China overtook Japan as world's top vehicle exporter in 2023

China overtook Japan as the world's biggest vehicle exporter last year, data from the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association showed on Wednesday.

Japan shipped 4.42 million vehicles in 2023, the figures showed. That compared with 4.91 million exported by China, as reported by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers this month.

China's customs bureau put the number even higher at 5.22 million, a huge year-on-year rise of 57 percent.

China had already been exporting more vehicles than Japan on a monthly basis, but Wednesday's data confirmed that it was also No.1 for a whole year.

China's auto sector has boomed in recent years in large part because of massive investments in electric cars, an area where Japanese firms have been more cautious.

Japanese manufacturers have long bet instead on hybrids that combine battery power and internal combustion engines, an area they pioneered with the likes of the Toyota Prius.