Sales closely trailing BYD, Geely Auto's first-half report card: Revenue exceeded 150 billion yuan, net profit declined by 14%

On August 14, Geely Automobile (0175.HK) released its interim report for 2025. In the first half of this year, Geely Automobile's revenue reached 150.28 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27%. The net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14%.

Photo source: Photographed by a reporter from Time Weekly

Geely Automobile was one of the automakers with the fastest sales growth in the domestic market in the first half of the year. Its sales volume in the first half reached 1.409 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 47%. The Galaxy brand under Geely performed particularly well, with sales of 548,000 vehicles in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 232%.

At the earnings conference after the release of the interim report, Gui Shengyue, the CEO and Executive Director of Geely Automobile, said that the gap between Geely Automobile's market share and that of the automaker with the highest market share had narrowed to within 4 percentage points, and this gap would soon further narrow, or even be reversed. In the first half of this year, BYD was the automaker with the highest sales volume in the domestic market.

Gui Shengyue also revealed that the merger of Geely Automobile and ZEEKR (NYSE: ZK) was still in progress and currently required the approval of the shareholders' meetings of both Geely Automobile and ZEEKR. "If the merger resolutions are passed by the shareholders' meetings of both parties, then the merger will be officially completed in a legal sense," he said.

On July 15, under the leadership of the parent company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Geely Holding"), Geely Automobile and ZEEKR officially merged. ZEEKR delisted from the US stock market one year after its listing. Geely Holding hopes to promote internal integration, improve efficiency, and reduce internal friction through this merger. Currently, Geely's self-owned brands are rapidly launching a number of new models.

Half-year revenue exceeds 150 billion yuan

Geely Automobile is rapidly narrowing the scale gap with BYD and SAIC Group.

In the first half of this year, Geely Automobile's revenue reached 150.28 billion yuan, setting a new historical high. The net profit decreased by 14% year-on-year to 9.29 billion yuan. The gross profit margin during the period decreased slightly by 0.3 percentage points year-on-year to 16.4%.

Geely Holding told a reporter from Time Weekly that the year-on-year decline in net profit in the first half was mainly due to a transaction involving Renault in the same period in 2024, which resulted in gains from the sale of relevant assets. In terms of the core automobile business, the profitability in the same period this year has improved.

"The core net profit attributable to the parent company during the period was 6.66 billion yuan, which was the net profit attributable to the parent company after deducting the foreign exchange gains and losses of 2.64 billion yuan during the period. Compared with the core net profit attributable to the parent company of 3.3 billion yuan last year after excluding the one-time gain of 7.73 billion yuan from the sale of subsidiaries and the asset impairment loss of 250 million yuan, it increased by 102% year-on-year," a relevant person in charge told the reporter.

Photo source: Official website

The decrease in the gross profit margin was related to the change in the product sales structure. Geely Automobile mentioned in the earnings report that the Galaxy brand under Geely is positioned in the mainstream new energy vehicle market, and its strong sales growth has increased its proportion in the group's sales structure, resulting in a year-on-year decrease of 14,000 yuan in the average sales revenue per vehicle, approximately 96,000 yuan per vehicle.

Geely Galaxy is a brand launched by Geely Automobile at the beginning of 2023 and has now become the main force of the group's new energy vehicles. The sales volume of Geely Galaxy vehicles in the first half was 548,000, a year-on-year increase of 232%, contributing more than half of the group's new energy vehicle sales.

Currently, Geely Galaxy has launched 10 models. The products focus on high cost - effectiveness and high - quality routes, and the guiding prices are mainly within 150,000 yuan. The latest mid - size sedan, Galaxy A7, was launched on August 8, with a starting price of 81,800 yuan.

Another self - owned brand under Geely Automobile, Lynk & Co, sold 154,000 vehicles in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 22%. The ZEEKR brand sold 91,000 vehicles in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 3%.

In terms of exports, Geely Automobile exported 184,000 vehicles overseas in the first half.

Overall, driven by self - owned brands, Geely Automobile's sales volume in the first half reached 1.409 million vehicles, second only to BYD (2.146 million vehicles) and SAIC Group (2.053 million vehicles), a year-on-year increase of 47%. Against this background, Geely Automobile has raised its annual vehicle sales target from the previously set 2.71 million vehicles to 3 million vehicles.

At the holding group level (including brands such as Volvo), Geely Holding's vehicle sales volume in the first half reached 1.932 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 30%. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles reached 1 million vehicles for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 73%. Volvo Cars under Geely Holding sold 354,000 vehicles in the first half, Polestar sold 30,000 vehicles, and Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicles sold 64,000 vehicles.

Using the "car - sea tactic" to strive for the goal of 3 million vehicles

The merger of Geely Automobile and ZEEKR is still in progress.

Gui Shengyue revealed today that Geely Automobile will hold a shareholders' meeting on September 5, and ZEEKR will hold a shareholders' meeting on September 15. If the merger resolutions are passed by both shareholders' meetings, then the two listed companies will be considered merged in a legal sense. The subsequent specific delivery work will be completed before the end of the year.

After the merger of Geely Automobile and ZEEKR, Geely Automobile will set up the Geely Galaxy Business Group and the ZEEKR Technology Business Group, as well as the original China Star fuel - powered vehicle series, with a total of four brands: Geely Automobile, Geely Galaxy, ZEEKR, and Lynk & Co.

"These four brands will have very clear positioning and will meet different comprehensive needs of the market and customers," said Gan Jiayue, the CEO of Geely Automobile Group. At the same time, with the increase of the annual sales target, Geely will accelerate the launch of more new models in the second half of the year.

According to Dai Yong, the CFO of Geely Automobile Group, after Geely Galaxy launched the mid - size plug - in hybrid sedan Galaxy A7 at the beginning of August, it will also launch the large new energy SUV Galaxy M9 in the near future. By the fourth quarter of this year, Geely Galaxy also plans to release the compact plug - in hybrid sedan Xingyao 6, and its annual sales target is 1 million vehicles.

The new large new energy SUV ZEEKR 9X of the ZEEKR brand was unveiled in July and will start pre - sales at the end of August. New models of the existing ZEEKR 001, ZEEKR 007, and ZEEKR 7X will be launched. The mid - large plug - in hybrid sedan Lynk & Co 10 EM - P of the Lynk & Co brand will also be launched in September. The combined sales target of the two brands this year is 710,000 vehicles.

"We are very confident that we can achieve or exceed this year's annual target," Gui Shengyue said. "Not only will the vehicle sales reach a new high, but there is also hope for the corporate profit to reach a new high."

In the view of industry insiders, Geely Automobile is constantly narrowing the gap with leading automakers such as BYD. If the two listed companies, Geely Automobile and ZEEKR, can be successfully integrated to improve quality and efficiency, Geely Automobile is expected to launch more competitive products in the second half of the year and continuously improve its market performance.

However, Geely Automobile also needs to pay attention to the decline in the gross profit margin. How to balance vehicle sales and the price system is a challenge for Geely Automobile.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Time Weekly" (ID: timeweekly). Author: Wu Kai, Editor: Liu Xue. Republished by 36Kr with permission.