How General Motors is Reshaping China's Electric Vehicle Landscape

General Motors has demonstrated remarkable momentum in China’s rapidly expanding new energy vehicle market, achieving a significant milestone with NEV sales exceeding 950,000 units throughout 2025. This figure represents over half of GM’s total Chinese market deliveries, underscoring the company’s accelerated pivot toward electrification.

The numbers tell a compelling story. Combined deliveries from General Motors and its joint ventures reached approximately 1.9 million vehicles, marking a 2.3% year-on-year increase. More impressively, NEV sales climbed 22.6% compared to the previous year, cementing their role as the primary growth driver for the automaker’s Chinese operations.

A Comprehensive NEV Portfolio Driving Performance

General Motors now operates the most extensive electric vehicle lineup among global automakers competing in China. Beginning in 2026, the company committed to incorporating NEV variants into every new product introduction, with enhanced emphasis on locally developed technologies.

The Buick brand’s ELECTRA sub-brand made waves with its debut, introducing the L7 and ENCASA models in the fourth quarter to market enthusiasm. Buick’s MPV segment maintains its dominant position spanning over two decades, delivering more than 120,000 units in 2025—a 23% year-over-year surge. The refreshed GL8 alongside the Lu Shang and ENCASA models now offer mass-market through luxury options across both traditional and electric powertrains.

Cadillac strengthened its luxury SUV footprint significantly. The LYRIQ and XT5 posted impressive gains of 90% and 32.4% respectively. Meanwhile, the Envision SUV family experienced explosive growth of 76.4%, while LaCrosse deliveries more than doubled.

Wuling Hong Guang MINIEV remains General Motors’ bestselling NEV nameplate, with annual sales surpassing 435,000 units. The four-door variant launched in Q1 accounted for roughly two-thirds of these sales. The Wuling Bin Guo series continued its trajectory, with the new Bin Guo S contributing to total 2025 deliveries exceeding 210,000 units. Baojun recorded a 12.3% sales increase, driven by strong performance from the YEP Plus (26,000+ units) and Yunhai (11,000+ units, up 60%) models.

Market Competition: Where Others Stand

The competitive landscape reveals distinct trends across major players. Tesla’s Shanghai manufacturing facility shipped approximately 851,732 vehicles in 2025 across all channels, reflecting a 7% decline year-over-year. Mainland China sales specifically reached around 625,000 units, marking a near 5% drop and representing the first annual decline since Shanghai operations commenced in 2020.

BYD Company Limited’s passenger NEV retail sales totaled 3.48 million units in 2025, declining 6.3% year-over-year. Despite this contraction, BYD maintained market leadership with a 27.2% share, though this represented a notable decrease from 34.1% in 2024. Across the broader automotive market encompassing both electric and conventional vehicles, BYD captured the top position with a 14.7% retail market share.

Valuation and Market Performance Assessment

General Motors has demonstrated superior stock performance compared to its domestic automotive peers over the past six months, with shares gaining 55.4% against the industry average of 40%. From a valuation standpoint, the company appears attractively priced. Trading at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 0.42, General Motors sits substantially below the industry multiple of 3.35, suggesting potential upside.

Analyst sentiment has recently turned more constructive, with consensus earnings estimates for 2025 and 2026 revised upward by one penny and sixteen cents respectively over the past week.