China Auto Industry: Management comments on 2Q and 2H26 expectations

Research evidence excerpt

China Auto Industry: Management comments on 2Q and 2H26 expectations

Asia Pacific Equity Research

27 July 2026

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China Auto Industry

Management comments on 2Q and 2H26

expectations

• Expect a mixed bag into results season: We invited management teams from a Head of APAC Auto Research

few OEMs last week and discussed: 1) how investors should formulate AC Nick Lai

expectations into 2Q results in mid-late Aug (NIO, XPeng, Leapmotor, Great (65) 6801-3176

Wall, Chery Auto and Sinotruk); and, 2) the company’s strategy in 2H26. nick.yc.lai@jpmorgan.com

Collective comments confirm our recent earnings previews that investors may J.P. Morgan Securities Singapore Private

not see many beats (Geely, NIO) but mostly meets (BYD) or misses (SOEs and Limited/ J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Limited/ J.P. Morgan Broking (Hong Kong)

the rest) (click here). Limited

• Collective comments: Across OEMs, management teams discussed a fairly Jiajie Shen, CFA

consistent playbook into 2H26: 1) lean on a heavy product cycle to drive (86-21) 6106 6352

sequential volume growth; 2) defend margins via mix + scale while jiajie.shen@jpmchase.com

acknowledging input-cost volatility; 3) treat overseas as the key structural SAC Registration Number: S1730520030006

upside; and, 4) use “tech” (chips/ADAS/AI/robotaxi/robotics) as differentiator, J.P. Morgan Securities (China) Company

Limited

with differing levels of near-term P&L tolerance. These echo our views: 1)