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China’s electric vehicle (EV) exports are expected to almost double this year, helping the nation overtake Japan as the biggest car exporter worldwide as US rivals like Ford rue their competitive struggles.

China’s EV shipments are expected to reach 1.3 million units in 2023, according to an estimate by market research firm Canalys, versus 679,000 units in 2022 as reported by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

They will contribute to a surge in combined exports of petrol and battery-powered vehicles to 4.4 million units from 3.11 million in 2022, the research firm added. Japan’s exports in 2022 totalled 3.5 million units, according to official data.

Aided by their design and manufacturing heft, Chinese EVs are “value for money and high-quality products, and they can beat most of foreign brands,” Canalys said in a report published on Monday. Battery-powered vehicles, which comprise pure electric and plug-in hybrid models, are becoming a major export driver, it added.

Chinese carmakers exported 1.07 million vehicles of all types in the first ­quarter, surpassing Japan’s shipments of 1.05 million units, according to the China Business Journal. The US is “not quite yet ready” to compete with China in the production of EVs, Ford’s executive chairman Bill Ford Jnr said in a CNN interview on Sunday.

In the past decade, auto firms from established Chinese car makers such as BYD, SAIC Motor and Great Wall Motor to EV start-ups like Xpeng and Nio have developed a variety of battery-powered vehicles to cater for different classes of customers and budgets.

Beijing doled out billions of dollars worth of subsidies to make electric cars more affordable while exempting buyers from purchase tax to pursue a leading position in the global EV industry. Under the Made in China 2025 industrial strategy, the government wants its EV industry to generate 10 per cent of its sales overseas markets by 2025.