Is General Motors Gaining Momentum in China's NEV Market?

General Motors’ GM new energy vehicle (NEV) sales in China totalled nearly 1 million units in 2025, representing more than half of the company’s total deliveries in the market. Both NEV volumes and penetration reached record levels, highlighting the rapid pace of GM’s electrification strategy.

During the year, General Motors posted gains in both retail sales and market share in China. Combined deliveries from GM and its joint ventures totaled nearly 1.9 million vehicles, up 2.3% year over year. With a 22.6% year-over-year rise in sales, NEVs remained a major growth engine.

Per John Roth, GM senior vice president and president of GM China, the results reflected a strong focus on product quality and disciplined production and inventory management. He added that GM plans to leverage its speed and capabilities to introduce more customer-focused offerings globally.

General Motors currently offers a diverse lineup of gasoline-powered vehicles alongside the broadest range of NEVs among global automakers in China. Beginning in 2026, every new product launch will feature NEV variants, with locally developed innovations playing a larger role.

Buick’s premium sub-brand ELECTRA made a strong debut, with its first two models, the L7 and ENCASA, which received a positive market response following their fourth-quarter launches. Buick has led China’s premium MPV segment for more than 20 years and delivered over 120,000 MPVs in 2025, rising 23% year over year. With the refreshed GL8, the Lu Shang and ENCASA introduced in 2025, Buick’s MPV range now spans mass-market to luxury offerings and includes both ICE and NEV options.

Sales of the Envision SUV family surged 76.4% year over year in 2025, while LaCrosse deliveries more than doubled.

Cadillac further strengthened its position in the luxury SUV segment. Deliveries of the LYRIQ and XT5 rose 90% and 32.4%, respectively, compared with the prior year.

Wuling Hong Guang MINIEV remained GM’s top-selling NEV nameplate in China. Its annual sales surpass 435,000 units. Nearly two-thirds of these were four-door models launched in the first quarter. The Wuling Bin Guo series also built on its momentum, with the newly introduced Bin Guo S helping total 2025 deliveries exceed 210,000 units.

The Baojun brand recorded a 12.3% increase in sales, driven by strong demand for the YEP Plus and Yunhai models. YEP Plus sales surpassed 26,000 units, while Yunhai deliveries jumped 60% to more than 11,000 units. GM sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can se the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Annual Sales of Other Auto Giants in China

EV maker Tesla’s TSLA Shanghai plant total shipments, including domestic sales and exports, reached about 851,732 vehicles in 2025, down around 7% year over year, per Drive Tesla. Tesla sold roughly 625,000 Giga Shanghai-manufactured vehicles in mainland China in 2025, down nearly 5% from 2024, per the South China Morning Post. This marked the first year of falling mainland sales since the Shanghai factory began operations in 2020.

BYD Company Limited’s BYDDY passenger NEV retail sales in China totaled 3,484,525 units in 2025, down 6.3% year over year, per the China Passenger Car Association. Despite the drop, BYD retained its market-leading position, capturing a 27.2% share in 2025, down from 34.1% in 2024. Across the broader market encompassing both new energy and conventional gasoline vehicles, BYD secured the top position in 2025 with a 14.7% retail market share. 

GM’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates  

General Motors has outperformed the Zacks Automotive-Domestic industry in the past six months. GM’s shares have gained 55.4% compared with the industry’s growth of 40%. 

 
From a valuation perspective, GM appears undervalued compared to the industry. Going by its price/sales ratio, the company is trading at a forward sales multiple of 0.42, lower than the industry’s 3.35. 

 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GM’s 2025 and 2026 EPS has moved up a penny and 16 cents, respectively, in the past seven days. 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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