In recent years, the deepening of economic and trade cooperation between China and ASEAN has created broad space for trailer and flatbed exports. With the implementation of tariff reduction policies under the RCEP agreement, container throughput at ports in Southeast Asian countries has surged, directly driving a significant increase in demand for logistics equipment such as semi-trailers. Data for 2024 shows that the Southeast Asian commercial vehicle market reached 900,000 units, with China's exports growing by 24.6% year-on-year to 76,000 units. Among them, Vietnam accounted for 37% of truck imports, becoming one of the core markets for China's trailer and flatbed exports, while Indonesia has emerged as a new growth engine due to its potential demand scale.
The innovation and upgrading of logistics corridors have injected key momentum into export growth. In August this year, the first batch of semi-trailers from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area were exported to Vietnam via the Chongzuo Port road-water intermodal corridor, achieving a seamless end-to-end process of "ship arrival, vehicle pickup, and direct customs clearance". Logistics costs were reduced by 20% compared with traditional road transportation, and product loss rates dropped significantly. Leveraging the advantages of the Xijiang Golden Waterway and integrating Chongzuo's border and riverfront characteristics, this corridor has opened up a low-cost and efficient path for China's trailer and flatbed exports to ASEAN, and is expected to further drive regional export growth.
New energy transformation and localized layout have become core competencies for enterprises. Many Southeast Asian countries have launched subsidy policies for new energy commercial vehicles, with Vietnam and Thailand accelerating electrification processes. Chinese new energy heavy-duty trucks have entered the Southeast Asian market with the advantages of zero emissions and low energy consumption, whose energy costs are only 30% of those of fuel-powered heavy-duty trucks, and can meet cross-border transportation needs with 30 minutes of charging. Leading enterprises are actively promoting localized production: CIMC Vehicles has achieved substantial sales growth in Thailand and Vietnam, with revenue in the Vietnamese market surging by 270% year-on-year; Sinotruk has gained nearly 18% of the Vietnamese market share through localized assembly strategies.
Despite the broad market prospects, enterprises still face challenges. Lagging financial support in Southeast Asia restricts the implementation of large orders, technical standards and tariff barriers in some countries have not been fully eliminated, and Japanese brands still occupy more than 90% of the market share. Industry insiders suggest that enterprises need to strengthen the R&D of customized products to adapt to the light truck-dominated market structure and complex road conditions in Southeast Asia. At the same time, they should deepen the localization of supply chains, improve cross-border logistics efficiency with digital freight platforms, and seize new opportunities brought by the entry into force of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement Version 3.0.
Looking ahead, with the continuous increase in infrastructure investment in Southeast Asia and the rise in the penetration rate of new energy commercial vehicles, the scale of China's trailer and flatbed export market is expected to maintain high-speed growth. It is predicted that the sales volume of the Southeast Asian commercial vehicle market will reach 920,000 units in 2025, and the compound annual growth rate of the new energy drop-and-pull trailer market will exceed 28%, bringing more development space for Chinese export enterprises.
