WSJ: Global car exports rise, helped by government subsidies for electric vehicles

Car exports from Europe and Asia are surging, largely thanks to subsidies offered by the United States and other countries for electric vehicle purchases. Dealers are also replenishing inventories, which still have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The boom in car trade contrasts with the broader trend in exports, which are weakening, mainly because of a slowdown in the global economy. The trend offers a glimpse of how Western countries’ efforts to adopt policies aimed at stimulating domestic production and rejecting fossil fuels are reshaping global trade, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) wrote.

Manufacturers in Germany, Europe’s industrial powerhouse, exported around 2.6 million new passenger cars in the ten months through October this year. That was 10 percent more than a year earlier, according to the German Association of the Automotive Industry. South Korea and Japan have also seen car exports accelerate, partly thanks to U.S. tax breaks for electric vehicles. China overtook Japan at the start of this year to become the world’s largest car exporter, partly thanks to sales to Russia and exports of electric vehicles by domestic manufacturers such as BYD, as well as foreign brands such as U.S. automaker Tesla.