Currently, the sales volume of a brand or a particular car model has become the standard for measuring whether an automotive company is successful. Even the number of orders placed within a few hours of going public can serve as a measure of a model's success. However, in today's era when automotive companies are "burning money," some operations are often aimed at attracting investors' attention or generating only short-lived popularity in the initial period after going public, which is not sustainable. The key to measuring whether a company is developing healthily is who can truly make a profit. Only a "healthy" automotive company can achieve a virtuous cycle and continue to bring us better products in the future. Today, let's take a look at which Chinese automotive company is the most profitable and how much they invest in research and development.
According to the latest data for 2025, the Chinese passenger car company with the highest quarterly net profit is BYD, with a quarterly net profit of 9.155 billion yuan. The high sales volume and high profit of BYD are directly proportional. Another key indicator, the gross margin, more intuitively reflects a company's profitability. It reflects the proportion of profit in sales revenue and objectively shows the company's cost control ability and profitability. BYD's quarterly gross margin is 20.7%, which is at a leading level among Chinese automotive companies and even surpasses Tesla, which is known for its cost control. Tesla's gross margin for the same period is 16.3%.
Currently, BYD's total quarterly operating revenue has reached 170.36 billion yuan, and the year-on-year growth of net profit has exceeded 100%, achieving doubled profitability compared to the same period last year. This also allows the company to have more funds for healthy operations. Financial data shows that BYD's quarterly R&D expenditure has reached 14.223 billion yuan, even exceeding net profit. This also allows consumers to look forward to more high-quality products. "Showcasing new technologies" has become a feature and label of BYD's product launches. This year, BYD has successively launched technologies such as the "Divine Eye" for popularizing assisted driving, the "Super e-Platform" with a 1,000V architecture and a 30,000rpm motor, the "Megawatt Flash Charge" that achieves a 10C charging rate, and flash charging batteries that match a 400km charge in 5 minutes. BYD brings technological surprises every year and rapidly popularizes new technologies.
Coming in second place is Geely, with a quarterly net profit of 5.672 billion yuan, which is also outstanding among Chinese automotive companies, second only to BYD. Its gross margin is 15.78%, which is basically on par with Tesla's level. Geely's quarterly revenue is 72.495 billion yuan. Geely and BYD are among the few companies that can achieve year-on-year revenue growth. Compared to net profit, their profitability is quite eye-catching, especially Geely's 264% year-on-year net profit growth in a single quarter. Geely's quarterly R&D expenditure is 3.328 billion yuan, which is still quite high compared to other automotive companies.
In third place is SAIC Group, with a quarterly net profit of 3.023 billion yuan and a year-on-year net profit growth of 11.4%. Although SAIC Group's net profit is only third, the company's quarterly operating revenue reaches 140.9 billion yuan, which is still a huge enterprise that can be compared with BYD. In addition to well-known Chinese brands such as IM, MG, SAIC-GM Wuling, and SAIC MAXUS, SAIC Group also has strong enterprises like SAIC Volkswagen, SAIC-GM, and SAIC Audi. Given the relatively complex nature of SAIC Group's business, a gross margin of 8.13% is reasonable.
SAIC Group's overall R&D expenses also exceed net profit, reaching 3.881 billion yuan. SAIC Group's performance overseas is even more impressive. As of the end of 2024, SAIC Group has delivered more than 5.5 million vehicles in overseas markets, with 25% of sales in developed European countries. Currently, SAIC is accelerating the construction of overseas factories to achieve localization. The upcoming focus of SAIC Group will be the new brand Hongmeng Zhixing Shangjie, which will become a highlight in the future. Yu Chengdong stated that the new Shangjie H5 model will be equipped with Huawei ADS 4, accelerating the arrival of the true "intelligence driving democratization" era.
The brands ranking from fourth to tenth are Great Wall, Changan, BAIC, Seres, Li Auto, ZeroRun, and XPeng, respectively. It is worth mentioning that Great Wall, whose sales volume has never been particularly outstanding, has achieved a net profit of 1.751 billion yuan, which also reflects that sales volume does not fully represent a company's profitability. Great Wall's gross margin has reached 17.84%, even surpassing Geely. At present, Great Wall is focusing on brand premiumization, targeting the WEY and Tank brand markets, which have higher average pricing and higher profits. Great Wall's investment in R&D is also not small, reaching 1.906 billion yuan. The upcoming self-brand sedan equipped with a 4.0T V8 hybrid powertrain is even more anticipated.
Seres' gross margin is also surprising, reaching 27.62%, with a quarterly net profit of 748 million yuan and a 240.6% year-on-year net profit growth, making it the most potential new force brand in the future. From the changes in the past two years, it can be seen that Seres' net profit in the first quarter of 2023 was -625 million yuan, while in the first quarter of 2024, the net profit turned from loss to profit, reaching 220 million yuan. The success of the Aito M9 model has enabled Seres to take the lead in opening up the high-end market for Chinese brands. The ten-thousand-unit sales volume has created history, and the upcoming Aito M8 and new M7 models will continue to boost Seres' market performance this year. Of course, new force brands such as Li Auto, ZeroRun, and XPeng also have amazing progress. ZeroRun and XPeng are just one step away from profitability.
Overall, despite fierce market competition, the overall performance of Chinese brands is still excellent. However, the profitability of automotive companies is also accelerating differentiation. Head companies like BYD and Geely are accelerating profit growth and becoming unicorns. We also look forward to more automotive companies joining the unicorn camp, allowing the car market to fully compete and benefiting consumers.
