On April 17, Changan Automobile released its 2023 annual report, in 2023, Changan Automobile will achieve revenue of 151.298 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.78%, and a net profit of 11.327 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45.25%. According to Changan Automobile's annual report, the growth of the company's performance is mainly due to the increase in the company's sales scale and the improvement of operating quality. According to the data, Changan Automobile will achieve sales of 2.553 million units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%, of which Changan Automobile has achieved substantial growth in overseas markets and new energy markets.
In 2023, China's auto market has experienced fierce competition, especially the large-scale price war, which has reduced the profit margins of enterprises. Judging from the performance of several major listed car companies, many car companies have experienced a decline in profits, including SAIC, GAC, Great Wall, etc. In comparison, Changan Automobile will be able to achieve a year-on-year increase in profit of 45.25% in the highly competitive 2023, which is a relatively successful record in the industry.
It is worth mentioning that in this annual report, Changan Automobile disclosed the financial status of the two new energy subsidiaries of Deep Blue Automobile and AVATAR, all of which were in a state of loss without exception. Of course, this is understandable, after all, among the new energy vehicle companies in the industry, there are not many profitable ones, not to mention that the two subsidiaries are still in the early stage of development.
New energy, overseas markets perform well Changan's 2024 target is conservative
Judging from the data released in the financial report, Changan Automobile's new energy vehicle sales and export sales performed well. Among them, the annual sales of self-owned brand new energy vehicles were 474,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 74.8%. Looking back at 2023, Changan Automobile has made many layouts in the field of new energy, including the new energy "Shangri-La" plan to leap to a new level, the innovative construction of the three intelligent electric brand layouts of AVATAR, Deep Blue Automobile, and Changan Qiyuan, as well as cooperation with CATL and Huawei.
At the same time, in terms of model investment, Changan Automobile has made great efforts to create new energy models such as AVATR 11, AVATR 12, Navy SL03, Navy S7, Qiyuan A07, and Lumin, which have performed well in the market. However, Changan Automobile also emphasized that the company adheres to the dual promotion of new energy and fuel vehicles. In 2023, the penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles in mainland China will reach 35.7%, and fuel vehicles will still occupy a significant market share of 64.3%. Based on this, the company will adhere to the business strategy of "coexisting and advancing at both ends" between new energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles.
In overseas markets, Changan Automobile exported 358,000 units in 2023, up 43.9% y/y. Changan Automobile pointed out that the substantial growth of exports is mainly due to the following reasons: first, Chinese automobile companies are paying more and more attention to the development of overseas markets, and have accelerated the speed of "going to sea" layout; second, in recent years, Chinese brands represented by Changan Automobile have gradually established competitive advantages in the field of new energy and intelligence, and the comprehensive strength of products has been significantly enhanced; third, the large-scale export of new energy vehicles has driven the overall export increase.
At present, the overseas market has become the focus of competition among Chinese car companies, and Changan Automobile is also actively promoting its overseas layout, officially releasing the global "Embrace All Rivers" plan, establishing five global business divisions, DEEPAL S07 and DEEPAL L07 officially launched sales in Thailand, starting a new journey to enter the Southeast Asian market, and starting the construction of the Thai production base, and the global production layout has entered a new stage.
It is worth noting that Changan Automobile's 2024 target is very conservative, and the company's board of directors aims to achieve production and sales of more than 2.65 million units in 2024, an increase of only 100,000 units from last year. Looking forward to 2024, Changan Automobile said that the company will launch a variety of new and facelifted products, including 8 new energy products, including E07, C798, dark blue G318, AVATR 15, etc.
Deep Blue and AVATR are still losing money The good news is that sales are growing rapidly
According to Changan Automobile's 2023 annual report, Deep Blue Automobile and AVATR are both in the red in 2023. Among them, Deep Blue Automobile will achieve a revenue of 25.883 billion yuan in 2023 and a net loss of 2.999 billion yuan, narrowing from the loss of 3.19 billion yuan in the previous period. AVATAR's revenue in 2023 will be 5.643 billion yuan, with a net loss of 3.693 billion yuan, compared with a loss of 2.015 billion yuan in the same period last year.
Changan Automobile pointed out that during the reporting period, Shenlan Automobile accelerated the development of new energy vehicles, enriched the Shenlan brand product line, and increased R&D investment, resulting in losses. AVATR is in a period of strategic investment, and has invested a large amount of resources in product research and development, brand promotion, channel building, and the introduction of technical talents, resulting in losses.
In fact, from the perspective of the industry, it is the norm for new energy vehicle companies to lose money, and at present, except for ideal and Tesla, the vast majority of new energy vehicle companies are in a state of loss. It is worth mentioning that from the perspective of market performance, both Deep Blue Auto and AVATR have made great progress in 2023.
Changan Automobile "praised" in the announcement: AVATR 12 made its world premiere at the Munich Motor Show, with a total order price of more than 20,000 units in the first month of listing, and an average order price of more than 350,000 yuan, which has gradually stabilized the high-end market;
In 2024, AVATR and Deep Blue Automobile also have excellent performance, among them, AVATR sold a total of 14,532 new cars in the first quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 157.48%, and Deep Blue Automobile delivered a total of 40,084 vehicles in the first quarter of this year, with a cumulative delivery volume of 113.1% compared with the same period last year, ranking first among the new car-making groups.