Leading car manufacturing countries worldwide 2023

China led the market for motor vehicle production in 2023, producing more than 30 million cars and commercial vehicles that year. This was even greater than the production values of the other top five countries combined. In comparison, vehicle production in the United States—the second-ranking country—amounted to approximately 10.6 million units, the majority of which were commercial vehicles.

The Worldwide Drop in Automotive Production

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many problems for the worldwide automotive sector. Since governments took rapid actions to slow down the spread of the virus—such as national lockdowns, large-scale social distancing, and stringent border controls—global motor vehicle production shrunk by 15 percent in 2020. Motor vehicle production declined in all regions, especially in Europe and Noth America, where the production value experienced a decrease of around 21 percent. Although, in 2022, the automotive industry was showing signs of recovery, the production volume of 2022 was still below the levels of the pre-pandemic years.

The Chinese Market Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

China is a leading player in the global vehicle manufacturing industry, both in supply and demand. As of 2019, motor vehicle production in China accounted for nearly 29 percent of manufacturing operations worldwide. This figure reduced to 25 percent during 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the global supply chain and most industries. On a closer look, China's leading motor vehicle producer SAIC-General Motors slimmed down production numbers by 13 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, another joint venture between SAIC and Volkswagen manufactured approximately 22.4 percent fewer cars than the previous year.
In 2022, China's share increased again and reached almost 32 percent of the global production.