In contrast, between 2023 and 2024, North America's share of global assembled units fell from 16.4 to 16.2 percent.
China increased its share of global light vehicle production from 32.0% in 2023 to 33.7% in 2024, according to data from S&P Global.
For its part, the North American region reduced its share from 16.4 to 16.2% in the same comparison.
With this, China increased its production to 29,241,000 units, while North America (the United States, Mexico, and Canada) decreased production to 14,042,000 units.
Based on these results, US President Donald Trump has announced his interest in defending specific industries, such as the automotive, semiconductor, and steel and aluminum industries.
Trump has already imposed a 25% tariff on US steel and aluminum imports from around the world, expanding the list of products to include derivatives of both metals.
On March 11, Trump reversed an unprecedented escalation in the trade war with Canada. He had previously threatened sharply increased tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, as well as new taxes on imported electricity.
For its part, Ontario decided to pause electricity surcharges for American customers.
“If Canada does not remove other egregious and long-standing tariffs, on April 2nd, I will substantially increase tariffs on automobiles entering the United States, essentially permanently shutting down the auto manufacturing business in Canada. Those cars can easily be made in the United States!” Trump threatened at the time.
Globally, light vehicle production declined at a year-on-year rate of 1.2% in 2024, to 86,708,000 units.
In Asia, other notable producers were Japan (7.7 million units, -8.8% year-on-year), South Korea (4.1 million, -2.3%) and India (5.6 million, +4.1 million).
Visteon noted that OEMs continue to standardize vehicle platforms globally, resulting in fewer individual vehicle platforms, design cost savings, and greater economies of scale through the production of more models of each platform.
MORE THAN EXPECTED
According to Autoliv, the increase in Chinese production exceeded expectations at the beginning of the year, driven by the success of numerous new model launches by Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), particularly BYD.
The 4.7% decline in Europe, to 17 million units, was affected by affordability issues and technological uncertainty.
Autoliv explained that the drop in light vehicle production in North America was due to vehicle inventory corrections; while in Japan, the reduction was primarily due to model approval issues.
Visteon said the slight decline in industry vehicle volumes was partly due to a global shortage of semiconductors and other related supplies, although this has begun to ease.
Production levels in North America were slightly lower as vehicle affordability affected consumer demand.
In China, according to Visteon, domestic OEMs continued to gain market share amid intense price competition in a weak domestic market.
Looking ahead, vehicle production is expected to decline slightly in 2025, with Visteon customer production expected to decline mid-single digits, and risks related to vehicle affordability, economic uncertainty, potential geopolitical challenges, and changes in customer market share remain.
