China beats Germany to emerge second largest exporter of auto parts to US

08 June 2007

Mumbai: China overtook Germany to become the second largest exporter of automotive spare parts to the United States. China exported $1.936 billion worth of auto parts to the US in the first quarter this year, pipping Germany, which notched up $1.934 billion.

Japan remained the top exporter of auto components to the US with annual exports of worth $3.57 billion.

China exported $1.52 billion worth of auto parts to the US - less than the $1.73 billion exported by Germany - during the same period last year, Shanghai Securities News said quoting statistics from the US department of commerce.

China''s auto parts exports grew at an annual 54 per cent from 2000 to 2005, far outpacing the 29.5 per cent rise in imports, statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show.

In the first three months the current year, China''s auto parts exports grew 36 per cent to $2.57 billion year-on-year while imports rose 27 per cent to $2.42 billion, customs figures showed.

China''s auto parts exports have increased more than six fold in the last five years, nearly topping $1 billion in April and emerging as one of the fastest-growing categories of Chinese industrial products sold overseas. More than half of these auto parts go to the United States; most of the rest to Europe and Japan.