The Chinese automotive industry achieved remarkable results in 2024 and will continue to make strides in 2025.

At the beginning of 2025, good news came from the Chinese automotive industry. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced that in 2024, the production and sales of automobiles in China both exceeded 31 million units, setting a new historical record and marking the second consecutive year that production and sales both surpassed 30 million units. Among them, the annual production and sales of new energy vehicles both broke through 10 million units for the first time, exceeding 12 million units, achieving leapfrog development.

In terms of market share, in 2024, the sales of domestic brand passenger cars in China reached 17.97 million units, a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, with a market share of 65.2%, up 9.2 percentage points from the same period last year. The cumulative market share of domestic brands in the national passenger car market exceeded 60%, a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percentage points. In October 2024, the market share of Chinese brand passenger cars exceeded 70%, an increase of 10.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year. From once being seen as the "price ceiling" for car brands at 200,000 yuan, to now firmly establishing itself in the hundreds of thousands, even reaching the million yuan market, Chinese automotive brands continue to move up the value chain, with more key technologies and products achieving independent control.

In terms of exports, in 2024, China's automobile exports reached 5.859 million units, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%, further consolidating its position as the largest automobile exporter. Among them, passenger car exports were 4.955 million units, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%. Companies like BYD are also deepening their layout in overseas markets. For example, on December 21, 2024, BYD held a brand launch event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in partnership with local dealers, and launched five pure electric vehicle models.

In terms of technological innovation and intelligence, automobiles are increasingly becoming a convergence point for "Made in China" and "Intelligent Manufacturing in China," with the trend of intelligence becoming more apparent. In the first half of 2024, the penetration rate of L2 level new passenger cars in China reached 55.7%, among which the penetration rate of new cars with navigation assistance driving functions was 11%. Autonomous driving technology is becoming more widespread in China. Traditional components are also transforming and upgrading under the trend of intelligence, with products like SAIC's Zhiji digital chassis, Geely's AI digital chassis, and Jiangqi Group's all-domain wire-controlled intelligent chassis making their debut, contributing to safer and more stable vehicles.

At the same time, the phenomenon of "involution" in the automotive manufacturing industry has also attracted attention. According to First Financial News, at the Shanghai Two Sessions in 2025, several representatives proposed suggestions to alleviate the "involution" dilemma in the automotive manufacturing industry. Li Yongjie, a representative of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and secretary of the party committee of Shanghai Industrial Comprehensive Development Zone Co., Ltd., stated that the Chinese automotive industry is still in a fierce price war in 2024, mainly due to supply-demand imbalance, intensified market competition, and slowing economic growth. Although the price war has stimulated sales growth, the profit margins of enterprises across the entire automotive industry chain have been severely squeezed, leading to a decline in industry profit margins.

In addition, there are many new developments in the industry. On January 16, BYD announced the launch of its pure electric SUV model ATTO 3 in South Korea, officially entering the South Korean market, with a base model price of 31.5 million won and an upgraded version ATTO 3 PLUS priced at 33.3 million won. They also plan to launch a compact electric passenger car called Seal and an electric SUV "SEALION 7" in the South Korean market within the year. On the same day, Geely's factory in Egypt officially began production of two models, located in October 6 City in Giza Province, with an expected annual production capacity of about 30,000 units over the next three years, and will undertake more localized assembly work for other models.

Looking ahead to 2025, Li Xianjun, director of the Automotive Development Research Center at Tsinghua University (School of Vehicle Engineering), stated that the second half of the new energy vehicle market will see more competition in areas such as artificial intelligence and intelligent driving, with huge market space and potential. Enterprises should continue to carry out technological and management innovations, cultivate and enhance core capabilities, and pay more attention to safety and reliability while focusing on automotive functions, jointly promoting the development of the Chinese automotive industry.