CHONGQING — Changan said on Tuesday (April 21) it aims to be one of the world’s top-10 automakers by 2030 and grow its global sales by more than two-thirds, joining a number of other Chinese automakers setting ambitious sales targets in a race to expand into overseas markets.
The state-owned automaker said it is targeting global sales of five million vehicles by 2030 — with a minimum target of four million units — with fully electric or plug-in-hybrid models accounting for 60 per cent of the total.
Changan announced its sales target in the run-up to the Beijing auto show.
Last year Changan sold 2.9 million vehicles, including in joint ventures with Ford and Mazda, making it the world’s thirteenth-largest automaker by sales.
Based on 2025 industry figures, sales of five million vehicles would make Changan the world’s number 5 automaker by sales. The company’s brands include Changan, Deepal, Nevo and Avatr.
The company is also targeting overseas sales of between 1.4 million and 1.8 million units by 2030. Changan sold 638,000 vehicles outside China in 2025.
As growth in China’s car market, the world’s largest, has slowed, domestic automakers are seeking growth in overseas markets and have set bold sales targets.
Earlier this year, Geely announced a 2030 sales target of 6.5 million vehicles, up from 4.2 million in 2025. BYD, China’s biggest electric automaker by sales, has told investors it wants half its sales to come from outside China by 2030.
Changan also said it will launch two fully electric sedans powered by sodium ion batteries supplied by Chinese battery maker CATL in 2027.
At scale, sodium ion batteries are far cheaper to make than lithium ion batteries because they use salt — which is ubiquitous and easy to acquire.
The disadvantage of sodium ion batteries is they currently have a lower energy density than lithium batteries, which means less range.
The sedans Changan will launch in 2027 will have a range of around 400km.
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