The price discount rate of China's auto market reached 15.3% in the first quarter of 2025. In an increasingly competitive market environment, Geely Auto delivered the strongest quarterly report in history.
Quarterly sales hit a record high
On May 15, Geely Automobile Holdings Limited (Geely Automobile, 0175.HK) released its latest financial report showing that total sales in the first quarter of 2025 reached 704,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 48%, setting a new record for a single quarter. Among them, sales of new energy vehicles reached 339,000 units, a year-on-year surge of 135%, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles increased to 52.2%.
In terms of revenue, the total revenue in the first quarter was 72.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25%; the vehicle revenue was 65.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28%. Thanks to the scale effect and cost optimization, the net profit attributable to the parent company reached 5.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 264%; the core net profit was 3.48 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 123%. The gross profit margin increased to 15.8%.
“Sales in the first quarter exceeded expectations, and the growth rate was far higher than the industry average. Without launching any new products, we achieved a month-on-month increase in quarterly sales, which is a very big improvement.” On the same day, Gui Shengyue, CEO and Executive Director of Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., said at Geely Automobile’s 2025 First Quarter Results Conference and “One Geely” Strategic Integration Plan Briefing, “With the further improvement of our capabilities in all aspects and the launch of various new products in the second half of the year, it is highly likely that sales will reach a record high every quarter in the future. We are very confident that we can achieve or exceed this year’s annual target.”
Merger changes brand's "small and scattered" image
Geely Auto previously announced that it plans to acquire all issued shares of Zeekr Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zekr", NYSE: ZK). If the transaction is completed, Zeekr will be fully merged with Geely Auto. At the press conference that day, the merger of the two parties was the most popular topic.
In this regard, Gui Shengyue said that the merger aims to solve the problems of low efficiency of collaborative integration, high communication costs, inconsistent interests, etc. caused by the two previous independent listed companies. To solve the problem from the root, it is necessary to merge the two companies and return to "one Geely". As for why the merger of Lynk & Co and Zeekr was just completed, and Geely and Zeekr Technology Group are merging so soon? Because "in the face of fierce market competition and an increasingly complex economic environment, Geely Auto can only win in the fierce competition if it changes its past image of being small and scattered, scattered and chaotic, and conducts in-depth integration. The company's resources are condensed into a fist," he said, "Why so fast? Because time waits for no one, the market will not give Geely Auto room for error, and only by quickly solving problems can the company's competitiveness be improved."
Li Donghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group, Vice Chairman and Executive Director of Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., said that synergy and integration is an important strategy of Geely Holding at present. Last year, Geely Automobile fully promoted synergy in various fields such as basic technology, product development, manufacturing, and procurement. In the next step, under the leadership of the joint management team, each brand will face its own customer groups and carry out product design separately, and the middle and back-end work will be coordinated to the greatest extent. We will strive to achieve the goal of saving 1 billion yuan in R&D and several billion yuan in procurement, and achieve the effect of reducing both management expenses and marketing expenses.
Geely makes major personnel adjustments after integration
On the same day, Geely also announced major personnel adjustments after the completion of the merger transaction between the two parties.
Among them, Li Donghui will serve as the vice chairman of Geely Holding Group, responsible for the daily work management of the board of directors and the group's investment and financing management, and play an important role in capital operation, major foreign cooperation projects, etc. An Conghui will serve as the CEO of Geely Holding Group, fully responsible for the operation and management of Geely Holding Group. Before the merger is completed, An Conghui will continue to serve as the CEO of Zeekr Technology Group. Gan Jiayue will serve as the CEO of the merged Geely Auto Group, which will have Geely Galaxy Business Group and Zeekr Technology Business Group. In addition, in order to cultivate young, compound senior management talents, Dai Qing has been appointed as the rotating president of Geely Holding Group and reports to the CEO of Geely Holding Group.
On May 15, Zeekr also disclosed its first quarter financial report for 2025. In the first quarter, Zeekr achieved revenue of 22.019 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.1% and a month-on-month decrease of 37.8%; net loss of 763 million yuan, and gross profit margin of 19.1%.
This is also the first quarterly financial report after the merger of Zeekr and Lynk & Co. An Conghui, CEO of Zeekr Technology Group, said at the meeting that after the merger of Zeekr and Lynk & Co, the combined gross profit margin of the two brands reached 19.1%, of which the gross profit margin of the Zeekr brand vehicle was as high as 21.2%, with the financial performance of a luxury brand. According to Hong Kong accounting standards, Zeekr has achieved a profit of 510 million yuan.
Gui Shengyue also said that Geely Auto currently has no plans to privatize any of its other listed companies except Zeekr. In addition, he also mentioned that Geely Auto's export growth in the first quarter was slow and that its new energy product marketing and after-sales service capabilities were insufficient.
