Guangdong's industrial belt breaks into Europe: Discover the next "phenomenal" trend in the auto parts export industry
Text by Wang Yu
“We position Europe as a new blue ocean for the auto parts category, and it is also one of the key growth markets that eBay is currently focusing on,” said Pang Tao, General Manager of Sales and Category Management at eBay Greater China, sharing his insights with Yibang when talking about the development opportunities for Chinese auto parts enterprises going global.
“For Chinese sellers, if they missed the explosive growth dividend of the US auto parts market before 2020, then now is the critical window period to seize the European market,” explained Pang Tao. The European market is currently in a typical “time machine effect” stage - its competitive landscape, consumption habits, and supply chain requirements are highly similar to those of the US market 3 - 5 years ago, but there is still a significant gap in the overall e - commerce penetration rate, which means huge incremental space.
He further emphasized, “Rather than competing for the existing market share in the highly involuted mature market, it is better to seize the structural opportunities in the European market and enjoy this round of ‘time - difference dividend’. Whether for factory - type sellers or trading - type sellers, it is the right time to enter the market now.”
This statement is true, and there is solid data to support this judgment. Relevant research by Statista shows that as one of the world's leading automotive aftermarket, the annual scale of the European auto parts market can reach tens of billions of euros, and the online proportion is still rising, with an annual growth rate of over 15%. The strong aftermarket demand combined with the continuous expansion of e - commerce channels provides a rare double opportunity for Chinese sellers with strong supply chain advantages.
However, opportunities never lie only in the numbers themselves: how to translate the macro - level advantages into replicable growth paths is the most concerned issue for sellers in industrial belts. With this in mind, at the eBay annual auto parts going - global conference, Yibang had conversations with many excellent auto parts enterprises from industrial belts and the eBay platform team, listening to their latest observations and operational insights on “entering the European market” for auto parts sellers in industrial belts. These experiences may be the beginning of the next growth story.
01 An Unmissable New Trend? The European Auto Parts Market is Rising Rapidly
For the auto parts category, Europe is undoubtedly a blue - ocean market with high entry barriers but even higher potential.
Automobile culture has a long history in Europe. Consumers have a strong awareness of vehicle maintenance and prefer DIY installation of parts. Lin Wenkui, General Manager of eBay's Greater China International Cross - border Trade Division, pointed out at the conference that from the perspective of market demand, the number of motor vehicles in Europe exceeds 400 million, the average service life of vehicles is over 12 years, and models over 6 years old account for 65%, which brings about the demand for growth, maintenance, and modification.
“The overall aftermarket scale in Europe exceeds 180 billion euros and is growing steadily at a rate of 5% annually. The online penetration rate of e - commerce is only 10%. With the online market growing at a rate more than three times that of the offline market, it is estimated that the European online aftermarket will exceed 30 billion euros by 2027,” said Lin Wenkui.
The two largest markets in Europe are the UK and Germany. “Both the UK and Germany have a very high number of motor vehicles, each approaching 40 - 50 million, with a total of nearly 100 million,” said Pang Tao. “Even compared with the United States, a country known as ‘a nation on wheels’ and highly dependent on automobiles, the ‘gold content’ of the European market is no less, and in some dimensions, they are on par.”
Data from “eBay's 2025 Strategy for Auto and Motorcycle Parts Going Global” shows that in the past three years, Chinese sellers have achieved strong growth in European sites: the sales of headlight assemblies on the German site have increased by more than three times, the sales of shock absorbers and struts have soared by 10 times, and the sales of charging piles have skyrocketed by more than 600%. On the UK site, the total growth of taillights has reached 9 times.
It can be said that the European auto parts market is still an incremental market with low involution pressure and large growth space. “Many niche categories have not yet produced a dominant leading player, and this is precisely the opportunity for Chinese merchants,” a platform account manager told Yibang.
“We have been firmly investing in the European market since we joined eBay ten years ago,” said Huang Hongjuan, Deputy General Manager of Guangzhou Yinuo Cross - border E - commerce Co., Ltd. On eBay, European buyers are professional, highly sticky, and their purchasing power far exceeds expectations. Our business in Germany and France has developed very smoothly.
“Now Europe has become one of our fastest - growing markets. This year, we still maintain double - digit growth. After joining Yuanshi·motors, eBay's support in marketing and account operation is also very practical, which further strengthens our confidence in continuous investment,” she revealed. “At the end of last year, European sales accounted for less than 30% of the total, but the growth rate increased significantly in 2025. Currently, it accounts for about 40% and is about to be on par with the revenue from the US market.”
“Compared with the United States, the difference in Europe is that the sales volume increases significantly as soon as you enter the market. Consumers in countries like Germany and the UK are more likely to accept high - unit - price products - the locals highly accept the consumption logic of paying a high price for high - quality services,” said Luo Longcheng, the person in charge of the eBay channel of Shenzhen Juncan E - commerce Co., Ltd., another merchant, sharing his understanding of the European market.
“The first category we dealt with was automobile rear - view mirrors, which have a relatively high unit price, but it didn't affect the sales growth. Overall, from 2020 to now, we have been able to maintain a growth of about 20% every year,” he recalled. “Europeans have a high consumption enthusiasm. What impressed me deeply was an order from a UK ‘car - modification enthusiast’. He manages a very large fleet and once ordered more than a dozen car stereos from our store at one time, with the sales of a single order reaching more than two thousand pounds.”
However, although the European auto parts market has promising prospects, compared with countries like the United States where online shopping habits are highly mature, there are still some difficulties worthy of attention when it comes to going - global business:
Firstly, the EU is not a single market but a combination of more than a dozen countries with different cultures, customs, and consumption preferences. The entry threshold is relatively high, and stronger local operation capabilities are required. Secondly, in the auto parts field, the product compliance requirements in European countries are more stringent, and only with strong compliance capabilities can one cross the “red line” and win users' trust.
02 The Pioneers in Channel Transformation: How Can the Pearl River Delta Auto Parts Industrial Belt Seize the Dividends of the Times?
“Industrial belts are the most important growth engines in the auto parts industry, and the three major core industrial belts in Shandong, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta are particularly crucial. In the past five years, we have observed significant qualitative upgrades in these regions - local enterprises are embracing the e - commerce transformation more closely,” emphasized Pang Tao.
Among them, the Pearl River Delta is undoubtedly one of the most powerful auto parts industrial belts. As a major domestic vehicle - manufacturing base, since the 1990s, relying on the local layout of Japanese and German car - making enterprises, the Pearl River Delta has gradually formed an auto parts industrial cluster centered around Chentian in Guangzhou, Jiujiang in Foshan, and Huangjiang in Dongguan, radiating across the Pan - Pearl River Delta region.
In its early days, it adopted the “processing with supplied materials, samples, and designs and compensation trade” model to undertake international orders. In the early 21st century, taking advantage of the dividends of China's accession to the WTO and the improvement of the industrial chain, local enterprises shifted from OEM production to technological breakthroughs, independently cultivating a full - chain supporting capacity covering engine parts, electronic systems, and interior and exterior parts, and accelerating the process of going global. Today, the annual export volume of auto parts from the Pearl River Delta has exceeded 10 billion US dollars, making it a “hidden champion” in the global auto parts track.
According to eBay platform data statistics, in 2023, the cross - border e - commerce export scale of the auto parts category in Guangdong Province ranked first in the country. “eBay intends to discover more local sellers, and our investment promotion team has also extended from Guangzhou and Shenzhen to second - and third - tier regions, such as Huizhou and Chaoshan, to explore local industrial processing zones,” said Pang Tao.
Yinuo Cross - border is a typical successful case nurtured by the auto parts industrial ecosystem in the Pearl River Delta. As a trading - type exporter mainly dealing in engine parts, sensors, transmission systems, turbo systems, etc., it benefits greatly from the highly developed local supply chain.
“The manufacturing industry in Guangzhou is highly concentrated. Raw materials can be purchased within the same industrial belt without the need for cross - regional sourcing, which significantly shortens the transportation distance and directly reduces the logistics cost,” said Huang Hongjuan. “At the same time, relying on the local supply chain, the delivery cycle of cross - border e - commerce sellers is significantly shortened, and the inventory turnover efficiency is improved accordingly, thereby significantly reducing our pressure on capital and inventory management.”
When asked whether “trading - type” sellers, who have neither production and R & D capabilities nor are in the core area of the highly competitive industrial belt, would be afraid of the impact of factory - type sellers, Huang Hongjuan seemed very calm.
She pointed out that in the auto parts track, the relationship between the two is not a zero - sum game. Production and R & D - type sellers are good at in - depth development, focusing on a single product line, polishing technology, and building brands. While trading - type sellers like Yinuo are good at horizontal expansion. Relying on ten years of eBay operation experience and greater flexibility in product selection, they turn “a single line” into “a network”. “They go deep, and we go wide, each with our own moats,” she explained. In contrast, Juncan Electronics focuses on the car stereo category.
“Our company was established in 2013. As a production and R & D - type enterprise, our main product is the car stereo - that is, the central control navigation,” introduced Luo Longcheng. “This category is relatively niche but has its own technical threshold and higher added value.” In his opinion, the most unique advantage of Guangdong is the complete electronic industrial chain around Shenzhen: high - added - value and R & D - intensive, capable of continuously incubating more innovative and intelligent in - vehicle products.
03 New Business Models, New Challenges: How to “Solve the Pain Points” in Auto Parts Going Global?
What key bottlenecks need to be broken through and which core capabilities need to be strengthened when conducting online retail business of auto parts in the European market? In response to this question, Pang Tao clearly pointed out three key elements: wide coverage, precise matching, and convenient assembly.
As one of the world's leading online trading platforms for vehicles and auto - motorcycle parts, eBay has now become the preferred shopping destination for auto enthusiasts in Europe and the United States: on average, a buyer searches for wheels and tires every 2 seconds, and a buyer searches for car lights every 4 seconds. “Based on past experience, the auto parts category itself has a large number of SKUs and a certain operational threshold. How to provide a better consumption experience for customers through online channels has always been the core topic of our research,” said Pang Tao.
Firstly, for the online retail business model of auto parts, wide coverage of vehicle - model coverage and deep coverage of vertical parts categories are crucial. The mainstream vehicle models in different countries vary, and the parts models are also very different. The unique parts required for ultra - new models within three years of listing or antique cars are also an important demand area that cannot be ignored. For offline stores, limited by their limited inventory capacity - usually only a few thousand SKUs, it is often difficult to meet such long - tail demands.
“The core advantage of e - commerce platforms lies precisely in their ability to provide a large number of SKUs suitable for various vehicle models and years simultaneously, achieving large - scale supply,” pointed out Pang Tao. “This wide - range SKU coverage is the prerequisite for enabling each consumer to find the products they need and thus improving customer satisfaction.”
How to accurately match a large number of SKUs with consumers' needs is the “second test” of customer - service capabilities.
Not only do merchants need to have professional customer - service support capabilities to help customers choose the right products correctly, but the platform also needs to actively carry out “digital infrastructure construction” and provide effective tools to lower the communication threshold between buyers and sellers.
In response, eBay has taken multiple measures: by launching vehicle - model matching tools, DIY guide pages, etc., on the one hand, it helps auto parts buyers accurately find the parts suitable for their vehicle models among a large number of products and enjoy the fun of DIY; on the other hand, it also significantly reduces the customer - service pressure on merchants.
In addition, “convenient assembly” is also an important part of the service system. Now, the O2O model of “online ordering, offline installation” has become increasingly popular in the auto parts field. “In Germany, with the help of the maintenance stores designated by the platform, eBay can already provide similar services,” revealed Pang Tao.
Another issue that has attracted much attention recently is that the traditional parts market is facing the challenge of a tariff war. Previously, the US government announced that a new 25% tariff would be applied to imported passenger vehicles (sedans, sport - utility vehicles, etc.) and light trucks, as well as key auto parts (engines, transmissions, etc.), and would be extended to other parts if necessary.
“Frankly speaking, we haven't been greatly affected,” explained Huang Hongjuan. The only impact of this tariff increase is a slight increase in freight. Since most auto parts are transported in bulk with taxes included, the service providers themselves can overallocate and share part of the tariff pressure, and the final cost increase passed on to merchants is still within a controllable range.
Huang Bujin, General Manager of the South China Region of eBay's China Cross - border Trade Division, told Yibang that the auto parts industry is special. Relatively speaking, it is a “heavy - asset, slow - turnover” field, and the inventory turnover may take 150 - 160 days. Therefore, in the short term, there will be no shortage of goods in relevant categories - “now many merchants are still selling the overseas inventory before April.”
On the other hand, since e - commerce channels focus on consumers' long - tail and personalized needs, this product - selection tendency will inevitably bring higher profit premiums and a “deeper” pricing space. Therefore, the cost pressure is much smaller than that of the traditional offline model.
This article is from the WeChat official account “Yibang Power”. Author: Wang Yu. Republished with permission.
