China’s auto output, sales hit same-period historic high in September 2023

Beijing (Gasgoo)- In September 2023, the Chinese auto industry saw both car production and sales achieve record highs for the same period, and the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector and automobile exports maintained their robust performance. 

In the third quarter of this year, the Chinese automotive industry has defied expectations by outperforming forecasts. At the national level, the government has introduced a series of policies to boost consumer spending, while local governments have been actively responsive, rolling out measures such as consumer vouchers and car purchase subsidies. Coupled with the concentrated release of new products by carmakers, the logistics industry's recovery has also driven growth in the commercial vehicle segment. 

As a result, the overall market has not slowed down during the off-season and got even busier during the peak season, with the automotive market continuing to thrive, and the "Golden September and Silver October" sales boost effect re-emerging. 

In September, China produced a total of 2.85 million vehicles, representing a 10.7% rise over the previous month and a 6.6% growth over the previous year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). At the same time, the country’s auto sales reached 2.858 million vehicles and showed a 10.7% month-on-month increase and a 9.5% year-on-year growth. 

During the first three quarters of this year, China’s cumulative auto production and sales volumes stood at 21.075 million and 20.169 million vehicles, respectively, up 7.3% and 8.2% from a year ago. 

ZEEKR X; photo credit: ZEEKR

Sustaining its prominent performance, the new energy vehicle (NEV) market in China managed to outdo itself in September and reported record-high production and sales volume compared to the same period. In the past month, there were about 879,000 and 904,000 NEVs produced and sold by automakers in China, jumping 16.1% and 27.7% from the previous year, respectively. The figures indicated that NEVs made up 31.6% of the country's total auto sales last month. 

In first nine months of 2023, China’s total NEV output and sales amounted to 6.313 million and 6.278 million units, respectively, surging 33.7% and 37.5% over the previous year. NEVs accounted for 29.8% of China’s year-to-date auto sales in the period. 

Han EV; photo credit: BYD

In the ninth month of this year, there were approximately 444,000 vehicles shipped out from China to overseas markets, demonstrating a 9% month-on-month rise and a 47.7% year-over-year leap. Of the vehicles shipped overseas in the past month, about 96,000 units were NEVs, up 6.5% from the previous month while soaring 92.8% from the previous year.

From January to September, automakers in China sent off a total of 3.388 million vehicles outside of the country, spiking 60% from a year ago. Among which, year-to-date exports of NEVs summed to roughly 825,000 units, which is 1.1 times higher than that of the year-ago period.

According to the CAAM, September marked the second consecutive month for automakers in China to contribute a combined monthly export volume of over 400,000 vehicles. 

Individually, SAIC Motor stood firmly as the largest exporter of automobiles in China last month, with approximately 94,000 vehicles shipped overseas. Meanwhile, Chery followed closely at the second place with around 90,000 vehicles exported. Tesla and BYD were the only two NEV-dedicated companies on the top ten car exporters list in September. Compared to the same period last year, Tesla saw the largest growth in export volume (4.5 times higher). 

With various policies aimed at stimulating car consumption and ensuring industry growth consistently taking effect, it is anticipated that their cumulative impact will provide robust support to China’s automotive market in the fourth quarter. This is expected to help the automotive industry achieve its annual growth stability targets.