Automaker News | OEM Trend
CLS: Chery Automobile's operational performance and profitability kept climbing on March 18. For 2025, the company booked total revenue of 300.29 billion yuan — an 11.3% annual increase — while net profit surged 36.1% to 19.51 billion yuan. The net profit margin improved to 6.5% from 5.3%, signaling stronger earning power. Profit attributable to owners rose 34.6% to 19.019 billion yuan, boosting shareholder returns. On the sales front, Chery moved 2.63 million self-owned passenger vehicles last year, up 14.6%. New energy vehicle sales skyrocketed 72.5% to 826,500 units, with electrification and globalization driving the growth engine.
CLS: Geely Auto unveiled its 2025 full-year earnings on March 18. Total revenue hit a record 345.2 billion yuan, climbing 25% year-on-year. Stripping out non-core items like foreign exchange effects, core net profit reached 14.41 billion yuan — a 36% jump that outpaced revenue growth and marked a shift toward higher-quality expansion. Gross profit lifted 25% to 57.3 billion yuan, fueled by economies of scale and a richer product mix. By the end of 2025, total cash reserves had surged 46% to 68.2 billion yuan, providing a solid financial cushion. Looking ahead to 2026, Geely is gearing up for another major product offensive. The automaker plans to roll out a slew of new models spanning mainstream to luxury segments and covering both internal combustion and new energy powertrains, as it marches toward its full-year sales target of 3.45 million units.
Fast Tech: Faraday Future announced a stock purchase initiative targeting executives and employees on March 18. Under the plan, select executives and core staff will voluntarily defer a portion of their base salaries from March through May 2026 — totaling roughly $500,000 after tax — to fund the purchase of company stock. Subject to U.S. securities laws and internal trading policies, Faraday Future intends to use these funds to buy back ordinary shares on the open market. Once repurchased, the shares will be transferred to the participating employees to settle their deferred compensation arrangements, directly boosting the core team's equity stake in FFAI.
Fast Tech: Chery's iCAR brand stated on March 18 that its recently launched V23 — a boxy, mid-to-large off-road SUV — has come under coordinated attack from online trolls. The tactics include abusive comments, fact distortion, smearing competitors, and search engine manipulation. The brand has initiated legal proceedings and is securing evidence, offering a reward of 100,000 to 1 million yuan for information leading to the perpetrators. While iCAR welcomes legitimate oversight, it vowed to defend its rights against malicious defamation.
IT Home: Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun took to video on March 18 to clarify that the company's solid-state battery technology remains in the development and verification phase. He predicted it will take at least five years before solid-state batteries offer enough commercial value for vehicle installation. Wei noted that the technology faces multiple hurdles regarding cost, safety, and performance. Great Wall is focusing on the sulfide technical route and has already achieved kilogram-level preparation of sulfide solid electrolytes, along with the development of 20Ah battery samples. The company plans to continue heavy R&D investment while urging the public to view technological progress with rational expectations.
36Kr: Industry sources indicate that following the successful tape-out of the M97 chip — a collaboration between NIO's Shenji and Axera — the partners are actively reaching out to automakers like Leapmotor and Geely. Last year, after NIO spun off its chip business into an independent subsidiary called Shenji Technology, the entity formed a joint venture with Axera and OMNIVISION Integrated Circuit. The M97 chip is set to be supplied to other automakers through this joint venture.
Yicai: Recent market rumors suggesting SAIC Audi would be merged into FAW Audi have been addressed by Audi global CEO Gernot Döllner, who stated that the current dual-partner model remains highly beneficial and will be maintained. The collaboration with SAIC is currently focused on advancing the "AUDI" letter-marked brand. The first product, the E5 Sportback, hit the market in the second half of 2025; an E7X model follows this year, with another slated for next year. Meanwhile, the partnership with FAW centers on the four-ring badge lineup, rolling out electric vehicles on the PPE platform and expanding internal combustion offerings via the PPC platform. Looking ahead, Audi plans to introduce more features tailored specifically for China — including collaborations between the four-ring brand and Huawei — while maintaining open cooperation with Chinese tech innovators.
Supplier News | Supply Chain News
Gasgoo: ZF LIFETEC recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of its gas generator facility in Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone. The move marks a strategic breakthrough as the company deepens its roots in China and expands its footprint across the Asia-Pacific region. The expansion project involves a total investment of 150 million euros and will add roughly 3,636 square meters of industrial floor space, forming a core component of ZF LIFETEC's global strategic layout.
Gasgoo: Zenergy has officially signed an agreement to establish a 50GWh smart manufacturing project for long-duration energy storage in the Changshu High-tech Zone of Suzhou. Under the investment agreement, Zhengli plans to pour 10 billion yuan into building a flexible, intelligent production base for next-generation, high-capacity, long-duration energy storage lithium-ion batteries with an annual output of 50GWh.
EO Auto: Zhuoyu Technology is currently raising a 2 billion yuan Pre-IPO round with a pre-money valuation of approximately 12.5 billion yuan, and plans to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange within the year. In November 2025, Zhuoyu announced a strategic investment of over 3.6 billion yuan from China FAW Group. Following that transaction, Zhuoyu retained its independent development strategy, achieving a post-money valuation exceeding 10 billion yuan.
Industrial Focus | Industrial Economy
Gasgoo: Data from Tonghuashun on March 18 showed the Hong Kong auto sector trading mostly in the red. By the time of publication, Li Auto had slipped 6.17% to 66.9 Hong Kong dollars; XPENG fell 4.28% to 74.85 Hong Kong dollars; and NIO dropped 0.89% to 46.9 Hong Kong dollars. On the A-share market, leaders like CATL and EVE Energy also posted modest declines.
Gasgoo: On March 18, robot leasing platform Qingtianzu announced the completion of Angel and Angel+ funding rounds, with cumulative proceeds reaching the 100 million yuan mark. The rounds were led by Broad-Ocean Motor, Muhua Sci-Tech Innovation, and Minzhuo Electromechanical, with participation from YH Entertainment Group, Fuzhuo Investment, Mingjia Capital, Ruizi Venture Capital, Tianji Investment, Jiaxing Nantou, and Zhixing Investment. Existing shareholder Dafeng Industrial continued to oversubscribe.
Gasgoo: Sitan Technology recently closed a nearly 100 million yuan Series B3 funding round on March 18, backed by investors including Xiamen Advanced Manufacturing Fund No. 1, Xiamen Science City Mother Fund, Xingzheng Capital, and Longhua Capital. This brings Sitan's total Series B fundraising to over 200 million yuan. The capital will primarily accelerate the commercialization of automotive projection and AR displays, while diversifying into industrial visual inspection to further solidify its core competitiveness in Micro-LED display technology and industrial applications.
CLS: The China Development Bank (CDB) has stepped up its support for technological innovation to drive "new quality productive forces" and bolster the modern industrial system. In the first two months of this year, the bank issued 75.8 billion yuan in loans to advanced manufacturing and strategic emerging industries — a 23% increase from the same period last year. Funding was prioritized for major projects in integrated circuits, new materials, new energy vehicles, and high-end equipment manufacturing.
Policy Updates | Policy Situation
Xinhua: The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently unveiled a new batch of 13 major foreign investment projects with a planned investment of 13.4 billion U.S. dollars. The newly selected projects are concentrated in manufacturing — including electronics, chemicals, automotive, and electrical machinery — aiming to accelerate industrial cluster development. Simultaneously, support for the service sector is increasing: logistics projects have been included in the list for the first time, and R&D centers in biopharmaceuticals continue to receive backing, promoting the deep integration of modern services with advanced manufacturing. To date, these landmark foreign investment projects have seen cumulative completed investment of 108 billion U.S. dollars, demonstrating a significant demonstration effect in attracting capital.
