For two decades, "Chinese car exports" meant ships leaving Shanghai and Yantai. That era is ending. The defining move of 2025-26 is the overseas plant.
What's happening
The map is filling in fast. Leapmotor builds the B10 in Zaragoza, Spain — among the first Chinese EVs manufactured in Europe. [Electric Cars Report] BYD runs Thailand and Uzbekistan and is ramping Hungary and Brazil. Changan's Thai plant exports the Deepal S05 to Europe with 60% local content. [Electrive] Geely plans Zeekr 7X output at Proton in Malaysia; SAIC's Brazil plant starts MG production in October; Chery bought Nissan's Rosslyn plant in South Africa; Dongfeng will localise Voyah at Stellantis's Rennes site in France from 2027. [KrAsia]
Why it matters
Plants convert a trade flow into a permanent market position. They neutralise tariffs (EU duties, Brazil's rising import tax), qualify for local incentives, shorten delivery, and change the politics — an automaker that employs thousands locally is a stakeholder, not an import threat.
Market context
The pattern mirrors Japan's 1980s transplant wave, with one twist: Chinese automakers are doing it earlier in their export cycle and often through partners — Stellantis for Leapmotor and Dongfeng, Proton for Geely — rather than building alone. CKD assembly is the low-risk first step; full manufacturing follows where volumes justify it.
Impact on Chinese automakers
Localisation splits the industry into those with a structural path into protected markets and those paying duties at the border. It also exports the supply chain: Chinese battery and parts makers follow the OEMs — as Leapmotor's chassis supplier already has in Spain — planting the next layer of globalization.
What to watch next
Hungary and Brazil ramp rates; whether Zeekr's Malaysia plan hits early-2027 production; which group announces the first Chinese-brand plant in a G7 country beyond Stellantis-hosted lines; and how host governments tie incentives to local content. Tracked daily in Exports.
过去二十年，"中国汽车出口"意味着从上海和烟台出发的滚装船。这个时代正在结束。2025-26 年的标志性动作，是海外工厂。
正在发生什么
版图正在快速填满。零跑在西班牙萨拉戈萨生产 B10——首批在欧洲制造的中国电动车之一。[Electric Cars Report] 比亚迪的泰国、乌兹别克斯坦工厂已运转，匈牙利、巴西在爬坡。长安泰国工厂以 60% 本地化率向欧洲出口 Deepal S05。[Electrive] 吉利计划在马来西亚宝腾投产极氪 7X；上汽巴西工厂 10 月起生产 MG；奇瑞收购了南非日产罗斯林工厂；东风将从 2027 年起在法国雷恩的 Stellantis 工厂本地化生产岚图。[KrAsia]
为什么重要
工厂把一条贸易流变成永久的市场地位：对冲关税（欧盟反补贴税、巴西不断上调的进口税）、获取当地补贴、缩短交付，还改变政治属性——雇佣数千本地员工的车企是利益相关者，而不是进口威胁。
市场背景
这一幕像极了日本 1980 年代的海外建厂潮，但有一个不同：中国车企在出口周期更早的阶段就开始建厂，而且常常借助伙伴——零跑和东风靠 Stellantis，吉利靠宝腾——而非单打独斗。CKD 组装是低风险的第一步，销量到位后再升级为完整制造。
对中国车企的影响
本地化把行业分成两类：拥有进入保护市场结构性通道的，和在边境缴税的。它还在输出供应链：中国电池和零部件厂商跟随主机厂出海——零跑的底盘供应商已经落地西班牙——种下全球化的下一层。
下一步看什么
匈牙利与巴西的爬坡速度；极氪马来西亚计划能否在 2027 年初量产；除 Stellantis 代工外，哪家集团宣布第一座 G7 国家的中国品牌工厂；以及东道国政府如何把补贴与本地化率挂钩。出口栏目每日追踪。