Why did Henan see the most rapid development in automobile manufacturing in 2025?
In 2025, the landscape of China's automotive industry underwent a profound restructuring.
Against the backdrop of the new energy wave sweeping across the country, a central province, Henan, emerged as a dark horse. According to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics from January to November 2025, Henan's automobile production reached 1.3474 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 89.72%. It jumped to the tenth place in the country, a significant improvement of seven places compared to the same period in 2024.
What's even more remarkable is that the production of new energy vehicles reached 660,100, a staggering year-on-year increase of 499%, accounting for nearly half of the total. The production ranking also rose to the eleventh place in the country. Henan has made a magnificent transformation from a traditional "big province in automobile consumption" to a "strong manufacturing province."
So, the question arises: Why did Henan's automobile manufacturing industry suddenly boom in 2025?
Why did Henan's automotive industry boom?
The boom in Henan's automotive industry first stems from the cluster landing of leading enterprises and the release of production capacity. If Henan was just a "traffic entrance" in the automobile market in the past, in 2025, it has become a real "production hub."
BYD's Zhengzhou base is undoubtedly the biggest contributor. Since its operation in 2023, as of the end of 2025, it has produced over one million vehicles in total, contributing an output value of over 170 billion yuan, accounting for more than 80% of the province's new energy vehicle production. The move of recruiting 20,000 people at once after the Spring Festival in 2025 not only demonstrated its determination to expand production but also directly boosted the province's industrial growth rate. As the "chain leader" enterprise, BYD has driven more than 100 upstream and downstream supporting enterprises in Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, forming a closed-loop ecosystem of complete vehicles - parts - logistics - service.
Meanwhile, SAIC Group's layout in Henan has been continuously deepened. It has cumulatively invested over 20 billion yuan, with the production of complete vehicles exceeding two million and the output value exceeding 100 billion yuan. In the second half of 2025, SAIC introduced its high - end intelligent electric brand IM Motors into Henan's production system, filling the gap in high - end new energy products before and extending Henan's product matrix from the economy - class to the mid - high - end.
In addition, the local veteran Yutong Bus has been making steady progress and continues to lead in the field of new energy buses. In the first 11 months, the production was 42,300, a year - on - year increase of 5.33%. Its new energy buses have covered more than 350 cities in China and more than 60 countries overseas, with the cumulative sales exceeding 200,000. It has become a national business card for Henan's automobiles to "go global." Under the situation of the three - pillar pattern, Henan has built a diversified manufacturing pattern of "passenger cars + commercial vehicles + high - end intelligent vehicles."
Behind the leap in production is the qualitative change of the industrial chain from "existence" to "strength." In the past, although Henan had parts enterprises, most of them were scattered supporting ones, lacking the ability of system integration. In 2025, this situation was completely broken.
The Zhongzhou Times New Energy Base of CATL in Luoyang has become a key fulcrum. The first phase has been fully put into operation, with the cumulative output value exceeding 15.9 billion yuan. The second phase was officially put into operation on September 30, 2025. After the full completion, it will attract 20 supporting projects to gather, forming a complete battery industrial chain from battery cells, modules to PACK (battery packs). This not only solves the supply problem of the "heart" of Henan's new energy vehicles but also attracts upstream enterprises such as electrolyte, separator, and structural parts to land in Henan at an accelerated pace.
Local parts enterprises have also been upgraded simultaneously. Nanyang Feilong Co., Ltd. focuses on the thermal management system, while Jiaozuo Zhongyuan Internal Fittings has entered the supply chain of well - known European engineering groups with its intelligent electronic control actuators and successfully joined the international first - tier brand supporting system. This means that Henan's parts are no longer just serving local vehicle manufacturers but have global competitiveness.
Particularly crucial is that Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone, with BYD as the core, has formed an industrial ecosystem of "complete vehicle traction, parts support, logistics coordination, and R & D follow - up." This "chain - style development" model has greatly improved the local supporting rate and response efficiency, reduced the comprehensive cost, and laid the foundation for Henan to undertake more production capacity transfer.
Can Henan make further progress in 2026?
Although Henan is developing rapidly, it still needs to face the real challenges to reach the ninth place in the country. Hunan, currently in the ninth place, produced 1.4801 million vehicles from January to November 2025, only about 130,000 more than Henan, but it has more prominent structural advantages.
Hunan has formed a full - range new energy vehicle matrix: 12 complete vehicle enterprises such as Changsha BYD, BAIC Zhuzhou, Xiangtan Geely, GAC Aion, and CRRC Electric cover multiple tracks including passenger cars, buses, special vehicles, and commercial vehicles, with stronger risk - resistance ability and market adaptability. In contrast, Henan still highly depends on a single entity, BYD, and its product structure is relatively concentrated.
It is worth noting that in 2025, the National Bureau of Statistics adjusted the statistical caliber of automobile production from "the location of the enterprise legal person" to "the actual production and offline location." This change objectively reflects the distribution of production capacity and benefits the provinces with production bases. Under this rule, Hunan has further consolidated its advantages with a more balanced production capacity layout. If Henan cannot accelerate the introduction of the second and third leading automobile enterprises or expand into new sub - markets such as heavy - duty trucks and pick - up trucks, it will be more difficult for it to move up the ranking.
In addition, Henan still has shortcomings in high - end supporting fields such as intelligent connected vehicles, automotive electronics, and chips. Relying on Changsha's "China V Valley" and Xiangjiang New Area, Hunan has made early - stage accumulations in fields such as autonomous driving and in - vehicle operating systems, while Henan has not yet formed an intelligent vehicle innovation cluster of the same scale.
Henan's way out lies not only in expanding production capacity but also in improving both quality and efficiency. In 2025, a series of policies were precisely implemented to promote the industry to extend to high - value - added links.
The "Action Plan for Strategic Emerging Industries in Henan Province" issued in August 2025 clearly listed new energy and intelligent connected vehicles as key directions, guiding capital, technology, and talent to gather in core fields. The policy dividends were quickly transformed into market vitality: in the first 11 months, Henan exported 102,000 new energy vehicles, a year - on - year surge of 25 times. Among them, BYD Seal and SAIC Roewe became the main forces, and the overseas market expanded from Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Latin America.
The infrastructure has also been upgraded simultaneously. Zhengzhou has built 300 super - charging stations, achieving a "1 - kilometer charging circle" in the core area. The vehicle - to - charging - pile ratio has reached 3:1, approaching the optimal level in the country. The ability to "charge for 5 minutes and have a range of 300 kilometers" has greatly alleviated users' anxiety and provided support for the expansion of the local consumer market.
What's more worthy of attention is the upgrading of business forms brought about by scenario innovation. BYD has built the first new energy vehicle racing track in the country in Zhengzhou, combined with the "Di Space" science - popularization platform to promote the popularization of automobile culture. The Zhengzhou - Europe freight train has opened a special train for new energy vehicles, realizing a regular logistics channel for "Made in Henan, Sold Globally." Henan's automotive industry is evolving from single - manufacturing to a diversified ecosystem of "manufacturing + service + trade + culture."
Investment has also continued to increase. In the first 11 months of 2025, the investment in the new energy vehicle industrial cluster in the province increased by 44.9%. The 3.5 - billion - yuan integrated axle project of Nanyang Zhongde Company is expected to be put into operation in 2026, with an annual output value of up to 2.2 billion yuan. These incremental projects will further improve the self - sufficiency rate of core parts and narrow the structural gap with strong provinces such as Hunan.
The boom of Henan's automobile manufacturing industry in 2025 is a microcosm of the reshaping of China's regional industrial pattern. With the leadership of leading enterprises, chain - style agglomeration, policy support, and infrastructure construction taking the lead, Henan has proved that it is not only a consumer market but also a manufacturing high - ground. It is feasible for Henan to reach the ninth place in the country, but the real challenges lie not in "quantity" but in "quality" and "structure."
In the future, Henan needs to make key breakthroughs in two dimensions: one is to fill the gaps in product categories and accelerate the layout in weak fields such as new energy heavy - duty trucks and intelligent special vehicles; the other is to strengthen high - end supporting capabilities and extend to "chokepoint" links such as intelligent cockpits, automotive - grade chips, and autonomous driving algorithms by relying on platforms such as Zhongzhou Times.
As emphasized in the suggestions for the 14th Five - Year Plan of Henan: "Promoting the green, intelligent, and cluster - style upgrading of the automotive industry is the fundamental path for high - quality development." When Henan no longer relies on "just one BYD" to support half of the industry but forms an industrial ecosystem with multiple points of growth, full - chain autonomy, and global connections, the ninth place in the country may just be the starting point, not the end.
This article is from "Science and Innovation Finance Society," author: Yuan Fang, authorized by 36Kr to publish.