Recently, Guangzhou Automobile Group's 2025 performance forecast has experienced a "plummet", with an estimated net profit loss of up to 9 billion yuan, and its sales target of 2.3 million vehicles has not been achieved. Guangzhou Automobile Honda is undoubtedly the largest "oil bottle" of Guangzhou Automobile Group. As of the end of last year, Guangqi Honda's cumulative sales were 351,900 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 25.22%, making it the brand with the largest sales decline in the group.

Worrying sales continued into this year. According to the January production and sales report, Guangqi Honda's sales volume was only 4,558 units, a year-on-year plunge of 69.86%.

In order to win back users, Guangqi Honda is constantly offering discounts. For example, the "P7" model with a guide price of 199,900 yuan is actually sold at 149,900 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25%. A 4S store staff told the "Next Generation Auto Research Institute" that the price was higher when it was initially launched, resulting in unsatisfactory sales. The original six colors were also "cut" to only one, and "the subsequent P7 is considering reducing the configuration."

Half a year ago, Feng Xingya, chairman of GAC Group, made a statement, saying that GAC Group has entered a "wartime state" and will make every effort to fight the "three major battles" related to the future and rebuild a new GAC. However, judging from the latest performance, it is still difficult for Feng Xingya to realize the "New GAC".

Preliminary losses reached a maximum of 9 billion, the largest decline in ten years

Recently, Guangzhou Automobile Group announced its 2025 performance forecast: the net profit attributable to the owners of the parent company is expected to be -8 billion to -9 billion yuan. Compared with the profit of 824 million yuan in the same period in 2024, GAC Group has experienced its largest decline in the past ten years.


In this regard, GAC Group also explained in its performance forecast: During the reporting period, competition in the automobile industry was fierce and the industrial ecology was rapidly restructured. Although the company's automobile sales continued to increase month-on-month since the second quarter, the annual automobile sales did not meet expectations. In response to the rapid changes in the market, the company quickly adjusted and increased its sales investment.

At the same time, GAC Group also emphasized that due to factors such as sales volume and the adjustment of the structure of independent brand new energy products, it is expected that the asset impairment provisions for intangible assets and inventories this year will increase compared with the same period last year. At the same time, some joint ventures accelerated the transformation of new energy sources and adjusted and optimized production lines, resulting in further reductions in the company's investment income due to impairment of joint venture assets.

In fact, GAC Group’s slowdown has already been foreshadowed. As early as 2023, GAC Group's revenue growth has gradually slowed down, from 45.72% in the same period to 17.62%. By 2024, the revenue decline has expanded and turned negative; in terms of profits, this phenomenon is even more significant, from a net profit of 8.064 billion yuan in 2022 to only 824 million yuan in 2024, a decrease of nearly 10 times.

Or in response to the "successful decline" in performance, GAC Group previously launched the "Panyu Action" reform and proposed a series of measures including building an operational headquarters, implementing independent brand integrated operations, and introducing an IPD reengineered product development process system.

In addition, GAC Group also implements operational management and control over its own brands. The newly established department will be responsible for the major customer business of GAC Group's own brands Trumpchi, Aion and Haopu, and coordinate the marketing, vehicle sales and channel construction of Trumpchi, Aon and Haopu brands.


Sales target has not been achieved,

GAC Honda performed “worst”

In terms of sales, in 2025, GAC Group's automobile sales target is to increase by 15% from 2.0031 million vehicles in 2024, which is about 2.3 million vehicles. However, its actual annual car sales were approximately 1.7215 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 14.06%.

Specific to each subsidiary, Guangqi Honda is undoubtedly one of the crux of the "plummet". As of the end of last year, Guangqi Honda's cumulative sales were 351,900 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 25.22%, making it the brand with the largest sales decline in the group.


Entering 2026, Guangqi Honda's sales have not improved yet. According to the January production and sales report, Guangqi Honda sold only 4,558 vehicles, a year-on-year drop of 69.86%. On the production side, Guangqi Honda's performance was even worse. It produced only 9,331 units in January, a year-on-year decrease of 65.05%. The double decline in output and sales further reflects that the brand is in a period of deep adjustment.

If compared with other sub-brands within the GAC Group, GAC Honda's shortcomings are even more obvious. By company, GAC Aian sold 21,600 units in January, a year-on-year increase of 171.63%; GAC Lincheng new energy commercial vehicles sold 145 units, a year-on-year increase of 559.09%; GAC Toyota sold 62,600 units, a year-on-year increase of 9.82%.

The new energy flagship’s monthly sales are only 1,000 units.

Manufacturers may consider reducing allocations

Some insiders believe that the reason why Guangqi Honda is lagging behind is that it has failed to keep up with the wave of new energy transformation. In 2024, Honda China released a new electric brand "Ye", which is a pure electric brand customized by Honda for the Chinese market. According to Honda China’s official explanation, the word “ye” means bright and shining.


However, not long after its launch, the sales of the "Ye" brand slumped due to the controversy over homophones. At that time, a large number of netizens pointed out that the word "Ye" was split into "Huo Hua", which is homophonic with "Cremation". In Changsha dialect, "Ye P" is homophonic to "嘢Fart", which means "it's over" or "it's impossible", and is considered to have an unlucky meaning.

In the face of public opinion, Guangqi Honda quietly disappeared the word "Ye" from last year's promotional posters, and "Ye P7" became "P7", which is also its flagship model. In October, Guangqi Honda launched a promotion with a direct discount of 50,000 yuan in order to promote sales growth. Contrary to expectations, after the introduction of the New Deal, "P7" did experience a brief recovery, but it only hovered between 1,000 and 1,200 units, and did not continue to rise as imagined.

This situation was further confirmed by multiple sales staff. A staff member of a 4S store in Beijing's Haidian District told the "Next Generation Car Research Institute" that the current promotion policy of 50,000 yuan direct discount still exists. The lowest model with a guide price of 199,900 yuan now starts at only 149,900 yuan, and the highest model with a guide price of 249,900 yuan starts at 199,900 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 25%.

A staff member of a 4S store in Tongzhou District explained that the price was high when it was first launched, resulting in unsatisfactory sales. Even now, the standard version still has mediocre sales, and the original six colors have been "cut off" to only the white option.

From an inventory perspective, the sales of "P7" are not optimistic either. According to the staff member, the production date of new cars in stock on the market is generally around July, or as late as August. Even if consumers order a new car, there is a high probability that the already produced car will be shipped from the manufacturer's warehouse. "It may be difficult to buy a car that only considers the new date."

The staff member also revealed that "due to the large difference between the guide price and the actual selling price, the cost may be difficult to cover, and the subsequent Guangqi Honda P7 is considering reducing the configuration."

Zhang Xiang, a visiting professor at the Yellow River Institute of Science and Technology and secretary-general of the International Intelligent Transportation Technology Association, said that on the one hand, the fuel vehicle market has been squeezed and the overall environment is poor; on the other hand, GAC Honda has few new energy models and poor sales. It has not been able to effectively boost sales and has missed the dividends of the new energy era. At the same time, Guangqi Honda's marketing methods are relatively old-fashioned and difficult to adapt to the development of the times.

Zhang Xiang pointed out that both new forces and traditional car companies are engaging in new retail and selling cars through supermarkets. Guangqi Honda still stands still and insists on the traditional offline dealer model, resulting in very low traffic and weakening brand awareness year by year.