Chinese automakers Geely, Changan, and GAC have set annual double-digit growth targets for 2025, driven by aggressive product launches and overseas expansions, despite growing uncertainty over European import tariffs and sluggish demand at home.
Why it matters: The goals come amid a challenging competitive outlook for the Chinese car market, as experts expect competition to only increase with more price-cutting moves to be taken by automakers this year. Younger electric vehicle makers, including NIO, Xpeng, and Leapmotor, have been aiming to double their deliveries this year in a bid to survive the fierce competition.
Details: Surpassing its 2024 sales target of 2 million vehicles by 8.5%, Geely Auto on Jan.2 announced plans to boost sales by 25% to 2.71 million units this year, focusing on new product launches and global sales expansions, Reuters reported. Geely Auto is one of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group’s brands, along with US-listed Zeekr and sports car brand Lotus.
- Notably, Geely’s Galaxy marque has set an ambitious goal of doubling its sales to 1 million units this year. The parent company of Volvo said it will launch five new electric vehicle models under the Galaxy lineup in 2025, including two sports utility vehicles and three sedans, targeting China’s mainstream vehicle segment.
- The Galaxy vehicles are also set to enter 20 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, as well as those in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. This is in line with Geely’s plan to increase the number of its global sales and service locations by 300 to more than 1,100 by the end of this year.
- Rival Changan Auto aims to sell 3 million cars in 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 12% and a domestic market share of 9.4%, Chairman Zhu Huarong said on Dec. 29. A string of new models from its Avatr and Deepal series will be launched at home, and nine of them will be exported to overseas markets.
- Meanwhile, GAC said earlier last month that it has set an annual sales growth target of about 15% for 2025 and plans to launch 22 new models, including battery electrics (BEVs), extended-range hybrids (EREVs), and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), over the next three years. Sales of Toyota’s Chinese partner declined 20% to 2 million units in 2024.
Context: China’s auto sales are expected to reach 32 million units this year, with around 16.5 million projected to be new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include BEVs, EREVs, and PHEVs in China, said Zhang Yongwei, vice chairman of China EV100, the country’s leading auto industry think tank, Caixin reported.
- Nearly 28 million cars were sold from January to November last year, including nearly 11.3 million NEVs, marking a slight increase of 3.7% from a year earlier, according to figures published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).
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