Chery Automobile (09973) completes IPO milestone: leading the global market and embarking on a new journey of technological intelligence transformation
At a time when the global automobile industry is rapidly changing towards new energy and intelligence, the Hong Kong stock market has attracted many car companies to go public in Hong Kong with its international capital ecology and active acceptance of emerging industries. Chery Automobile (09973), which is on the “fast track” of development, is an important participant in the Chinese automobile industry, and will also usher in a new key point in the development process with the help of the Hong Kong capital market.
On September 25, 2025, Chery was successfully listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This IPO contains Chery's multi-dimensional strategic thinking, such as the global layout and intelligent transformation of technology. It is not only about the future development trend of the company itself, but will also have a profound impact on the entire automotive industry pattern.
Independent brand overseas champion, high quality performance growth
In 1997, Anhui Auto Parts Co., Ltd. was established, and Chery Automobile began its entrepreneurial journey. In 1999, the first self-developed engine went offline, and in 2000, the first sedan “Fengyun” was born, injecting vitality into the development of China's own-brand cars. In 2001, the first batch of “Fengyun” cars were exported in batches, marking the beginning of a global journey for Chery. Since then, the first NEV was launched in 2003, and the Tiggo SUV was launched in 2005, and the product matrix continues to be rich. Today, Chery has developed into a global passenger car company. Its business covers the design, development, manufacture and sale of all types of passenger cars, and has a complete industrial system in the fields of engine, transmission system and chassis manufacturing.
In the process of globalization, Chery has achieved remarkable results. Up to now, its passenger cars have been sold to more than 100 countries and regions, with cumulative global sales exceeding 13 million units. Since 2003, Chery has been at the top of China's own-brand passenger car exports for 22 consecutive years, highlighting its strong competitiveness and brand influence in the international market.
In 2024, with global sales of 2.295,000 vehicles and a year-on-year growth rate of 49.4%, Chery became the only car company among the top 20 passenger car companies in the world to achieve a year-on-year increase of more than 25% in NEV sales, fuel vehicle sales, domestic sales, and overseas sales. Among them, NEV sales increased by more than 265% year on year. In the domestic market, with leading technology, diversified product portfolio, strong brand value and huge sales network, passenger car sales increased by more than 55% year on year.
In overseas markets, Chery relied on its first-mover advantage, diversified brand layout, multi-level sales channels, strong supply chain, localized R&D capabilities, and good user reputation to achieve countertrend growth, ranking among the top sales in many major passenger car markets. For example, in Europe, South America, and the Middle East and North Africa, Chery ranked first among Chinese own-brand passenger car companies in terms of sales; in North America and Asia (excluding China), it ranked second.
With the deepening of the global layout, Chery Automobile's performance achieved steady and high-quality growth. In 2022 to 2024, the company achieved revenue of 92,618 billion yuan (RMB, same below), 163.205 billion yuan and 269.897 billion yuan respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 70.7%. In the same period, the company's net profit reached 5.806 billion yuan, 10.444 billion yuan and 14.334 billion yuan respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 57.1%. In the first quarter of 2025, Chery achieved revenue and net profit of 68.223 billion yuan and 4.726 billion yuan, with year-on-year increases of 24.2% and 115.1%, respectively.
The transformation of scientific and technological intelligence has achieved remarkable results, building a solid foundation for globalization
Chery's steady growth in performance has benefited from long-term persistence in core areas such as technology research and development, brand building, supply chain management, and capacity layout.
In terms of technology research and development, Chery has built a comprehensive technical system covering key areas such as Kunpeng Power, Mars architecture, Lion Smart Cabin, and Dazhuo Smart Driving. Kunpeng Power includes four core technologies for engines, transmissions, electric drives, and battery safety systems. The eight fuel engines and hybrid DHT developed by Kunpeng Power were rated as the top ten “Chinese Heart” by “Auto and Sports” magazine. As an automotive development platform, the Mars architecture enhances R&D efficiency and accelerates the launch of new products through modular hardware and cross-platform software. The Lion operating system creates an intelligent cockpit system that aims to provide a safer and more comfortable driving environment and intelligent functions to enhance the driving experience. Dazhuo Smart Driving provides intelligent driving solutions for passenger cars, including mid-level and high-end intelligent driving solutions.
With technological innovation as its core driving force, Chery invests 5%-7% of sales revenue in independent research and development every year to build a global R&D verification system around new energy, intelligence, and platform-based technologies. From 2022 to 2024, Chery's R&D expenditure increased from RMB 3,646 billion to RMB 9.243 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 59.2%. As of March 31, 2025, the company has 14,400 professional R&D personnel (accounting for more than 50% of non-production employees), and has obtained more than 13,900 patents (including more than 4,400 invention patents).
It is worth noting that Chery has 8 R&D centers around the world, and the company has established research institutes in Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico and Malaysia. Relying on global R&D resources, Chery has R&D capabilities that combine localized development with pioneering research.
With solid research and development skills, Chery has successfully built five major brands, including Chery, Jetty, Starway, iCar, and Intelligent World. Each major brand has a unique positioning, travel style and aesthetic perception to meet the needs of different customers and cover various segments with potential for growth.
As the main brand, the Chery brand targets the public and home users. It is committed to building a safe, comfortable, and reliable first-line brand, and many best-selling models have been recognized by consumers. After years of market cultivation and product quality improvement, the popularity and reputation of the Chery brand continues to increase. According to data from a third-party research agency, in the past five years, the domestic popularity of the Chery brand has increased from 60% to 85%, and the popularity of the overseas market has increased from 30% to 55%.
The Jietu brand focuses on the off-road travel vehicle market and accurately targets target users; the Starway brand focuses on new technology and luxury to provide a high-quality travel experience for users seeking performance and quality; the iCar brand targets Gen Z customers who are passionate about technology and freedom, bringing a cutting-edge smart travel experience; and the Intelligent World brand focuses on the field of high-end intelligent new energy vehicles to meet the needs of users seeking intelligence and high performance.
Looking forward to the future, Chery plans to mass-produce higher-level autonomous driving technology in the next few years to improve driving safety and convenience in the field of autonomous driving. Chery will break through technological bottlenecks by increasing investment in R&D and cooperating with scientific research institutions. In terms of intelligent connectivity systems, it will further enhance the level of intelligence, strengthen the interconnection between vehicles and vehicles and infrastructure, and create a smarter and more convenient travel experience.
In addition to making steady progress in the intelligent transformation of technology, Chery has also performed well in other key aspects of the company's operations. In terms of supply chain management, Chery carefully selects high-quality suppliers and checks in multiple dimensions such as price, quality, and production capacity to ensure the supply and quality of raw materials. On a daily basis, we optimize supply chain processes and improve efficiency and flexibility through information sharing and collaborative research and development. A stable supply chain not only ensures timely delivery of production materials and reduces costs, but also maintains product quality and enhances the resilience of enterprises to risks.
In order to meet the needs of the global market, Chery is actively deploying overseas production capacity. Currently, it has facilities such as a Brazilian factory and is building a European base with EV Motors in Spain. Localized production not only reduces costs and increases efficiency, but also enables products to meet local needs and regulations, enhance competitiveness with local resources, help integrate into the local market, strengthen brand influence, and provide a solid production capacity guarantee for the global strategy.
It is the largest car company's IPO in recent years
Taking into account the scale of Chery Automobile's business, steady performance growth trend, broad global market layout, and deep technical research and development heritage, it has successfully raised more than 1 billion US dollars in the Hong Kong stock market, making it the largest automobile company's IPO in recent years.
According to its listing prospectus, these funds will mainly be used to develop different models and versions of passenger cars and enrich the product portfolio; invest in next-generation automobile and advanced technology research and development to enhance core technical capabilities; expand overseas markets and deepen the global strategy; upgrade production facilities in Wuhu, Anhui to improve production efficiency and product quality; and supplement operating capital to meet the daily operation and business development needs of the company.
The launch of Chery has had a broad impact on the automotive industry. At the capital market level, it will attract a large amount of capital into the Hong Kong auto sector, increase sector activity and market attention, and enhance investors' confidence in the automobile industry. In terms of the competitive landscape of the industry, after listing, Chery Automobile will further improve its competitiveness in technology research and development, market expansion, and brand building, etc., encouraging other car companies to increase investment, promote the progress of the entire industry, and accelerate industry integration and upgrading.
Conclusions
In the context of the global automotive industry's accelerated transformation to new energy and intelligence, Chery has laid a solid foundation for development with deep technology accumulation, huge market share, and increasing brand influence. The successful completion of its IPO in Hong Kong will inject strong impetus into Chery's future development and help it achieve greater breakthroughs in the global market. In the future, Chery Automobile is expected to show greater potential in the global automobile industry, enhance its position in the industry, contribute to the development of the Chinese automobile industry, bring more high-quality, intelligent and environmentally friendly automobile products to global consumers, and write a new chapter in the global development of Chinese automobile brands.