China - world's largest automobile exporter

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China set to become the world's largest automobile exporter

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Summary

"China has surpassed Japan and Germany to become the world's largest automobile exporter for the first time, with more than 1.06 million vehicles exported in the first quarter of this year. China's car industry has made significant progress in recent years, with production numbers more than quadrupling from four years ago, leading to a forecast of becoming the world's largest auto exporter. China is also becoming the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles, with BYD poised to take over from Tesla as the top EV maker. The top three countries that China exports cars to are Russia, the United States and Mexico."

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Comprehension Questions

  1. Which country has become the world's largest car exporter?
  2. What was the percentage increase in car exports in the first quarter of this year?
  3. How many vehicles did Chinese car companies export in the first quarter?
  4. What has China been investing in for over a decade?
  5. What technology has China heavily bet on as its stepping stone to success?
  6. Which car maker plans to launch 10 new EVs in the next couple of years?
  7. What other technologies is Toyota looking strong on?
  8. Which country sees itself as the Challenger to China and the United States in the car market?
  9. How does India's car market compare to China's?
  10. What is the one unknown about the Indian market's move towards electrification?

Transcript

China has become the world's largest car exporter overtaking Japan exports increased by about 60 percent in the first quarter from January to April this year Chinese car companies exported a total of 1.37 million Vehicles an increase of around 60 percent well let's talk to Jim holder the car industry expert um good to see you Jim um well this is a big moment isn't it what you make of it yeah it's incredibly significant so China has been plotting this moment for over a decade investing early in electric cars growing its own Homeland appetite for its own models building that strong base at home that is now giving it the freedom to launch abroad it's tried it before we've combustion engine models and struggled but now it sees its opportunity and it's been planning to launch these EVS across the globe for some time and its Gathering momentum and Jim is that the end of this race I mean if you're sitting in Japan tonight running a big Japanese car company I mean are you simply throwing in the towel is that the end of it or would you fight back and if so how yeah absolutely these companies do not throw in the towel uh there is more to come I think China has bets heavily on the full battery electric uh technology as its stepping stone to this uh giant moment but I think what we've seen is the Japanese manufacturers you know reasonably being accused of being laggards into battery electric technology but they are catching up fast you look at the likes of Toyota the world's largest car maker it has serious plans to launch 10 new EVS in the next couple of years it is going to go down that line of Technology but it is also looking very strong on hybrid technology plug-in hybrid technology even hydrogen technology and I think a lot depends on where the technology race leads us but certainly they have a race on their hands and they need to respond I guess that so many countries have their moments in the sun don't they I mean if you're German American Japanese British Chinese you have your moment of glory and then we look ahead to what's next and India I guess sees itself as the Challenger to China and the United States how soon before India becomes uh top dog and the world's biggest car market so India Today is the fourth largest car market in the world of around 5 million sales per year you've got to look in the context of China being the world's largest at 25 million new car sales so it has a long way to go but it absolutely has the population it has the growing economy it has all the ingredients to expand that fast and what we've seen in China is exactly what India is hoping will happen that it can exponentially build its wealth that people will go into buying vehicles and it will grow quickly I think the one unknown is how adaptable the Indian market is to the move towards electrification I think the infrastructure challenges there are much greater and whether that will throttle back their growth remains to be seen Jim good to talk to you thanks for coming on the program again Jim holder the car industry expert

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