As market competition intensifies, the performance divergence among listed automotive companies has become more pronounced.

The first half of 2025 financial results for all listed automotive companies have been released, with BYD Company Limited (002594.SZ; 01211.HK) maintaining its substantial leading advantage, ranking first in both revenue and net profit. Meanwhile, GAC Group (601238.SH) has hit bottom across all metrics and turned from profit to loss.

While the overall market pie continues to expand, individual automakers haven't seen significant increases in profitability. From a revenue perspective, multiple automotive companies achieved growth, with both BYD Company Limited and Geely (0175.HK) reaching historical revenue highs. However, in terms of net profit, only BYD Company Limited maintained growth momentum, though its automotive gross margin declined by two percentage points.

**BYD Company Limited Leads in Both Revenue and Net Profit, Multiple Companies Achieve Revenue Growth**

Financial reports show that BYD Company Limited achieved revenue of 371.28 billion yuan in the first half, up 23.3% year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders reaching 15.51 billion yuan, up 13.79% year-over-year.

As sales rebounded from their bottom, SAIC Motor (600104.SH) saw performance recovery, achieving consolidated operating revenue of 299.588 billion yuan in the first half, up 5.23% year-over-year, while net profit attributable to parent company reached 6.018 billion yuan, down 9.21% year-over-year.

Benefiting from substantial sales growth, Geely Automobile recorded the highest revenue growth among the six automotive companies: total revenue reached 150.3 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, up 27% year-over-year, setting a historical record, while net profit attributable to parent company was 9.29 billion yuan, down 14% year-over-year.

Great Wall Motor's (601633.SH) interim report showed that in the first half of 2025, the company achieved operating revenue of 92.335 billion yuan, up slightly by 0.99% year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders at 6.337 billion yuan, down 10.21% year-over-year.

Both Changan and GAC saw revenue declines.

Newly designated state-owned enterprise Changan Automobile (000625.SZ) announced that it achieved operating revenue of 72.691 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, down 5.25% year-over-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders at 2.291 billion yuan, down 19.09% year-over-year.

GAC Group ranked last across all metrics: achieving operating revenue of 42.166 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, down 7.95% year-over-year, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of 2.538 billion yuan, compared to a net profit of 1.516 billion yuan in the same period last year, representing a shift from profit to loss with a decline of 267.39%.

**Intensified Competition Leads to Widespread Gross Margin Decline**

Multiple automotive companies mentioned in their financial reports that while destructive price wars have been contained, industry competition continued to intensify in the first half. BYD Company Limited also noted in its financial report that competition in the Chinese market is becoming increasingly fierce.

In the first half of this year, automotive market price wars were more subtle, often appearing in the form of "price reductions with enhanced features" when new models were launched, which significantly impacted automakers' gross margins. Overall, listed automotive companies' gross margins significantly outperformed industry averages, but most experienced declines, with BYD Company Limited not immune.

In the first half, BYD Company Limited achieved revenue of 371.28 billion yuan with operating costs of 304.415 billion yuan. Based on these figures, BYD Company Limited's main business gross margin was 18.01%, slightly down from 18.78% last year.

According to the financial report, BYD Company Limited's automotive business gross margin was 20.35%, down 1.99 percentage points year-over-year.

However, it should be noted that the financial report stated that the company's main business data statistical methodology was adjusted during the reporting period. After adjustment, its automotive gross margin reached 22.34%, up 1.67% year-over-year.

The reason for the methodology change was: in accordance with "Enterprise Accounting Standards Interpretation No. 18," warranty-type quality assurance originally listed under "selling expenses" was reclassified to "operating costs," with corresponding retrospective adjustments to comparative financial data.

BYD Company Limited faced more apparent pressure in the domestic market. The financial report shows that BYD Company Limited's overseas gross margin increased by 2.59 percentage points year-over-year, or 9.13 percentage points after adjustment, while its gross margin in China declined by 2.47 percentage points to 16.97%, or declined by 2.25 percentage points to 19.44% after adjustment.

Research reports suggest that intensified domestic competition and increased costs from intelligent driving systems are important factors causing BYD Company Limited's gross margin decline. Starting from the second quarter this year, BYD Company Limited's intelligent driving vehicle ratio increased to nearly 80%, leading to an average cost increase of approximately 5,000 yuan per vehicle. Additionally, promotional discounts and dealer rebates also contributed to lower gross margin levels.

Great Wall Motor's gross margin in the first half was 18.38%, down 1.57 percentage points year-over-year.

Geely Automobile achieved operating revenue of 150.285 billion yuan in the first half, up 27% year-over-year, with total gross profit reaching 24.7 billion yuan, calculating to a main business gross margin of 16.4%.

Changan Automobile's gross margin improved from 13.87% in the same period last year to 14.58%.

SAIC Motor and GAC Group failed to achieve gross margins above 10%.

SAIC Motor achieved revenue of 294.336 billion yuan in the first half with operating costs of 269.863 billion yuan, calculating to a gross margin of 8.3%, down slightly by 0.2 percentage points year-over-year.

GAC Group, which turned to loss in the first half, saw its gross margin plummet by 7.06 percentage points to -3.1%. Its vehicle gross margin dropped by 8.08 percentage points to -7.03%. The positive gross margins in components, finance, and other businesses further prove that GAC Group faces severe pressure in new vehicle sales.

**Product Mix Significantly Impacts Performance, Overseas Markets Become "Hot Commodity"**

For the six major automotive companies analyzed, all have achieved above-scale production and sales volumes. Two major factors significantly impacting performance are sales volume and product mix.

GAC Group and Great Wall Motor are the two companies with the poorest new energy transformation, with sales volumes clearly affected.

With the decline of Japanese brands in China, GAC Group's sales continued to drop. The stalled new energy transformation and lackluster performance of domestic brands led to "double decline in volume and profit," with the gap between it and leading automotive companies continuing to widen.

Although Great Wall Motor is a domestic brand, its new energy transformation is significantly lagging, and the competitiveness of its star products has declined.

Production and sales reports show that from January to June 2025, Great Wall Motor's sales were 569,800 units, up 1.81% year-over-year, far below the market growth rate for the same period. New energy vehicle sales totaled 160,400 units, with overseas sales at 197,700 units.

In terms of products, Great Wall Motor's star Tank brand accumulated sales of 103,700 units, down 10.67% year-over-year. The Ora brand accumulated sales of 13,900 units, down 56.19% year-over-year.

The impact of product mix on profits is particularly evident with Geely.

In the first half, Geely achieved record-high revenue but saw net profit decline by 14%. The decline was mainly due to product mix issues: low-priced vehicle sales grew substantially in the first half, even capturing significant market share from BYD Company Limited. However, high-margin models like Zeekr performed poorly and failed to contribute sufficient profits.

With slowing growth in the domestic market, automotive companies are turning their attention overseas, with all companies highlighting export strategies as a "major focus" in their financial reports. According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers data, from January to July 2025, China exported 3.68 million vehicles, up 12.8% year-over-year. BYD Company Limited, SAIC, Changan, Geely, and Great Wall are all among the top ten companies by export volume. Overseas markets have become the primary space for Chinese automotive companies to seek growth.