Automotive industry in China

Data from a Japanese auto industry association show that China overtook Japan as the world's largest vehicle exporter last year.

The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association reported Japan exported 4.42 million vehicles in 2023, up 16 percent from a year earlier, while domestic auto sales totaled nearly 4.78 million vehicles.

European Commission investigators are to inspect Chinese automakers in the coming weeks as part of a probe into whether to impose punitive tariffs to protect European electric vehicle (EV) makers, three people involved in the process said.

Some 600 cars imported from China are stuck at Turkish customs as new regulations regarding electric vehicles came into force at the end of last year.

Industry and Technology Minister Fatih Kacır has called on Chinese carmaker Chery to invest in Türkiye.

He visited the production facilities of Chery, China's largest automotive exporter since 2012, Kacır wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Dec. 21.

Chinese carmakers are fast increasing their share in the Turkish market, but subsidies the Chinese companies receive from their government may lead to unfair competition, warns Baran Çelik, the board chair of the Uludağ Automotive Industry Exporters' Association (OİB).

The combined sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) increased by 55.4 percent in October from a year ago to 101,367, data from the Automotive Distributors' and Mobility Association (ODMD) have shown.

In the previous month, sales were up 55.9 percent year-on-year to around 97,000 units.

Tesla and Chinese carmakers showed off their newest electric models at the Munich auto fair, throwing down the gauntlet to their European rivals as competition in the sector intensifies.

The industry-wide shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) was on full display on the opening day of Germany's biennial IAA mobility show, one of the world's largest.

Chinese electric carmaker Voyah, which is operating under the roof of Dongfeng, has stepped into the Turkish market, bringing the number of Chinese carmakers operating in the local market to six.

Voyah has started to offer its Free model, which sells for 4.55 million Turkish Liras, to Turkish consumers.

Chinese auto makers warned they may have to put the brakes on production if strict COVID-19 curbs in Shanghai persist, with a top Huawei executive also sounding the alarm on April 15 about snarled supply chains.

Automotive production in Turkey, including light commercial vehicles, tractors, and automobiles, totaled 211,877 million units in the first quarter of 2021, a sectoral report revealed on April 12. 

The Automotive Manufacturers Association said that in January-March, the figure had slipped by 10% from a year ago.