Geely's Q3 Profit Rose 32%, and Almost All of It Came From Exports

Geely Auto's third-quarter revenue rose 10% from a year earlier to 98.96 billion yuan, and core net profit attributable to shareholders rose 32% to 5.21 billion yuan. The company said both were third-quarter records.

Nine months

• Revenue of 272.6 billion yuan, up 3%.
• Core net profit up 41% to a record 14.9 billion yuan, with a gross margin of 18%.
• Core net profit of 6,664 yuan per vehicle, up 37%.
• More than 2.235 million vehicles sold. Zeekr sold 288,404 and Lynk & Co 196,117.
• 797,670 vehicles sold outside China, up 169%. Geely says it sold more than 100,000 a month abroad from June through September.

Where the profit came from

CarNewsChina, citing the Shanghai Securities News outlet CNstock, reports that Geely exported 343,700 vehicles in the third quarter, about 39.8% of its 812,500 sales, and that those exports earned about 4.84 billion yuan in net profit. By that math, roughly 92.9% of quarterly profit came from abroad, while sales in China, more than 60% of volume, contributed about 7%. Geely's own release does not break profit down by region. CNC also reports that Geely raised its annual export target from 640,000 to 920,000 vehicles. Geely's release describes a goal of 1 million sales outside China in 2026.

Why it matters

CNC's conclusion is that selling cars in China is barely profitable at current prices. Tesla is under the same pressure, which helps explain its zero-interest financing in China. Geely's strongest growth is coming in the export markets where Tesla also sells the Model 3 and Model Y.