Over the past three years, car exports from China have quadrupled, and sea vessels to transport cars have become scarce. The daily rental price of a ro-ro has increased 6.5 times to $105 thousand since 2021, so Chinese auto giants are investing in their own fleet. Before the export boom, the shipyards assembled four car carriers a year; now production has increased by an order of magnitude.
Sources of The New York Times claim that BYD, Chery and car transport companies have placed pre-orders for 170 ships. Most of the ships are planned to be built within three years, that is, approximately 50-60 ro-ro ships will have to be launched annually. Until recently, shipbuilders assembled only four car carriers per year.
Abroad, the demand for inexpensive Chinese cars is growing, and petrol models, which are selling less and less well in China itself, can be exported. Automakers from the Middle Kingdom have already captured a large share of the markets in Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Mexico and Russia. The only major market where China is not active is the United States: sales are held back by protective tariffs from the Trump era.
A former Chrysler China executive said Chinese automakers were faced with a choice: either close factories or export cars. Since the Celestial Empire has loans with minimal interest, government subsidies for production, and steel and electronic components are cheap, prices for Chinese-assembled cars are very competitive.
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