In 2023, Japan lost its long-standing leadership in automobile exports to China, according to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
Japan exported 4.42 million vehicles (including trucks and buses), an increase of 16%. China exported at least half a million more – 4.91 million (aggregate data from manufacturers) or 5.22 million (customs statistics). In the latter case, the year-on-year growth was 57%, with electric vehicles accounting for a third of exports.
Imports of Chinese new passenger cars to Russia increased fivefold last year, to 325,800 units.
Thus, Russia accounted for half (or one-third) of the excess of total Chinese exports over Japanese exports.
Given the enormous scale of overseas assembly by Japanese companies (which is relatively small compared to Chinese companies), the Japanese retained their leadership in offshore sales.
Toyota, which remains the world's largest automaker, has large production facilities in the United States, while Suzuki has large production facilities in India and the EU.
Background. Hyundai recently sold two plants in Russia and finally left the market of the aggressor country.