Automotive stocks advanced significantly in Hong Kong trading. At the time of writing, NIO (09866) surged 16.68% to HK$44.50; Geely Automobile (00175) rose 9.96% to HK$17.67; XPeng (09868) increased 6.78% to HK$77.20; and BYD Company (01211) gained 2.37% to HK$99.25. The positive movement follows BYD's official launch of its second-generation blade battery and flash charging technology on March 5, setting a new global record for mass-produced charging speed.

Founder Securities noted in a research report that BYD is leading the industry's technological upgrade, with policy support and new vehicle cycles jointly initiating a sector recovery. Vehicle market demand faced short-term pressure in January and February due to the pacing of policy transitions, but post-holiday acceleration of replacement subsidy programs across various regions—spearheaded by industry leader BYD—is expected to improve market sentiment and accelerate the recovery of end-user demand. Strong export performance continues to help smooth out industry cyclical fluctuations.

Guolian Minsheng Securities stated that weaker passenger vehicle demand in the first two months was mainly due to delayed rollout of local subsidy policies and a limited number of new models from automakers. Since February, both factors have shown improvement. With more local subsidies taking effect, auto demand is expected to stabilize and rebound in March, presenting potential early opportunities amid the current low demand phase.