[DigitalToday intern reporter Seung-a Yoo] An analysis found that China and Thailand are a step ahead in reshaping the global auto industry by pushing policies to expand electric vehicle (EV) adoption at home.

On July 26 (local time), EV outlet CleanTechnica reported that China is linking expanded domestic electrification to export competitiveness, and Thailand is following the same structure while widening its position as an EV export base for Southeast Asia.

The key is the pace of electrification in the domestic market, not export performance. China’s latest new energy vehicle (NEV) plan calls for NEVs to account for 30 percent of total vehicles in operation by 2030, not 30 percent of new-car sales. That would lift NEVs on Chinese roads to more than 100 million. China’s 15th five-year plan also specifies expanding NEV supply, and Hainan province became the first region to confirm a ban on sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles in 2030.

Such policies do not stop at responding to climate change. China is securing production scale, learning effects and supply-chain depth at the same time in its domestic market. As a result, China has already become the world’s largest auto exporter, and the share of EVs in its exports is rising quickly.

The numbers also support that. China topped 1 million vehicles in monthly auto exports for the first time in June 2026. Of that, NEV exports were 523,000, exceeding 514,000 internal combustion engine vehicles. In the first half of 2026, exports of EVs and plug-in vehicles jumped about 120 percent to 2.36 million, accounting for 46 percent of total auto exports. Over the same period, auto sales in China fell 21 percent, but exports surged 65 percent.

Thailand is moving in the same direction. Thailand’s EV market has been reshaped quickly as Chinese companies including BYD expanded into the country. BYD is leading local EV sales and is also building production capacity in the Rayong area. Thailand adjusted its incentive system toward export compensation to respond to domestic oversupply, and is expanding its role as an EV export base targeting ASEAN and other markets. Thailand is assessed as following China’s strategy with noticeable success.

By contrast, Japan and the United States were criticised for a slow transition to domestic electrification. Hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles still make up a high share in the two markets, and the shift to fully electric vehicles is also gradual. Germany and South Korea are in between but are showing signs of improvement. The European Union also has carbon dioxide regulations and a phased transition schedule, but battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 21 percent of registrations in the first half of 2026, while hybrids took 37 percent and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) 10 percent, extending reliance on hybrids.

Concern has emerged that these differences could lead to gaps in export competitiveness in the future. In China and Thailand, factory conversion, research and development, supply chains and workforce retraining are advancing at the same time in their home markets. Their automakers are assessed as moving like a wartime system. By contrast, there is also criticism that established auto powers that delay the domestic transition are quietly giving up export competitiveness in the 2030s.

It was also stressed that market penetration cannot be expected to be slow simply because vehicle replacement cycles are long. Norway’s example shows that when policy, charging infrastructure and consumer behaviour align, the transition proceeds faster than sceptics expect. Also, as households that own both EVs and internal combustion engine vehicles show a higher share of driving in EVs, the shift in actual demand could move faster than simple registration shares suggest.

Pressure is already emerging in the European market. In June 2026, Chinese brands’ market share in Europe rose to 11 percent, about double from a year earlier. This is interpreted as a preview of what happens when markets that hesitate on domestic electrification face competitors that completed the transition first.

Ultimately, the future ranking of global auto production is likely to be determined by how quickly the share of new fully electric vehicle registrations rises in exporters’ home markets. China and Thailand are already on that path, and Europe remains in a middle zone. Whether Japan and the United States can hold out with incremental change and a hybrid-focused strategy was presented as the next key point to watch.