Folks, today let's talk about big news on going global—not selling cars, but selling "drivers". On June 2, WeRide and Uber jointly announced a plan: to launch the country's first commercial Robotaxi pilot service in Madrid, Spain. In other words: Spanish residents will soon be able to hail a driverless taxi via Uber. This is the first time WeRide and Uber are partnering to enter the European market. Madrid also becomes the 12th city globally where WeRide's Robotaxi arrives.

According to official news, with the support of the Madrid regional government, this service will officially launch within this year. At that time, friends in Madrid can open the Uber App and call WeRide's Robotaxi with one click. It's just like calling an ordinary ride-hailing service, the difference is the arriving car has no driver—at least initially, there is still a difference. In the initial operation phase, a professionally trained safety monitor will be on board, as it's just launched, safety comes first.

This company, WeRide, you might have heard of it, or you might not. A brief introduction: Established in 2017, it has been dedicated to Robotaxi technology R&D and commercialization. Currently, its Robotaxis cover Guangzhou, Beijing, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Zurich... plus Madrid now, totaling 12 cities. Spain is also the 5th European market WeRide has entered—previously entered Switzerland, France, Belgium, Slovakia. According to the plan agreed by WeRide and Uber in May 2025, they plan to deploy Robotaxi services in 15 new international cities within five years, deploying tens of thousands of Robotaxis globally. With the Madrid launch, the deployment in 4 cities has been completed, and 11 more will be covered successively before 2030.

To be honest, it's not the first time Chinese autonomous driving companies are going global, but the combination of Chinese technology + global mobility platform + European market is quite interesting. Madrid is one of the European Robotaxi markets with the most commercial potential, with a large population, high travel demand, and friendly local policies. Being able to take root in this market is a significant milestone for WeRide. For Uber, introducing Robotaxis is also a way to reduce costs—after all, drivers don't need salaries. For Madrid residents, hailing a taxi might be cheaper in the future.

In May, China's automotive market overall presented a gentle recovery trend, with domestic brands still being the sales backbone of the market. Recently, BYD, Geely, Chery, Changan, and Great Wall, the top 5 domestic automakers, successively released their monthly performance reports. From the data, these five companies show a general characteristic of "stable total growth, divergence between domestic and international markets, and accelerated new energy penetration". Overseas exports and new energy vehicles have become the most core growth engines; export business has evolved from a "bonus item" to the "core foundation" for some companies. BYD's "dominant leader" status is further consolidated, Chery achieved high growth via exports, Geely's new energy penetration rate broke 56%, Changan focused steadily on balanced development, while Great Wall appeared slightly under pressure during structural transformation.

BYD: Export Hits New High Becomes Biggest Highlight

In May, BYD stood firmly at the top of domestic brands with a monthly sales volume of 383,500 vehicles, maintaining positive growth both year-on-year and month-over-month under a large base. Its two main brands, Dynasty and Ocean, sold a combined 330,200 vehicles, contributing 86.1% of total sales; Fangchengbao's monthly sales broke 30,000 units to reach 30,200, a year-on-year increase of 139.7%, setting a new high for the year; Denza sold 16,300 vehicles, and Yangwang delivered 286 vehicles. From a model perspective, BYD had eight models in May with monthly sales exceeding 20,000 vehicles. The Song Family and Yuan Family both broke 50,000 units, selling 51,370 and 56,691 vehicles respectively. The Sea Lion Family followed closely with 42,615 vehicles, and Seagull sales were also close to 40,000 vehicles.

BYD's biggest highlight in May was exports. Overseas new energy vehicle sales reached 160,600 units, an 80.4% year-on-year increase, accounting for about 42%. The sharp expansion of export scale effectively countered the phased weakness in domestic demand. Cumulative exports from January to May exceeded 620,000 vehicles. High export growth mainly benefited from continued ramping up of overseas factory capacity, improved ocean shipping capacity, and accelerated channel network expansion. In the domestic market, BYD promoted Megawatt Super Charging and intelligent strategies simultaneously—Megawatt charging achieved about 90% charge in 9 minutes; 20,000 super charging stations are planned to be built by 2026; all series models are available with Sky Eye B intelligent driving solutions and city navigation safety fallback plans, accelerating the popularization of high-level intelligent driving. As Gen 2 Blade Battery capacity gradually releases, the company's orders are expected to continue rising.

Chery: Sales Growth Leads the Top 5

Chery Group's total sales volume in May was 247,800 vehicles, a significant year-on-year increase of 20.5%, ranking first in growth speed among the top 5. Exports remained its most core growth engine—May exports reached 181,900 vehicles, an 80.5% year-on-year increase, accounting for 73.4% of total sales that month, continuously breaking the single-month export record for Chinese brands for three months. In terms of new energy, Chery New Energy sold 100,300 vehicles, a 58.8% year-on-year increase. April and May consecutively saw monthly new energy sales breaking 100,000 vehicles.

The strong performance in exports benefited from Chery's long-term deep cultivation of overseas channel advantages and localized operation capabilities. While overseas orders continued to rise, high export growth formed a sharp contrast with domestic sales—Chery's domestic sales in May were only 60,000 vehicles, accounting for one-quarter of total sales. From cumulative data, Chery Group accumulated 1.101 million sales from January to May, but against the annual goal of 3.2 million vehicles, monthly averages need to reach about 420,000 vehicles later, and pressure remains significant.

Geely: New Energy Penetration Rate Breaks 56%

Geely Auto's total sales volume in May was 237,600 vehicles, a 1% year-on-year increase, achieving month-over-month double growth for three consecutive months. In terms of structure, Geely's "New Four Transformations" transformation showed significant results: new energy vehicle sales reached 133,400 units, accounting for 56% of total sales, with new energy share exceeding 50% for four consecutive months.

From sub-brands, performance was significantly divergent. Zeekr brand sales in May reached 34,400 vehicles, a 82% year-on-year increase; Zeekr 9 Series and 8 Series models combined sales approached 50% of total sales, showing bright performance in the high-end market; Galaxy brand sales were 81,700 vehicles; Geely brand sales were 182,500 vehicles, among which China Star Series sales reached 100,800 vehicles; Lynk & Co brand sales were 20,700 vehicles, with new energy vehicle sales share rising to 71%.

In terms of exports, Geely's overseas vehicle exports in May reached 85,100 vehicles, a explosive 184% year-on-year increase, setting a brand single-month export record high. Among exported products, new energy vehicles reached 40,800 units, accounting for nearly half; hybrid and pure electric products have successively landed in Southeast Asia, Middle East, Latin America, and other markets, highlighting the results of global strategy implementation.

Changan: Multi-brand Matrix Balanced Effort

Changan Auto's delivery volume in May was 209,100 vehicles, among which new energy deliveries were 92,400 vehicles, a 5.8% year-on-year increase, with new energy share about 44%. In terms of exports, overseas deliveries reached 70,700 vehicles, a 38% year-on-year increase, becoming another major growth highlight for Changan in May.

In the sub-brand matrix, Changan Qiyuan delivered 34,500 vehicles in May; All-New Q05 delivered 15,800 units, with orders breaking 3,000 units within three days of listing in Thailand; Deepal sales in May were 33,200 vehicles, a 30% year-on-year increase; January to May overseas cumulative sales were 28,700 vehicles, a significant 167% year-on-year increase; Avatr delivered 7,336 vehicles in May; Changan Auto (Gravity) delivered nearly 49,000 vehicles in May.

Changan Auto's balanced layout was fully reflected in May: the fuel car base remained stable, new energy brands Deepal and Qiyuan accelerated volume growth, high-end brand Avatr continued to break through in technical cooperation, and overseas markets simultaneously achieved breakthrough growth. The pattern of five brands working together, driven by both new energy and exports, is initially taking shape.

Great Wall: Overseas Sales Growth Year-on-Year 46.75%

Great Wall Motor's sales in May were 100,400 vehicles, slightly down compared to last May's 102,200 vehicles, making it the only company among the top 5 to show a year-on-year negative growth. From sub-brands, Haval brand sales in May were 55,500 vehicles, remaining Great Wall's most important sales pillar; Tank brand sales were 17,100 vehicles; both Haval and Tank brand sales showed year-on-year declines; Wey brand sold 8,119 vehicles, a 31.78% year-on-year increase, achieving growth against the trend; Ora brand performance was most stunning, with sales of 6,018 vehicles, a significant 206.88% year-on-year increase. In terms of new energy, Great Wall sold 30,400 new energy vehicles in May, with new energy vehicle transformation gradually accelerating.

The overseas market became Great Wall's biggest highlight in May, with overseas sales growing 46.75% year-on-year. Against the background of pressure on the domestic market, strong growth in overseas business effectively made up for the decline in the domestic market. Great Wall Motor's current core contradiction lies in: Haval and Tank, the two traditional main-selling brands, face weak growth, while Wey and Ora brands, although growing notably, have relatively small volume and are not yet enough to support overall growth. How to complete the "relay" between old and new brands is the key issue Great Wall must solve subsequently.

Final Thoughts

From May data, the growth pattern of the top 5 domestic brands has clearly diverged, but there are three common trends worth noting: First, exports have become a key engine for domestic brands to seek stability and growth. Second, new energy transformation is still accelerating, but paths differ among enterprises. Third, technological innovation continues to deepen brand moats. Looking ahead to the second half of the year, competition in the automotive industry will continue to upgrade around these three trends. Although everyone has a common direction, these three trends are all competing for the entire enterprise's industrial chain strength, and the strong will remain strong, which has almost become an inevitable outcome.

On June 1, Sailun Tire (601058) released the implementation announcement for the 2025 annual equity distribution, stating that the company will distribute a cash dividend of 0.18 yuan per share to all shareholders (tax included), totaling nearly 592 million yuan in cash dividends. The record date for equity is June 4, and the cash dividend distribution date is June 5.

Behind this generous dividend distribution lies the strong financial confidence of this private tire giant, which rose to the first tier globally within just over 20 years of establishment. Facing the sharp increase in costs brought by the escalation of global trade barriers since 2025, Sailun still delivered a response with great resilience.

Revenue Hits Record High, Profitability Quality Continues to Improve

In 2025, Sailun Tire's annual revenue reached 36.792 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.69%, setting a new historical record. Although operating costs for tire products increased by 21.02% year-on-year, the company stabilized the gross profit margin at a relatively high level of 24.63% thanks to product structure and pricing advantages.

Net profit attributable to the parent company and net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses for the year reached 3.522 billion yuan and 3.458 billion yuan respectively, with both profitability indicators reaching their second-historical levels. More noteworthy is that the company's net operating cash flow reached 4.179 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 82.58%, indicating substantive improvement in profitability quality.

Liquid Gold Breakthrough, ESG Rating Jumps to AA Level

The support for resilient performance stems from hardcore technical barriers. The 'Liquid Gold' technology (Ecopoint3) developed by Sailun after a decade of in-depth research adopts a world-first chemical rubber vulcanization method, successfully breaking through the 'Devil's Triangle' problem in the tire industry where rolling resistance, wet traction, and wear resistance could not be improved simultaneously. It not only achieves a balance of energy saving, safety, and wear resistance, but also achieves green low-carbon across the entire lifecycle from raw materials to production and usage.

This persistence in green sustainability has also won Sailun recognition from international capital markets. Recently, the international authoritative index institution MSCI upgraded Sailun's ESG rating from A to AA, solidifying its top position in China's tire industry and placing it among the global forefront. This marks that Sailun's sustainable development strength in global operations, R&D innovation, and supply chain management has received high international recognition.

Capacity Expansion Both Domestic and Overseas, Brand Value Rising Yearly

Going against the current, stagnation means retreat. While consolidating the technological moat, Sailun has pressed the accelerator on global capacity expansion. Since establishing China's first overseas tire production base in Vietnam in 2012, Sailun has continued to increase investment since 2026: in April, it announced an investment of about 1.95 billion yuan to build an expansion project for a 7.05 million radial tire annual production capacity in Egypt; meanwhile, the Indonesia factory also received a capital increase of about 336 million yuan to expand PCR and TBR capacity.

The resonance between capacity and performance boosted the rapid rise in brand value. In the 2025 'China 500 Most Valuable Brands', Sailun ranked 105th with a brand value of 112.896 billion yuan, an increase of 12.3 billion yuan compared to last year; in Brand Finance's Top 25 Global Tire Brand Values, Sailun ranked in the top ten for the first time, continuing to be the most valuable tire brand in China.

From a new enterprise on the Shandong Peninsula to a global giant competing with century-old foreign strong enterprises, Sailun, driven by technology and capacity on two wheels, is accelerating towards a new height in the global tire industry.