China’s auto industry has reached a new historic milestone. In June, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), exports surpassed the one million unit threshold for the first time.
Specifically, 1.037 million vehicles were shipped abroad, marking an 11.6% increase compared to May and a striking 75.1% jump year on year compared to June 2025.
Electric and hybrid vehicles driving growth
Over the first half of the year, China exported a total of 5.096 million vehicles, up 65.3% compared to the same period last year.
This performance is closely tied to developments in the domestic market. Increasingly intense competition, described as fierce and unsustainable in some segments, is pushing larger manufacturers to look abroad as an outlet for chronic production overcapacity. According to some analyses, capacity utilisation in China doesn’t exceed 50 percent, an even worse figure than what’s happening in Europe. It’s no coincidence that export growth is significantly outpacing CAAM’s own expectations. At the start of the year, the association had forecast 7.4 million exported vehicles with growth of just 4.3%. At the current pace, however, exports could surpass the 10 million threshold.
CAAM also highlighted a significant structural shift in the breakdown of exports. For the first time, new energy vehicles (NEVs), meaning electric, plug in hybrid, hydrogen and alternative fuel vehicles, accounted for over 50% of shipments. In June alone, 523,000 NEVs were exported, a 1.6 times increase compared to a year earlier. Over the first half of the year, China exported 2.355 million NEVs, 1.2 times more than in the same period of 2025, representing 46.2% of total exports.
Beijing’s new targets
On the NEV front, Beijing has also announced an important update to national policy. The State Council, China’s government, published its “Action plan for the peaking of carbon emissions under the 15th Five Year Plan,” updating the roadmap for reaching specific energy transition targets.
A new goal has been set: by 2030, 30% of the vehicle fleet on Chinese roads must be composed of new energy vehicles. This means their share must more than double in under five years. According to data from the Ministry of Public Security, by the end of 2025 NEVs accounted for 12.01% of the entire fleet, equal to 43.97 million vehicles. Of these, 68.74% were battery electric vehicles, totalling 30.22 million units.
