China's truck exports are no longer competing solely on price

China's automobile exports saw a sharp upturn starting in 2021. By 2025, commercial vehicle exports had surpassed the one-million-unit mark.

This is crucial for the truck industry.

Domestically, freight rates remain low, vehicle replacement demand is sluggish, and price wars are fierce. Many enterprises have to seek new growth opportunities overseas. Exports are not merely a way to absorb excess production capacity; they also represent a complete reshaping of the industry's growth trajectory.

However, overseas markets do not constitute a single unified market.The Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia and Southeast Asia remain the core destinations for China's truck exports. These regions have demand for infrastructure construction, mining, port operations, energy transportation and urban logistics. Customers here prioritize three key factors: whether the trucks are affordable, how durable they are, and whether repair services are accessible when breakdowns occur.Consequently, heavy-duty diesel trucks still account for the bulk of exports. New energy vehicles represent incremental growth, while fuel-powered trucks remain the main source of cash flow.

Case: Shaanxi Automobile and Foton Initiate Localizatio

In the past, exports simply meant "shipping vehicles overseas". Nowadays, enterprises prefer to build complete industrial systems in target markets instead.Shaanxi Automobile Group (SHACMAN) serves as a typical example. Public information shows that SHACMAN has rolled out localized production or assembly operations in markets including Algeria, Pakistan, Mexico and Kyrgyzstan.Among these markets, around 40,000 trucks had been exported to Algeria in total in earlier years, and local factories were later built there to consolidate its market presence.

Foton is also advancing a similar strategy. In 2025, the first vehicle rolled off the production line at BAIC's CKD plant in the Coega Special Economic Zone of South Africa. South Africa boasts an established automotive industry base and can serve as a hub to cover surrounding African markets.

These moves are far more than just a symbolic show of factory construction.

Local assembly cuts tariffs and logistics costs, and facilitates access to local procurement systems. More crucially, supporting facilities including spare parts supply chains, maintenance workshops and service stations can be established alongside vehicle production.

Trucks differ drastically from passenger vehicles. A broken-down passenger car only annoys its owner, while a malfunctioning truck directly incurs financial losses for fleet operators. Overseas customers ultimately care less about the transaction price than vehicle uptime.

Only manufacturers whose vehicles experience minimal downtime can secure repeat orders.

Another shift is that new energy heavy-duty trucks are starting to explore the high-end market.

Reported by the Financial Times in July 2026, Windrose Electric, a Chinese startup specializing in electric heavy-duty trucks, has begun exporting heavy electric trucks manufactured in China to the United States.

Its Global E700 model is priced at approximately 285,000 US dollars with a range of around 416 miles. The first batch of Chinese-made electric trucks shipped to the US was subject to tariffs of roughly 64%, yet the company still intends to penetrate the market leveraging its cost and technological edges.

This sends a powerful signal: Chinese truck exports no longer rely solely on low prices to capture emerging markets.

Nevertheless, the significance of this development should not be overstated.

Barriers to entry in European and American markets extend far beyond pricing. Certifications, tariffs, data compliance, financial solutions, after-sales service networks and residual value systems all pose formidable hurdles. Windrose remains a small-scale player for now, with its existing use cases serving merely as exploratory trials rather than large-volume mass deployments.

Heavy industrial scenarios such as mines, ports and cement plants are actually far closer to achieving large-scale rollouts.

Recently, a top major mining client in Indonesia placed a follow-up order for 100 units of XCMG 600-kilowatt 8×4 pure electric dump trucks, on top of its prior purchase of over 150 identical vehicles. This new order sets a new record for the single largest procurement of high-capacity heavy-duty electric trucks in overseas markets.

This 100-unit order represents far more than just sales growth. Mining sites feature fixed routes, heavy loads and straightforward charging plans, with customers' core demands centered on consistent vehicle availability and lower operating costs per kilometer.

Repeat orders for high-capacity electric dump trucks from mining clients demonstrate that overseas buyers have shifted from trialing new energy heavy trucks to bulk procurement, a trend further validated by Sany's large overseas orders.

On June 23, 100 Sany electric heavy trucks departed Changsha for Guangzhou Port. In total, 883 units will be shipped overseas to support low-carbon transportation at mines, ports and cement plants abroad.

It is evident that Chinese domestic new energy heavy trucks have moved past the trial sample export phase and entered an era of mass deliveries to overseas markets.

In the short term, new energy trucks will first be deployed in enclosed short-haul scenarios such as mines, ports and steel mills, where routes and driving distances are predictable, making charging costs easier to calculate.

Fleets evaluate electric vehicles based on three core metrics only: cost per kilometer, energy replenishment time, and vehicle attendance rate.

Another easily overlooked case: Scania.

As reported by the Financial Times in August 2025, Scania invested 2 billion euros to build a factory in Rugao, Jiangsu Province. The plant was scheduled to start production in October 2025, with at least half of its output to be exported to Asia and Oceania.

This demonstrates that China is no longer merely an export base for domestic Chinese brands, but has evolved into a global manufacturing hub for premium international truck marques.

This sends a twofold signal to China's truck industry.

On one hand, global industry giants have acknowledged China's robust supply chains, high manufacturing efficiency and convenient export conditions. On the other hand, competition in overseas markets will grow more intricate in the future. Chinese manufacturers will not only compete against European, Japanese and Korean brands, but also face rivalry from international brands whose products are made in China.