Chinese car companies are fiercely attacking, while European car companies are seeking cooperation one after another

 According to Chinese customs data, China's automobile exports for the entire year of 2023 are expected to reach 5 million units, surpassing Japan for the first time in the world. In the first 10 months, approximately 4.2 million vehicles were exported. If another 1 million vehicles are exported in November and December, the total annual car exports will reach 5.2 million vehicles.

According to Caixin. com, Sun Xiaohong, Secretary General of the Automotive Branch of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Mechanical and Electrical Products, stated at the International Development Conference of the Automotive Industry on the 17th that after deducting approximately 200000 low-speed electric vehicles, the annual export of automobiles is expected to reach 5 million units.

Tang Weishi, the global CEO of Stellantis Group, a car company, has published many "threat theories" about Chinese cars in the past. However, recently, his statement underwent a 180 degree change, which fully demonstrates the rapid progress of Chinese cars.

China's automobile exports catch up with Japan's

Earlier data had shown that China's automobile exports had surpassed Japan's from January to June. In the first three quarters of this year, Japan exported a total of 3.187 million cars. Based on current data, it is likely that China will surpass Japan as the world's largest automobile exporter for the first time in the year. However, Sun Xiaohong said that industry insiders should not easily talk about surpassing Japan, as China still has a long way to go.

In addition, Japanese car companies have embarked on a path of globalization after experiencing friction in automobile export trade, mainly through external investment. In 1998, the overseas production capacity of Japanese car companies was approximately 5 million vehicles, and by 2017, the overseas production capacity of Japanese car companies had approached 20 million vehicles.

The current statistics of China's automobile exports exceed that of Japan, referring to the direct export trade. The overseas market sales of Japanese car companies are mainly contributed by local chemical factories distributed around the world. Sun Xiaohong believes that Chinese automobile companies will ultimately shift from simple automobile export trade to overseas local production and operation.

European car companies seeking cooperation with China

On October 26th, Stellantis and China's Zero Run announced a partnership, with the former investing 1.5 billion euros in the latter, acquiring 20% equity, and establishing a joint venture. Moreover, Tang Weishi publicly criticized the EU's anti subsidy investigation in the media, stating that he "likes competition" and stating that investigating whether Chinese electric vehicle imports benefit from government subsidies is not the best way to solve global trade problems, which is a great contrast to his previous criticism of unequal tariffs on China Europe trade.

Stellantis is not the only European car company seeking cooperation with Chinese car companies. In July of this year, Volkswagen Group reached a long-term strategic partnership with Xiaopeng Automobile, where the former purchased 4.99% equity worth approximately $700 million from the latter. During the same period, BMW and SAIC signed a memorandum of understanding.

China's electric vehicles have become a technology center

European car companies are seeking cooperation with China, heralding the arrival of a new era of car alliance. China has become the forefront and center of electric vehicle technology. Matthias Schmidt, an industry analyst at Schmidt Automotive Research Institute, said, "In the past decade, we have witnessed a wonderful reversal of fate.

Nowadays, Western car companies seem eager to follow and learn from the expertise of Chinese car companies in the development and production of electric passenger vehicles. In the past, China sought cooperation with Europe, which was at the forefront at the time, hoping that cooperation may bring some confidence. China has now become the center of global electric vehicle technology. Of course, maybe Tesla needs to be added

The field of automotive innovation in China is gradually shifting from traditional powertrain systems to electric powertrain systems. China particularly focuses on the field of electric vehicles. This may be a more macro, still vague, and sneaking trend behind the new form of cooperation between Chinese and Western car companies.