China’s PV Export Ourlook: The Divergence of Volume and Value

The export of China’s passenger vehicles has continued to maintain steady growth. As of July 2025, the cumulative export volume of China’s passenger vehicles reached 2.76 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.2%. The annual export volume is expected to reach 4.8 million units, up 15% year-on-year.

Although the export volume of China’s passenger vehicles maintains steady growth, after the export value per vehicle increased rapidly since 2021, it has stabilized at around 139,000 RMB from 2023 to 2025, with leaving little room for further improvement.

Further analysis reveals that in 2017, models priced below RMB 100k accounted for 73% of total exports. By 2025, the main segment of exported moacdels has shifted to the 100k–200k RMB price range. However, the proportion of models exported at prices above 200k RMB is on a downward trend, indicating that Chinese passenger vehicles still struggle to gain a firm foothold in the premium international market.

Although the export shares of BEVs and PHEVs have increased to 27% and 14% in recent years, their per-vehicle export values have been decreasing annually. In particular, the per-vehicle export value of BEVs has dropped from RMB 268 800 in 2021 to RMB 180 100 this year, which is also a key reason why the overall per-vehicle export value has stagnated.

Major Chinese PV makers exhibit a differentiated price-segment distribution in their exports. Chery and BYD have 76% and 65% of their total exports in the (100 – 200]K RMB segment respectively; SAIC’s exports are mainly in (0 – 100]K RMB (64%). Additionally, BYD and Great Wall allocate 14% and 27% of their exports, respectively, to the >200k RMB segment.