China’s exports of electric vehicles doubled in September as competition at home intensifies

China’s exports of electric vehicles doubled in September from a year earlier as its automakers expanded their reach into overseas markets. Domestic passenger car sales climbed 11.2% year-on-year in last month down from a 15% rise in August, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Tuesday.

Exports of “new energy vehicles,” including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, jumped 100% to 222,000 units in September, the industry organization said. That was slightly lower than the 224,000 units exported in August.

China’s EV makers have been increasingly looking abroad to markets such as Europe and Southeast Asia as overcapacity and price wars back home have pressured their profit margins. They invested more abroad than inside China last year, for the first time since 2014, the U.S.-based consultancy Rhodium Group said in a recent report.

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