FEATURE: China's carmakers shifting gears for global drive

This year is not going so well for China’s major automotive companies. Statistics released in early June by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that while China’s auto production was still the world’s largest, output during January-May was 4.6% down on year at 12.24 million vehicles, while domestic and export sales were 4.2% lower at 12.21 million, as Mysteel Global reported.

Fortunately for the carmakers, roaring export volumes partly compensated for their weaker business at home, with exports during the five months – primarily referring to completely built units (CBU) – rocketing by 63% to 4.06 million units. In the export total, the share of new energy vehicles including electric vehicles (EVs) leapt by