2026 Used Car Export New Policy: Avoid Involution Traps and Break Through by Focusing on Central and Southeast Asia
2026 is really a year of reshuffling for the used car export industry! All the policies intensively issued by the Ministry of Commerce in 2025 have been fully implemented this year, completely ending the chaotic era of barbaric growth in the past. To be honest, most of the peers around us are swarming to Africa and West Asia, thinking it's a bonus period, but they all ended up trapped in involution. Having been in the used car export business for so many years and stepped on many pits, we instead found that the real opportunities to make money and achieve growth are not in those hyped-up places, but in Central and Southeast Asia, which everyone thinks is "saturated" and no one pays much attention to. Today, I want to chat with you frankly, combining our real experience of running markets on the front line, to break down how much the new policies have impacted us, how deep the pits in those markets are, and then share how we can break through under the premise of compliance, so as to take fewer detours and make more real money.
Quick Overview (Practical Version)
The three compliance thresholds of the new policy have been strictly enforced. 80% of the previous gray paths of "disguising 0-kilometer new cars as used cars" have been blocked, and non-compliant small businesses will basically be eliminated;
Self-media keeps boasting about high profits in Africa and West Asia, but in fact, there are full of pits-volatile exchange rates, difficult settlements, and peers competing so fiercely that there's no profit left. Some of our peers around us have fallen victim to this;
Central and Southeast Asia are our "stable markets". With mature supply chains, high recognition of Chinese brands by local people, and policy adaptability, although the profit per car is not very high, it is stable and definitely profitable in the long run;
The price of official direct sales is too high. For us who do compliant used car exports, the profit margin in the middle is actually sufficient, so there's no need to join the low-price involution;
Finding customers through real customs procurement data allows you to directly connect with overseas procurement managers, instead of dealing with those invalid inquiries, transforming from "waiting for orders" to "actively seeking orders" with doubled efficiency.
New Policy Implementation: Bid Farewell to Barbaric Growth, Compliance is the Bottom Line for Survival
For those of us in the used car export business, the most crucial point in 2026 is: compliance is not an option, but a must-do thing-otherwise, we simply cannot survive. The three policies issued by the Ministry of Commerce in 2025 have formed three compliance thresholds, which have reshaped the entire industry pattern. We who run businesses on the front line can feel this change very clearly.
The first threshold is the "180-day registration period", which directly blocked the previous gray path of passing 0-kilometer new cars off as used cars for export. We roughly calculated in the industry that in 2025, such "fake used cars" accounted for 80% of the entire export market. By 2026, the supply of such cars has decreased by 80% directly. Many small businesses that made money through this path now have no cars to export and can only worry anxiously.
The second threshold is that exported cars must have the "After-sales Maintenance Service Confirmation" issued by the manufacturer. Without this document, it is impossible to obtain an export license, and the goods cannot even leave the customs. We really have experience with this. A peer of ours didn't take it seriously before and didn't ask for this document. The goods were shipped to the port but couldn't clear customs. In the end, all the freight and payment were lost-several hundred thousand yuan went down the drain just like that.
The third threshold is that the technical standards for new energy used cars have been raised. For cars that do not meet the requirements for vehicle purchase tax reduction or exemption, the export cost will increase by 5%-10%. In fact, this impact was already evident at the end of 2025. We found that many domestic new energy car merchants sold their inventory at low prices to clear stock, which directly led to a more than 5-fold (515%) increase in electric vehicle imports in Central Asian markets such as Kazakhstan in November compared with September. It seems that sales are booming in the short term, but it has also pre-exhausted the demand in these markets in 2026. We must be more careful when picking up goods in the future to avoid stepping on pits.
Market Correction: Those Hyped "High-Profit Markets" Are Actually Traps
In the past six months, we have received many inquiries from peers-eight or nine out of ten are asking how to enter markets like Africa, Iran, and Iraq. To put it bluntly, they were deceived by self-media, which keeps saying "profit per car exceeds 10,000 yuan" and "zero threshold to enter". But those of us who have actually run these markets know that this is just an illusion. The risks in these markets are much greater than the so-called profits. Rushing in blindly will most likely result in losses.
Let's talk about the African market first. It seems to have strong demand, but in fact, it's full of pain points. First of all, most countries in Africa use right-hand drive cars. The left-hand drive cars we export either need to be modified at a cost or no one will buy them, with extremely low acceptance. Secondly, local purchasing power is weak, and most customers require installment payments. The payment collection cycle is long, and problems are likely to occur. The most pitfall is the exchange rate. A peer we have cooperated with for several years sent a batch of goods to Nigeria last year. Before the goods arrived at the port, the local exchange rate depreciated by 20%, directly causing a loss of more than 100,000 yuan-there was nowhere to cry.
Then there are Iran and Iraq. Due to international sanctions, payment is particularly difficult, and it is impossible to receive foreign exchange through normal channels. In 2025, a peer sent goods but couldn't receive payment, directly losing more than 10 million yuan. What's even more terrifying is that the herd mentality of Chinese merchants has also appeared in these markets: the number of Chinese car merchants in the African market tripled in 2024. Many people started selling cars at a loss to recover funds, and the profit per car decreased by 500 to 1,000 yuan directly. The seller's market that we used to dominate has now completely become a buyer's market, with involution even more fierce than in China.
Key to Breaking Through: Focus on Central and Southeast Asia, Steady Profit is the Kingly Way
Compared with the "speculative" markets like Africa and West Asia, although the profit per car in Central and Southeast Asia is not very high-only about 2% to 8%-it is stable and can be done for a long time, which is also the direction we have been focusing on. After many years in foreign trade, our biggest experience is that steady profits are more reliable than huge profits, and steady progress is the long-term solution.
The advantage of the Central Asian market first lies in the convenient supply chain. Relying on the China-Europe Railway Express, the transportation cost of used cars is 1/3 lower than that of traditional sea freight, and the transportation time has been shortened from the previous two to three months to about 28 days. This way, our funds are not occupied all the time, and the goods are less likely to be damaged. In addition, Chinese brands have a particularly good reputation locally. When we ran the market, we found that 99.5% of the 24,000 electric vehicles imported by Uzbekistan in 2024 were from China; six of the top ten best-selling auto brands in Kazakhstan in the first half of 2025 were Chinese brands. Local people recognize Chinese used cars, and there are few after-sales disputes, making it very worry-free to do business.
The Southeast Asian market is even a potential stock. In 2025, more than half of China's used car exports went to Southeast Asia. Moreover, local policies on used car imports are relatively loose. Most of those who buy used cars are small and medium-sized enterprise owners and individual households, with stable demand that does not fluctuate drastically. We currently focus on the Vietnamese and Thai markets, where repeat customers account for more than 40%. As long as the car condition is reliable and the price is reasonable, it is easy to establish long-term cooperation with customers, without having to keep looking for new ones.
Practical Skills: Precisely Develop Customers and Get Rid of the Troubles of Invalid Inquiries
After the implementation of the new policy, the industry competition has become increasingly fierce. The biggest headache for us in the used car export business is "many inquiries but few orders". Many peers receive dozens of inquiries every day, but most of them are invalid consultations where customers only ask for prices but don't buy, wasting a lot of time and energy. We have explored for a long time and summed up the most practical method: finding customers through real customs procurement data for precise connection, without doing useless work.
Here I want to share a practical method we are currently using-it's very simple, even beginners can get started: first analyze the customs procurement data of the target market, and you can directly find the overseas buyer's procurement manager, not the front desk or customer service, but the decision-maker. You can also check the other party's previous procurement records. For example, we once found a Vietnamese customer who bought a batch of BYD Yuan PLUS used cars at 128,000 yuan before. We directly contacted him, provided him with the same model with better condition, quoted 122,000 yuan, and promised to clear customs 3-5 days faster than peers-after all, we have been doing the supply chain for so long, and we still have this advantage.
The core of this method is to negotiate with customers based on their real procurement records, accurately matching their needs. It is much more efficient than posting advertisements on public platforms and foolishly waiting for inquiries. Now we use this method, invalid inquiries have decreased by 70%, and the order conversion rate has increased by 30%, completely transforming from "passively waiting for orders" to "actively seeking orders". We can also accurately poach competitors' customers, and the effect is particularly obvious.
In the End: In the Industry Shuffling Period, the Sober Win
In 2026, the bonus period for used car exports is over, and the era of barbaric growth has completely ended. Now the competition is no longer about who has the lowest price, but about who can provide more valuable services and who is more compliant. Those who follow the trend blindly, only want to make quick money, and do not pay attention to compliance will eventually be eliminated by the industry; while those who can see the market clearly, focus on mature markets such as Central and Southeast Asia, do a good job in compliance, and find the right customers can seize this opportunity.
Having been in the used car export business for so many years, we have always believed in one thing: there is no truly saturated market in the industry, only people who cannot find opportunities. In 2026, as long as we adhere to the bottom line of compliance, focus on core markets such as Central and Southeast Asia, and do a good job in customer service, we can stand firm in the shuffling and make money in the long run. In the future, we will also share more practical experience of running markets on the front line. We welcome peers to communicate with each other, learn from each other, and do this business well together.
Company Name: Jingsun Car Co., Ltd
WhatsApp: 8619505562680 (24/7 online, prompt response)
WeChat: 8613225612350 (Add "Used Car Export" in your message for priority processing)
Website: https://www.sin-auto.com/?url=jingsuncar.com
Service Countries: Ghana / Algeria / Cambodia / Middle East / East Africa (Years of practical experience, familiar with customs clearance rules of various countries)