Business

China is leading the global car race. But the global auto industry is still in the red

In 2024, global vehicle production amounted to 92.5 million units, which is 1% less than in 2023. This was reported by Ukravtoprom with reference to data from the World Organization of Automobile Manufacturers (OICA), Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

The largest number of passenger cars was produced last year – 67.7 million units, which is 1% less than in the previous year.

In 2024, 20.9 million units of light commercial vehicles were assembled (-3%), 3.6 million units of large trucks (-2%), and 291 thousand units of buses (17%).

China remains the largest automaker in the world, with almost 31.3 million units of vehicles produced last year. This is 4% more than in 2023.

It is also in the top five:

– USA, with a result of 10.5 million units (-1%),

– Japan – 8.2 million units (-9%),

– India – 6 million units (3%),

– Mexico – 4.2 million units (5%).

What about European automakers?

If we consider the total European result, the EU would be second in the global car race: last year, the European Union produced 11.4 million passenger cars, which is 6% less than in 2023.

National producers were individually outside the top five.

Most of them produced passenger cars:

Germany – 3,942,396 units.

Spain – 1,872,988 units.

Czech Republic – 1,446,855 units.

During the year, 4,553,344 cars (-7%) worth €154.7 billion were exported from EU plants.

The largest number of passenger cars were exported to the UK – almost 1.253 million units worth €33.3 billion.

The United States is in second place (by number) with 749.2 thousand units worth €38.5 billion.

Turkey is in third place, with 579.8 thousand units worth €11.9 billion.

At the same time, imports of passenger cars cost the European Union €73.2 billion, and 3.4 million cars were imported to the EU for this amount (-5%).

The largest countries supplying passenger cars to the EU:

China – 748.5 thousand units (€12.6 billion)

Turkey – 542.1 thousand units (€9 billion)

Japan – 498.4 thousand units (€11.7 billion)

What models aroused the greatest interest in January in the world

According to Focus2mоvе, the Toyota RAV4 crossover topped the world’s best-selling models in 2025. 73,907 units of this model were sold.

Toyota Corolla is in second place with 70822 units, and then in the top ten:

Ford F-Series – 69805 units.

Tesla Model Y – 64400 units.

Honda CR-V – 53492 units.

Volkswagen Tiguan – 46093 units.

Chevrolet Silverado – 44686 units.

Hyundai Tucson – 44623 units.

Toyota Camry – 43455 units.

Kia Sportage – 39333 units (-7.7%).

What passenger cars were most often bought in Europe

The January ranking of the best-selling cars in 43 European countries was headed by Dacia Sandero with 21731 sold cars.

TOP-10 of January 2025:

Dacia Sandero – 21731 units.

Dacia Duster – 19015 units.

Volkswagen Golf – 18822 units.

Volkswagen T-Roc – 18248 units.

Renault Clio – 16995 units.

Volkswagen Tiguan – 16831 units.

Citroen C3 – 15796 units.

Skoda Octavia – 15081 units.

Toyota Corolla – 15077 units.

Opel Corsa – 14742 units.