Automotive Industry Annual Report

1. Definition and Functional Role

Automotive industry annual reports refer to comprehensive publications periodically issued by government bodies, industry associations, research institutions, or automotive corporations to systematically review annual industry performance, uncover market dynamics, analyse prevailing sector developments, and project future outlooks. Their core function is to provide authoritative data support and strategic forecasts for policymaking, corporate planning, investment analysis, and academic research, serving as an essential window into the structural transformations and evolving competitive landscape of the automotive sector.

2. Key Categories and Authoritative Sources

Based on the publishing entities, automotive industry annual reports are primarily categorised into the following types:

Industry Blue Book Series: Jointly compiled and published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), leading carmakers, and research institutions—such as the "Annual Report on Development of China's Automotive Industry"—this series systematically details the development status and trends across China's auto industry, covering industry overviews, passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle market analyses, energy-saving and new energy vehicle (NEV) technologies, intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs), supply chains, and regulatory standards. It has become a key benchmark showcasing the development milestones of China's automotive industry.

Listed Company Annual Reports: As of 29 April 2026, out of 286 listed automotive firms under the A-share Wind classification, 278 have released their 2025 financial reports. These companies posted a combined operating revenue of 4.05 trillion yuan (a 7.14% increase year-on-year) and a cumulative net profit attributable to parent company of 148.844 billion yuan (a 4.73% decrease year-on-year). Annual filings of listed firms underline the industry's structural challenge of "volume expansion alongside margin compression", providing a crucial basis for evaluating corporate operational health.

Government and Industry Association Reports: Annual economic performance reviews released by organisations such as CAAM, detailing full-year production, sales figures, and market operations. Figures for 2025 reveal that total automotive production and sales reached 34.531 million and 34.40 million units, up 10.4% and 9.4% year-on-year respectively; NEV production and sales reached 16.626 million and 16.49 million units, reflecting robust growth of 29% and 28.2% year-on-year, maintaining the global top spot for 11 consecutive years.

Consultancy Outlook Reports: Global management consultancies such as Roland Berger regularly publish annual automotive trend reports. Roland Berger's "Foreseeing 2026: Automotive Industry Outlook Report" highlights six major themes shaping 2026: "intensified industry shakeout, critical transformation hurdles, deeper global expansion, tech-driven leadership, capital competitiveness, and AI dominance", with AI technology earmarked as the ultimate decisive factor.

3. Core Data of 2025 Annual Reports

Data source:

4. Core Trends Reflected in Annual Reports

Revenue growth decoupled from profit margins: The 278 A-share automotive firms that disclosed their annual reports recorded aggregate revenue growth of 7.14% year-on-year, yet net profit attributable to parent companies contracted by 4.73%. For the full year 2025, total automotive industry profit stood at 461.0 billion yuan, a marginal 0.6% year-on-year uptick, with a sales profit margin of 4.1%—trailing noticeably behind the broader industrial enterprise average of 5.9%. While most listed carmakers continued expanding their topline revenue, bottom-line net profit growth slowed down or turned negative.

Escalating R&D expenditure weighs on short-term profits: In 2025, BYD committed 63.4 billion yuan to R&D (up 17% year-on-year), Geely Auto recorded R&D expenses of 17.6 billion yuan (up 28.75% year-on-year), and SERES invested 12.51 billion yuan (surging 77.4% year-on-year). While substantial R&D spending exerts near-term pressure on earnings, it strengthens technical barriers and supply chain cost control over the medium to long term.

Export markets emerge as the new profit engine: Chery Automobile achieved overseas sales of 1.294 million units in 2025, accounting for 49.2% of its total volume, while overseas revenue reached 157.42 billion yuan (52.4% of total turnover), delivering dual growth in revenue and profit. Meanwhile, BYD saw total vehicle exports exceed one million units—a 1.4-fold increase year-on-year—solidifying international business as a primary growth driver.

"AI-Defined Vehicles" set the competitive frontier: Annual reports universally identify artificial intelligence as the critical battleground for the next phase of competition. XPENG channelled 4.5 billion yuan into AI R&D in 2025 with plans to raise this to 7.0 billion yuan in 2026; Li Auto deployed 11.3 billion yuan in overall R&D in 2025, allocating 50% of the budget directly to AI initiatives.

5. Future Outlook and Industry Evolution

The compilation of automotive industry annual reports is exhibiting greater thematic precision and publisher diversity. The Blue Book series is advancing from macro-level sector overviews into specialised deep dives such as electrification, intelligent connected vehicles, and supply chain resilience; consultancy reports are zooming in on technological disruptions and business model shifts, extending beyond industrial policy into large AI models, digital transformation, and global operations. Moving forward, annual reports are shifting from broad retrospective summaries towards a dual-tier structure of "macro overview + dedicated deep dive" to deliver sharper, high-value insights tailored to industry stakeholders and strategic decision-makers.