2022 Fortune Global 500: BYD scores seat for first time

Seven Chinese Mainland automakers appeared on the Fortune Global 500, one of the most authoritative rankings presenting the business performance of companies worldwide. BYD scored a seat on the list for the first time in the company’s history.

Aggregated sales for the Fortune Global 500 hit $37.8 trillion in 2021, representing an increase of 19% from a year ago, which was the highest annual growth rate in the list’s history. Notably, revenues from Global 500 companies in China surpassed that of the U.S. for the first time, accounting for 31% of the total volume generated.

Photo credit: SAIC Motor

SAIC Motor ranked the highest among all seven Chinese automakers on the list at 68, dropping down 8 places from a year ago. The company generated $121 billion of revenue in 2021, increasing 12.4% year over year. With a year-on-year growth of 28.4%, SAIC Motor’s annual profit stood at $3.8 billion in the past year.

In 2021, SAIC Motor sold 5,463,500 vehicles in total, notching down 2.45% over the year-ago period.

Photo credit: FAW Group

The automaker that ranked the second highest among all was FAW Group at 79, falling 13 places from 2021. With a yearly revenue of $109 billion, the auto group managed to climb up 8.2% from a year earlier. FAW Group’s profit amounted to $3.6 billion in 2021, indicating a 25.6% rise year over year.

In 2021, FAW Group sold 3.5 million vehicles, boosting its revenue to a record high. The company sets out to sell 4.1 million vehicles with $114 billion of revenue in 2022, indicating a 17.1% increase.

Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor

With $86.1 billion in revenue, Dongfeng Motor ranked 122th on the Global 500 list, third highest among Chinese mainland carmakers. The auto giant brought in $1.4 billion in profit in 2021, with 3.275 million vehicles sold in total.

Notably, the group’s wholly-own passenger vehicle brands grew substantially. The cumulative sales volume of the group’s passenger vehicles (PV) amounted to 2.577 million vehicles in the year. The wholly-owned brands saw a 32.2% year-on-year increase in annual sales, with 542,000 vehicles sold, while the group’s jointly-owned brands sold 2.035 million PVs.

Photo credit: BAIC Group

Knocked down 38 places, Beijing Automobile Group (BAIC Group) stood at the 162th on the list. The company’s revenue and profit amounted to $74.7 billion (+3.5% YoY) and $318 million (-6.4% YoY) in the past year, respectively.

Photo credit: GAC Group

Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group (GAC Group) ranked fifth among all seven Chinese automakers and 186th on the Global 500 list with $67 billion in 2021 revenue. Despite its 10-place setback, the group still saw a 16.5% year-on-year growth in annual revenue, resulting in an annual profit of $607.3 million, up 5.4% compared to a year ago.  

With its enriched product lineup and timely layout in the new energy vehicle field, GAC Group sold 2,144,387 vehicles in 2021, edging up 4.92% from the earlier year.

Photo credit: Geely Holding

The only automaker that managed to climb up the chart was Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding). The company went up 10 spots to the 229th on the list. In 2021, Geely Holding saw a year-over-year growth of 18.4% and 8.8% in revenue and profit to $55.9 billion and $1.47 billion respectively.

Even Geely Holding ranked lower than GAC Group and BAIC Group based on annual revenue, the group actually scored more profit than the other two automakers’ profits combined.

Photo credit: BYD

Last but not least, BYD, the traditional automaker who renounced oil-fueled vehicles this year, appeared on the Fortune Global 500 list for the first time ever at the 436th. With an outstanding surge of 47.3%, BYD’s revenue grew to $32.8 billion in 2021.

In the past year, BYD’s full-year auto sales reached 740,131 units, soaring 73.34% from the previous year. New energy vehicles accounted for 81.6% of the company’s total vehicle sales at 603,783 units.