The top ten exporters and importers of automotive products reveal a highly concentrated global trade system, shaped by a small number of manufacturing hubs and a set of demand-led consumer markets.
Global automotive trade is highly concentrated and structurally asymmetric. A small group of manufacturing hubs supplies the bulk of world markets, while final demand is anchored in a narrow set of large consumer economies.
On the export side, the EU alone accounts for 44% of global automotive exports. Together with East Asia and Mexico, these three hubs account for the core (63%) of global automotive manufacturing.
On the import side, the EU and the U.S. together account for more than half (57%) of global automotive imports, underscoring their role as the world’s primary demand centres.
Taken together, the top ten traders account for 94% of global exports and 81% of imports, underscoring how a small number of economies continues to shape both the supply and demand structure of the global automotive system.
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