China’s Electric Car Exports Nearly Doubled, with Mexico Emerging as an Unlikely Star
China’s electric car exports kept accelerating in November. Shipments abroad rose by 87 percent year on year, and the sharpest jump came from a country few observers took seriously until recently, Mexico.
The figures come from China’s customs authority. They show that Mexico increased imports of Chinese electric cars by a staggering 2,367 percent compared with the same month last year. The percentage sounds almost absurd, although the absolute volume reached 19,300 cars in November. That does little to blunt the message of the trend.
Mexico was far from the only market where Chinese electric cars gained momentum. Demand also surged in Indonesia and Thailand. In Europe, the most notable rise came from the United Kingdom, where imports climbed by 113 percent.
On the broader picture, the largest share of Chinese electric cars continued to flow into Asia. More than 110,000 vehicles arrived there in November alone. Europe and Latin America followed, both showing solid growth, even if the pace lagged behind Asia.
Since the start of the year, Chinese manufacturers shipped roughly one million electric cars to Asian markets. Deliveries to Europe exceeded 604,000 units, marking a 12 percent increase. These figures no longer describe a niche product, but a fully fledged industry operating on a global scale.
The rising popularity of Chinese cars in Europe is unsettling both local manufacturers and politicians. Concerns centre on price pressure, state support and intensifying competition.
The explosive growth in China’s electric car exports underlines a simple reality. Production capacity now exceeds domestic demand, and manufacturers are aggressively seeking opportunities abroad. With new gateways opening close to the United States’ sphere of influence, Europe faces a choice. It can shut doors through regulation, or accept that competition in the electric age does not ask for permission.
