China Car Exports Surge 64%, Domestic Sales Slump

China exported about 919,000 passenger cars in September 2026, up 64% year over year, while domestic sales fell 27% to over 1.6 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported Monday. Exports topped 7.1 million in the first nine months, up more than 70% from 2025. AlixPartners and some analysts project nearly or around 10 million vehicle exports in 2026. EU trade chief Maroš Šefčovič said Friday the EU and China reached an interim deal that could halve Chinese hybrid exports; two senior EU officials said Monday it sets a 350,000 annual quota on electric or hybrid vehicles made in China, monitored by customs as early as December and excluding cars made in Europe by Chinese companies. Xiao Feng of CITIC CLSA said, "You can’t expect BYD or the other OEMs (manufacturers) to export too many cars without facing tariffs or pushbacks from the foreign governments." Stella Li of BYD said geopolitics is the biggest challenge to overseas expansion; BYD is expanding plants in Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and Hungary. Ming Lee of BofA Global Research said, "More and more volume will be made locally." A Trump-Xi meeting last month during Xi's Washington visit produced no U.S. EV market access deal. Canada is opening to Chinese EVs under a tariff-reduction agreement.