Brazil becomes China's largest export market for new energy vehicles

Just in April, China's exports of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to Brazil surged 13 times year-on-year...

Recent industry reports indicate that Chinese carmakers are expanding into non-European markets, particularly Brazil, amid a European Union anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles, which data show has overtaken Belgium as the main destination for Chinese NEV exports.

According to the statistics of the Passenger Federation, just in April, the number of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles exported from China to Brazil surged 13-fold year-on-year to a total of 40,163 units, making Brazil China's largest export market for new energy vehicles for the second consecutive month.

However, the Brazilian government plans to raise import tariffs on electric and hybrid vehicles starting in July to stimulate the development of the domestic auto manufacturing industry. The policy change has prompted some Chinese automakers to start investing more in local production in Brazil. For example, BYD is building a production base in Brazil and plans to start production by the end of the year or early 2025. Great Wall Motors also announced that its Brazilian plant will be operational this month.

In terms of overall car exports, Brazil also became China's second largest car exporter in April, after Russia. Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Federation of Passengers, believes that Russia, which is affected by Western sanctions, is expected to continue to be China's largest car export market.

The FCA data also revealed significant declines in the number of electric passenger vehicles imported from China in the first four months of the year by countries such as Spain, France, the Netherlands, and Norway. Mr. Cui said Chinese carmakers were actively looking for new export opportunities in South America, Australia, and ASEAN, even though the European Union's anti-subsidy investigations had disrupted Chinese car exports to the European Union.

In terms of export growth, China's car exports to Russia rose 23% year-on-year to 268,779 vehicles in the first four months of this year. During the same period, car exports to Mexico and Brazil also rose 27% and 536% respectively, reaching 148,705 and 106,448 vehicles. These figures show that Chinese automakers are adapting to changes in the global market and constantly exploring new export markets.

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