everyone can perceive that now is no longer the period of economic upward trend, in the situation where the real estate industry has cooled down, we need a new pillar industry.

For the domestic market, the automotive consumption industry is the choice made by the 'Invisible Hand'. So in your opinion, will car export business be a new trend?

((The above content represents only personal opinion))