China's car sales surpass Japan, ranking first globally

Judging from new car sales in 2025, Chinese automakers’ global sales will rise to the top position for the first time, while Japanese automakers—which have held the top spot for more than 20 years—will fall to second place. China’s automobile exports have already taken the lead, establishing its status as an automotive superpower. To counter Chinese companies, which have strong price competitiveness, countries may erect barriers in terms of tariffs and new standards. As friction increases worldwide, protectionism to safeguard domestic companies could intensify.

Nikkei Japan Economic News conducted its survey based on data released by each company from January to November 2025 and data from S&P Global Mobility. Sales include commercial vehicles. Sales cover overseas markets such as domestic demand and exports. Countries are categorized according to the proportion of investment; if each contributes half, the country is determined as the country to which the manufacturer of the brand name at the time of sale belongs.

China’s global auto sales are expected to grow 17% year on year, reaching about 27 million units. China ranked first in auto exports for the first time in 2023. Total sales are also projected to reach the top in 2025.

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The Japan Economic News Agency and the Financial Times merged in November 2015 to become the same media group. The alliance formed by the two newspapers—Japan and Britain—both founded in the 19th century, is advancing broad areas of cooperation such as joint special features under the banner of “high-quality, the strongest economic journalism.” This time, as part of that, the two newspapers have enabled article exchanges between their Chinese websites.