China overtook Japan as the world's largest car exporter in 2023 and has not looked back — annual new-energy vehicle exports alone crossed four million units in 2025. The first half of 2026 shows the machine still accelerating, and changing shape.
What happened
The H1 2026 numbers are the clearest signal yet. BYD delivered 792,256 vehicles overseas in the first six months, up 70.7% year on year — already more than half its raised full-year target of 1.5 million. [Reuters/USNews] Chery shipped 943,817 vehicles overseas in H1 (+71.5%), extending a 23-year run as China's top passenger-car exporter. [Gasgoo] Geely crossed 100,000 monthly exports for the first time in June, with H1 up 158%. [AllWeather Finance]
Why it matters
Exports are no longer a side business that absorbs domestic overcapacity — they are becoming the profit centre. Overseas gross margins run roughly ten percentage points above domestic levels for major groups, while China's home market is locked in a price war. For BYD, overseas deliveries reached 43.5% of total monthly sales in June; for Great Wall Motor the share was 55.7%. [CnEVPost]
Market context
The export mix is broader than the "Chinese EV" headline suggests. Fuel and hybrid vehicles still carry huge volumes into Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America; plug-in hybrids are the fastest-growing slice into tariff-protected markets; pure EVs lead in Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia. Logistics has been rebuilt too — BYD alone operates a fleet of eight ro-ro car carriers with annual capacity above one million vehicles. [Bloomberg/AutoWorld]
Impact on Chinese automakers
A hierarchy is forming. Companies with established export machines and local plants — BYD, Chery, Geely, GWM, SAIC — are compounding scale advantages. New-energy startups are picking focused beachheads: Leapmotor through Stellantis's network, Xpeng and NIO through Europe. Automakers that stayed domestic now face a shrinking home market and no overseas cushion.
What to watch next
Three markers for H2 2026: whether BYD holds its 1.5-million overseas run-rate; whether Geely sustains six-figure monthly exports as Jefferies expects; and how quickly overseas plants — Hungary, Spain, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia — shift volumes from "exported from China" to "built where they are sold". Our Exports section tracks all of it, daily.
中国在 2023 年超越日本成为全球第一大汽车出口国，此后再未回头——仅新能源车年出口量就在 2025 年突破 400 万辆。2026 年上半年的数据显示，这台机器仍在加速，而且正在改变形态。
发生了什么
2026 上半年的数字是迄今最清晰的信号。比亚迪上半年海外交付 792,256 辆，同比增长 70.7%——已完成上调后 150 万辆全年目标的一半以上。[Reuters/USNews] 奇瑞上半年海外出货 943,817 辆（+71.5%），把中国乘用车出口冠军的纪录延长到第 23 年。[Gasgoo] 吉利 6 月史上首次单月出口突破 10 万辆，上半年同比增长 158%。[AllWeather Finance]
为什么重要
出口不再是消化国内过剩产能的副业，而正在成为利润中心。主要集团的海外毛利率比国内高出约 10 个百分点，而中国本土市场深陷价格战。6 月，比亚迪海外交付占当月总销量的 43.5%；长城汽车这一比例达 55.7%。[CnEVPost]
市场背景
出口结构比"中国电动车"这个标签更宽：燃油车和混动车仍然向俄罗斯、中东、非洲、拉美输送巨大体量；插混是进入关税保护市场增长最快的一块；纯电则在欧洲、东南亚和澳洲领跑。物流体系也已重建——仅比亚迪就运营 8 艘滚装船，年运力超过 100 万辆。[Bloomberg/AutoWorld]
对中国车企的影响
格局正在分层。拥有成熟出口体系和海外工厂的企业——比亚迪、奇瑞、吉利、长城、上汽——正在滚雪球式放大规模优势；新势力选择聚焦式登陆：零跑借 Stellantis 渠道，小鹏与蔚来主攻欧洲。而留在国内的车企，面对的是收缩的本土市场和缺失的海外缓冲。
下一步看什么
下半年三个观察点：比亚迪能否守住 150 万辆的海外节奏；吉利能否如 Jefferies 预期维持单月 10 万辆以上出口；以及匈牙利、西班牙、巴西、泰国、马来西亚的海外工厂，能以多快速度把"从中国出口"变成"在销地制造"。出口栏目每日跟踪。