The vehicle trade in the world has many interesting faces and stories. Automakers are trying to gain ground by opening new factories in developing countries or promoting new trade agreements between economic blocs. At the same time, many governments try to protect local industries by imposing high import tariffs.
The case of the United States, the world’s second largest auto market and second largest vehicle manufacturer, is quite interesting. According to my research, the US is by far the most import-friendly trading area compared to the other two main markets, Europe and China.
American Number
Last year, of the 15.05 million light vehicles sold in the US, 8.84 million were produced locally. This is 59 percent, which leaves a significant part of the market for foreign cars. The relatively low incidence of US-made cars in the United States contrasts with the strong presence of local vehicles in Europe and China.
Last year, 14.2 million cars produced in Europe were sold. Of these, 10.79 million were made on the continent, accounting for 78 percent of all new vehicle registrations in the region. Therefore, European consumers tend to buy more local products than US products.
What’s Happening In China
In China, the data show a smaller market for imports. The Asian country is the world’s largest market by sales and the largest automaker. By 2021, a total of 24.47 million cars sold globally were made in China. Almost entirely, 23.37 million were registered domestically, while sales of imported cars amounted to 1.16 million. In other words, 95 percent of vehicle sales in China relate to units manufactured in that country.
To better understand how closed the Chinese market is, let’s take the case of Mexico, where there were more cars imported than in China last year. And the Chinese market is 24 times bigger than the Mexican market.
Interesting Trends In Europe
Commercial trends in Europe show as many faces as producing countries. For example, although Germany is the leading producer and largest car market, it is Spain that sells the most locally made cars on the continent. According to my data, Spanish cars have found 1.76 million new customers in Europe, excluding Spain, while German cars have been purchased by 1.64 million customers on the same continent, excluding Germany.
Another interesting fact that emerges from last year’s data is the situation of cars manufactured in the United Kingdom. We all know that across Channels, the industry isn’t having its best days. However, 1.07 million British-made vehicles were sold worldwide. This is higher than Italy and not far from Canada’s 1.12 million units.
What is interesting is that exports to Europe and the rest of the world follow the same pattern as in Germany, which is usually considered a success story. By 2021, the UK will sell 393,000 UK-made cars outside Europe, or 37 per cent of the total. Another 44 percent of the 1.07 million vehicles mentioned above are marketed in Europe excluding the UK.
German-made cars sold outside Europe accounted for 34 percent of all cars sold globally and made in Germany, while those sold in Europe excluding Germany accounted for 43 percent of the total.
Lastly, there are Italy and France. Interestingly, the former sells more cars outside Europe than the latter. The data shows that France, although it has marketed almost twice as much locally produced cars as Italy, has placed more than 150,000 units outside Europe, compared to 156,000 units produced in Italy. However, their presence in the global market is very small, especially compared to other small countries, such as Slovakia.
The article’s author, Felipe Munoz, is an Automotive Industry Specialist at JATO dynamics.
