This March, the domestic auto sales throne witnessed another change of hands.

Data reveals that SAIC Motor Group successfully overtook BYD with sales of 385,700 units compared to BYD's 377,400 units, reclaiming the domestic auto sales crown after a year-long hiatus by a slim margin.

For SAIC Motor Group, regaining the sales crown in March is significant. After relinquishing the title to BYD in 2024 after an 18-year reign, SAIC Motor Group embarked on a proactive transformation journey, making substantial internal management adjustments and accelerating its shift towards new energy and intelligence externally. Judging from March sales, this transformation has begun to bear fruit.

However, despite successfully reclaiming the sales crown in March, Kanjian Finance's analysis suggests that SAIC Motor Group's achievement lacks a solid foundation.

On one hand, while SAIC Motor Group outsold BYD, in terms of growth rate, SAIC Motor Group's sales increased by only 1.14% in March, whereas BYD's sales surged by 24.8%, indicating a significantly stronger momentum.

On the other hand, SAIC Motor Group still lags considerably behind BYD in the new energy transition. Statistics show that SAIC Motor Group sold 125,700 new energy vehicles in March, marking a year-on-year increase of 48.22%. While this growth rate is not insignificant, the new energy penetration rate stands at only 32.6%, whereas BYD has been fully committed to new energy for two years. Among these 125,700 new energy vehicles, the primary sales driver remains micro-electric vehicles such as the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV, with an average price of less than 50,000 yuan. Its flagship brand, IM Motors, sold only 3,100 units in March, significantly underperforming expectations.

Overall, although SAIC Motor Group has regained the domestic auto sales crown after a year, there is still a long way to go before it can truly solidify its position as the sales leader.

Lack of Market Confidence

Judging by its share price, the capital market has not responded significantly to this brief sales surge.

As of April 11's close, SAIC Motor Group's share price stood at 15.16 yuan per share, with a total market value of 175.5 billion yuan. Although the share price rose by 3.69% within three days after the sales data was disclosed on April 8, SAIC Motor Group has still declined by 3.99% since April. Comparing market values, BYD's current total market value stands at an impressive 1.08 trillion yuan, approximately six times that of SAIC Motor Group.

So, why is the capital market's response so muted? The reason lies in the fact that, despite regaining the sales crown, the achievement lacks a robust foundation.

Breaking down SAIC Motor Group's sales by brand, SAIC-GM-Wuling performed best in March, significantly contributing to SAIC Motor Group's sales surge over BYD—with sales of 148,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 29.8%, accounting for over 30% of total sales. However, SAIC-GM-Wuling's primary sales drivers are low-priced micro-models like the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV and Wuling Bingguo, which employ a "low-price, high-volume" strategy with an overall gross margin of only around 10%. Against this backdrop, the value of SAIC Motor Group's March sales of 385,700 units is limited.

Looking at the other two joint venture brands, SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM, their combined sales in March amounted to nearly 134,000 units. SAIC Volkswagen sold 90,000 units, almost unchanged from the same period last year, while SAIC-GM sold 43,820 units, marking a year-on-year decline of 29.3% from 62,000 units in the same period last year. As brands focusing on fuel vehicles, SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM have introduced a "fixed price" strategy to maintain sales, which has somewhat stabilized SAIC Volkswagen's sales, but SAIC-GM still faces considerable pressure.

After examining the three joint venture brands, let's turn to the independent brands. In March, SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Company sold 67,839 units, a year-on-year decline of 14.14% from 79,008 units in the same period last year. IM Motors, SAIC Motor Group's flagship brand, sold only 3,100 units in March, a year-on-year increase of 3.33% from 3,000 units in the same period last year, but this sales figure is significantly below expectations. Moreover, IM Motors' cumulative sales in the first three months of this year were only 7,035 units, a year-on-year decline of 29.66% from 10,001 units in the same period last year.

Overall, while SAIC Motor Group achieved a monthly sales volume of 385,700 units, its sales are primarily driven by SAIC-GM-Wuling, which focuses on low-priced models. The other two joint venture brands, SAIC Volkswagen and SAIC-GM, did not perform impressively, and its independent brands continue to experience declining sales. Among them, IM Motors, which is expected to spearhead the transformation, only sold 3,100 units per month. With such a sales structure, even though SAIC Motor Group has surpassed BYD to regain the sales crown, the market will not accord it high recognition due to the low value of its sales.

A Challenging Journey Ahead

After a "disappointing" 2024, SAIC Motor Group has significantly accelerated its transformation pace in 2025.

Internally, SAIC Motor Group has undergone substantial management adjustments, with the newly appointed management team primarily comprising individuals born in the post-1970s and post-1975s who possess front-line business experience.

In terms of key positions, former SAIC Motor Group Chairman Chen Hong retired in July last year and was succeeded by former President Wang Xiaoqiu. Concurrently, former Group Vice President Jia Jianxu succeeded as President, having previously served as General Manager of SAIC Volkswagen. IM Motors CEO Jiang Jun and SAIC Passenger Vehicle Company General Manager and R Auto CEO Wu Bing were both promoted to Group Vice President at the beginning of this year.

Externally, SAIC Motor Group has markedly accelerated its transition towards new energy and intelligence, notably abandoning its previous "soul theory" and opting to collaborate with Huawei in vehicle manufacturing.

According to media reports, SAIC Motor Group will launch the fifth-generation "Shangjie" model in collaboration with Huawei. The first model resulting from this partnership will be based on SAIC's Nebula platform, incorporating Huawei's intelligent cockpit and driving assistance, creating a pure electric vehicle priced between 150,000 and 250,000 yuan. This price range represents HarmonyOS intelligent driving products' first attempt, underscoring the strategic importance of "Shangjie".

In addition to Huawei, SAIC Motor Group has also partnered with NVIDIA and Momenta. In November last year, IM Motors announced that it would introduce a new generation of intelligent driving solutions in collaboration with NVIDIA and Momenta.

However, despite these efforts, SAIC Motor Group's transformation has yet to yield significant results based on sales in the first three months. In terms of new energy vehicle sales, SAIC Motor Group sold a total of 272,952 new energy vehicles in the first three months of this year, marking a year-on-year increase of 29.89%, but primarily driven by low-priced micro-vehicles, with the current penetration rate still below 40%.

In fact, despite SAIC Motor Group's efforts, it is not alone in the highly competitive Chinese auto market. Taking industry leader BYD as an example, despite already holding a substantial lead in the new energy sector, BYD has not chosen to slow down in 2025. This year, BYD has not only introduced the "Intelligent Driving Equality" strategy, bringing intelligent driving assistance technology originally available only in vehicles priced at 150,000 yuan to vehicles priced below 100,000 yuan, but also launched innovative technologies such as megawatt flash charging, demonstrating the intense competitive pressure in the Chinese auto market.

Overall, facing competitors like BYD, XPeng, Tesla, and others that continue to make strides in technological innovation, product quality, brand marketing, and other areas, SAIC Motor Group still faces immense pressure. Although SAIC Motor Group has significantly accelerated its transformation pace recently, it is destined to face a challenging journey before it can return to its former glory.