On March 25, 2026, CIMC Vehicles (301039.SZ) held its 2025 annual results briefing. The company defied market expectations with bold reforms, guided by the "Only Star Chain" strategy, achieving initial success in countering internal competition and striving to become a top performer among listed companies while driving the industry toward high-quality development.
With the three-year "Star Chain Plan" successfully concluded, CIMC Vehicles has improved its operational quality amid stability, with synergistic efforts across its three major business segments. The Star Chain Plan delivered results exceeding expectations. Annual report data shows the company achieved revenue of 201.8 billion yuan in 2025, with a gross profit margin of 15.9%. Net cash flow from operating activities reached 1.58 billion yuan, and cash reserves totaled 6.6 billion yuan. Fourth-quarter net profit attributable to shareholders increased by 28.7% quarter-on-quarter.
Simultaneously, the company disclosed its 2025 profit distribution plan, proposing a cash dividend of 0.21 yuan per share (including tax).
The Star Chain Plan concluded perfectly, with robust progress across all business domains. In 2025, CIMC Vehicles produced and manufactured over 110,000 semi-trailers globally. Global semi-trailer business revenue reached 14.372 billion yuan, contributing 2.44 billion yuan in gross profit. According to Global Trailer's 2025 ranking of global semi-trailer manufacturers by sales volume, CIMC Vehicles maintained its top position for the thirteenth consecutive year.
China's semi-trailer business achieved high-quality development. Amid an industry still facing overcapacity and homogeneous marketing, CIMC Vehicles built new competitive advantages, achieving initial success in "countering internal competition." The six-month "Sprint 1231" initiative under the "Only Star Chain" strategy closely integrated new quality productive forces with new quality marketing capabilities, effectively ensuring the implementation of key tasks. Sales of Star Chain semi-trailers and Star Chain tankers in the Chinese market increased by 15.00% year-on-year, with revenue rising 14.65% and gross profit margin improving by 3.3 percentage points.
The company focused on annual models as a core driver, extending layouts along the value chain—forward by promoting productive service innovations and backward by building barriers for core components. In 2025, it launched multiple innovative products, including the Only Star Chain rear-dump semi-trailer (7A), the "Champions League" series of high-end tankers, and the "Stellar Storm" car carriers. Sales of annual models accounted for approximately 40% of Star Chain semi-trailer and tanker sales in China and Global South markets. Against intensified competition in the domestic market, the company's semi-trailer market share exceeded 22.2%, maintaining the national top position for seven consecutive years, while tanker market share surpassed 26.5%, rising to industry leadership despite challenges.
In terms of new quality productive forces, the Star Chain production lines constructed in the second half of 2024 fully released their effects. In 2025, labor time savings for LTP semi-trailers and tankers reached around 30%-40%. Centralized procurement organization was comprehensively upgraded, achieving over 80% centralized purchasing, providing replicable operational support for high business growth.
Regarding new quality marketing capabilities, the number of "Three Good Centers" increased to 24, forming a "hard fort" network covering key customer markets alongside 23 delivery service centers established in 2025. Trials of productive services diversified, with nine flagship stores experimenting with business models such as maintenance, used vehicle preparation, used vehicle trading, and trailer leasing.
Global South market business achieved high-quality growth. CIMC Vehicles optimized its governance structure and resource deployment for Global South markets, developing localized growth strategies and modular vehicle models tailored to each market. In 2025, semi-trailer business revenue in Global South markets reached 3.09 billion yuan, up 17.7% year-on-year, with sales volume surging 29.1%. Profitability improved significantly alongside scale expansion, with gross margin rising 1.3 percentage points. Traditional strong markets in the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia showed outstanding growth, with key markets like Vietnam and Thailand exceeding 70% growth. Breakthroughs were achieved in emerging regions such as Central Asia.
In 2025, Australian operations were upgraded to direct management under Global South business, closely integrated with the Star Chain Plan. Australian operations maintained historically strong profitability. According to registration data from the Australian Road Transport Association, the company's market share in Australia ranked among the top six for three consecutive years, highlighting its solid position.
European semi-trailer business overall showed "flat sales volume with revenue growth." In 2025, SDC and LAG maintained sales volumes similar to the previous year, while revenue increased by 5%. SDC continued to lead the UK market. LAG focused on stabilizing operations throughout the year, advancing integration in Poland, product standardization, and facility upgrades to build capacity for future recovery.
North American semi-trailer business advanced under pressure, demonstrating resilience. Refrigerated trailer operations maintained orderly shipments from North American plants, utilizing pre-assembled inventory reserved during market lows to ensure emergency order delivery. Dry van operations remained profitable in a sluggish market, leveraging strong sales capabilities and core customer loyalty, while achieving slight market share gains. Chassis trailer operations focused on reducing backlog inventory, achieving phased loss reduction through strict cost and administrative expense control. The company anticipates a gradual recovery in U.S. semi-trailer demand by mid-2026.
DTB business achieved steady growth in sales and revenue, with further market share gains for core products. In 2025, CIMC Vehicles supplied 29,000 specialized bodies to Chinese new energy heavy-duty truck manufacturers and leading fuel/gas heavy-duty truck makers. Drawing on the Star Chain Plan's success, the company actively promoted structural reforms in DTB production organization, significantly improving operating profit year-on-year.
In 2025, the company initiated structural reforms in DTB mixer truck production, integrating resources from two mixer truck manufacturers in Wuhu and Luoyang to form the CIMC Vehicles DTB Cement Mixer Truck (including powder tanker) Business Group. This created a new group combat system optimizing capacity and resource synergy, streamlining order, production, and delivery processes to greatly enhance efficiency and operational quality.
Additionally, the company continued to expand R&D and sales of new energy products, deepening cooperation with OEMs across the entire value chain in product development, manufacturing, and sales. DTB product sales for new energy heavy-duty trucks grew significantly. Total new energy series sales exceeded 11,000 units, up over 100% year-on-year, creating higher customer value through efficient delivery and superior quality.
Adhering to the strategic positioning of "explorer, builder, and full-value-chain promoter" for pure electric tractor-trailer combinations, the company achieved milestone breakthroughs. As a core future-oriented strategy, EV-RT tractor-trailer business made landmark progress in 2025, marking a solid step toward defining technical standards in the new energy heavy-duty truck era: globally launching the EV-RT ecosystem, defining a new industry paradigm; developing the world's first engineering-type electric trailer platform and prototype, achieving technological breakthrough from zero to one; innovating business concepts to build long-term competitive advantages; and deeply participating in and promoting upgrades to national and industry standards.
In 2025, the company reinforced its strategic position as "explorer, builder, and full-value-chain promoter" of pure electric tractor-trailer combinations, laying a solid foundation for EV-RT business development.
Guided by the "Only Star Chain" strategy, the company continuously enhanced long-term competitiveness. Facing a complex global economic environment, CIMC Vehicles disrupted market expectations with bold reforms, focusing on strategic layout and business advancement to improve long-term competitiveness: First, expanding and enriching the "full value chain" operational model, deeply mining value and building capability moats across six segments; second, improving and optimizing the global supply chain, strengthening key component supply assurance; third, optimizing Global South market business governance, unifying sales channels in local markets, and deepening understanding of end customers; fourth, deepening governance of Vanguard Global Trailer Holding; fifth, initiating construction of a parallel, independent governance structure for CIMC Vehicles Europe Company (CVEC); sixth, deepening the "good horse with good saddle" business model, promoting structural reforms in DTB manufacturer production organization; seventh, building the EV-RT ecosystem to accelerate rapid iteration of EV-RT tractor-trailer products.
Looking ahead, building on the initial success of the Star Chain Plan, CIMC Vehicles is determined to deepen its "bold reform" development framework and launch the "Stellar Plan" (2026-2030), aiming for a "great leap" in company value during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. The company will increase R&D investment during the Stellar Plan.
The Stellar Plan will build on the solid foundation laid by the Star Chain Plan in semi-trailer and tanker production organization, fully harvesting its results. The Stellar Plan will be implemented in three steps: Stellar 1-2-3. Driven by the Stellar Plan, CIMC Vehicles will expand the Star Chain Plan's soft/hard power and industry influence in five directions: First, expanding the boundaries of the "full value chain" curve to become a unique full-value-chain operator, significantly increasing productive service incremental business; second, doubling down on the "Star Chain Plan" to greatly boost incremental business in North American semi-trailer markets; third, opportunistically launching the "European Semi-trailer Star Chain Plan" to build new quality semi-trailer productive forces and marketing capabilities spanning Asia, Africa, and Europe; fourth, advancing toward becoming the global leader in all categories of specialized vehicles; fifth, vigorously developing the EV-RT ecosystem to become a key player in this new landscape, pushing EV-RT variable business to take substantive steps.
Comments