China's car exports surged in 2025, but domestic demand slowed

China has reported its auto exports rose 21% last year from the year before, driven by a surge in electric vehicle shipments. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Wednesday that exports of EVs and plug-in hybrids doubled to about 2.6 million units for the whole of 2025. China's total vehicle exports last year reached nearly 7.1 million units. In all of last year, passenger car sales in China rose 6% to 24 million units. But sales in December fell 18% year-on-year. Automakers have enjoyed help from government trade-in subsidies meant to encourage people to switch to EVs, but demand has slowed recently as those payments were curtailed.