Profit Margin Surpasses BYD, Years of Export Champion, Another Chinese Car Enters Fortune 500 List

Zhiliao Auto/Chen Yi

Recently, Fortune Magazine released the latest Fortune Global 500 list, Chery Automobile ranked 383rd with revenue of 41.778 billion US dollars.

Actually, Chery was already on the Fortune 500 last year, with an even higher rank then, 233rd. The difference is that this year Chery was evaluated independently as a listed company entity. That is to say, although it has been on the Fortune 500 for two consecutive years, the value is different. This year, Chery needs to undergo comprehensive scrutiny from the capital market and the industrial system.

It is worth mentioning that there are 10 Chinese car companies and automotive parts companies that entered the Fortune 500 this year. In addition to Chery, there are BYD, CATL, Geely, SAIC, etc., all of which are well-known. Among them, BYD has the highest rank, with revenue of 111.853 billion US dollars, ranking 91st.

Domestically, BYD is now the truly deserved "number one". Cars sell well, and profits are high. Last year, BYD's new energy vehicle sales reached 4.6 million, topping global new energy vehicle sales for consecutive years, annual revenue was 804 billion yuan, net profit 32.6 billion yuan.

Moreover, it is willing to invest heavily in R&D. For example, in 2025, BYD invested as high as 63.4 billion yuan in R&D, ranking first among A-share listed companies for two consecutive years. So far, BYD's cumulative R&D investment has exceeded 250 billion yuan.

The key point is that BYD's batteries, chips, motors, electronic controls, etc., are all manufactured by itself. Previously, people thought this "doing everything yourself" model was too asset-heavy and too slow. But facts have proven that as long as you can weather the storm, you can use economies of scale to further reduce costs.

What is BYD's moat? Cost and scale. Others spend 100 yuan to build a car, BYD might only need 80; others sell 100 cars a year, BYD can sell 200.

What about Chery? It is another model.

Starting from 2001, Chery had already started selling cars overseas. At that time, most Chinese car companies were still competing domestically. So strictly speaking, Chery can be considered one of the first batch of "going global" Chinese car companies.

Of course, it was indeed difficult at first. In 2001, Chery's export volume did not even exceed 100 units. But it proceeded steadily, continuously expanding its overseas footprint. So far, Chery's business has covered more than 130 countries and regions worldwide, ranking first in export volume of Chinese brand passenger cars for 23 consecutive years.

Chery's "going global" is not a one-off deal. It has 16 production bases worldwide, with over 3,100 overseas dealer outlets. Local manufacturing networks for Chery exist in places like Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, etc.

Foreign media summarize Chery's "going global" model as "encircling cities from the countryside", which is not wrong. After all, it first established brand awareness in markets with lower thresholds such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, selling mature fuel vehicle models like Tiggo and Arrizo, before penetrating into high-regulation markets like Europe.

In 2025, Chery exported 1.344 million vehicles, equivalent to one Chery being sold overseas every 23 seconds on average. Total annual revenue was 300.29 billion yuan, breaking the 300 billion yuan threshold for the first time. Net profit was 19.51 billion yuan, overseas revenue was 157.42 billion yuan.

Simply put, Chery has become a Chinese car company where "half of the car sales rely on overseas markets".

More notably, Chery's overall average vehicle price is about 103,500 yuan, while the overseas average vehicle price is 121,600 yuan. For the same car, selling it overseas is nearly 20,000 yuan more expensive than domestically.

So you see, Chery's success logic is simple: if you can't compete domestically, sell it abroad. The path to success is never singular.

Zhiliao Auto original article, please contact us if you need to reprint.

*Images sourced from the internet, if infringed please contact the author for deletion*