Strategic and Operational Highlights

CEO Sandy Xu emphasized JD.com’s focus on improving user experience, leading to significant growth in active users and engagement. The company continues to provide a superior combination of selection, speed, quality, and price, resonating with consumers nationwide.

AI in Livestreaming

On April 16, 2024, JD.com introduced an AI digital representative of founder Richard Qiangdong Liu for its livestreaming rooms. This innovation attracted over 20 million views within the first hour, marking a significant milestone in AI integration within e-commerce.

Healthcare Expansion

JD Health partnered with pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer and Sanofi to debut new drugs online, enhancing accessibility and upgrading its one-stop medicine retailing and healthcare services through collaborations with Shanghai Pharmaceuticals and Daiichi Sankyo.

Logistics Growth

JD Logistics expanded its support for Chinese brands globally. In Q1 2024, it provided integrated supply chain services to MINISO stores in Australia and Malaysia, showcasing JD’s international warehousing and fulfillment capabilities.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: Net revenues for Q1 2024 were RMB260.0 billion (US$36.0 billion), a 7.0% increase from Q1 2023.
• Income from Operations: Reached RMB7.7 billion (US$1.1 billion), up 19.8% from Q1 2023.
• Net Income: Net income attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB7.1 billion (US$1.0 billion), up 13.9% from Q1 2023.
• Earnings per Share: Diluted net income per ADS was RMB4.53 (US$0.63), a 15.3% increase from Q1 2023.

Between January 1 and May 15, 2024, JD.com repurchased 98.3 million Class A ordinary shares (49.2 million ADSs) for US$1.3 billion, representing 3.1% of its outstanding shares as of December 31, 2023.

One in four cars sold in China was an EV, highlighting the country’s vibrant EV market. Interestingly, plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) increased their share to 24%, while battery EVs (BEVs) saw a decrease.

BYD, Wuling, Chery, Changan, and GAC are some of the top Chinese brands that dominate the EV market, with local brands commanding 81%.

Furthermore, the study shows that China accounts for nearly 59% of the global EV sales volume, making it the second fastest-growing market among the world’s top 10 EV markets. In contrast, Japan was the fastest-growing market, with a YoY growth of 119%.

Counterpoint forecasts that EV sales will exceed eight million units in 2023. However, phasing out subsidies and EV players’ wealth could lead to a price war as brands fight for market share.

Meanwhile, in 2022, BYD increased its market share by over 11% YoY, with six out of the top 10 EV models in the Chinese market coming from the brand. In comparison, Tesla’s market share dropped by nearly 5% YoY due to production halts in April and May 2022.

Moreover, the availability of a limited product mix, increased costs due to a problematic supply situation, competition from affordable options offered by EV start-ups, and domestic sentiment hindered Tesla’s efforts to solidify its position in the Chinese market.

In Q4 2022, the BYD Song overtook the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV as the top-selling EV model, ending the latter’s eight-quarter reign in the market. The top 10 EV models accounted for almost 45% of the total EV sales, indicating that new start-ups are offering intense competition to established players.

The number of new energy passenger vehicles in the world reached 6.96 million from January to September 2022, with a year-on-year growth of 69%. The sales volume in September was 1.05 million, up 63% year on year.

In September 2022, China’s share of new energy vehicles in the world was 67%.

The number of commercial vehicles in the world’s new energy vehicles market is less than 4%, with new energy passenger vehicles as the main segment. From January to September 2022, China’s new energy passenger vehicles accounted for 62% of the world’s new energy vehicle market, which is mainly due to the strong demand for the new energy market in China.

While the production and sales of traditional vehicles and new energy vehicles in Europe are low, so China’s development is very strong.

According to the data of the Passenger Transport Association, the wholesale sales of new energy passenger vehicles in September reached 675000, up 94.9% year on year and 6.2% month on month.

From January to September, 4341,000 new energy passenger cars were wholesale, up 115.4% year on year. In September, the retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 611,000, with a year-on-year growth of 82.9% and a month-on-month growth of 14.7%.

From January to September, the domestic retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 3.877 million, with a year-on-year growth of 113.2%.

Forecast of China’s digital automobile and transportation market 2021-2025

The Chinese government has been supportive of the transition to EVs, but several changes to EV-related policies and consumer subsidies in recent years disrupted the market and automobile makers struggled to build sales momentum.

The Chinese EV market in 2020 was all about two vehicles: the made-in-China Tesla Model 3, the market leader in the first half of 2020, and the Hongguang Mini EV from the SGMW joint venture (SAIC, General Motors, and Wuling), the market leader in the second half of 2020, which only launched mid-year, according to Canalys.

The two models represented one in five of all EVs sold in China.

Tesla has already started deliveries of the made-in-China Model Y. Production of the Hongguang Mini EV has been increased to keep up with demand, particularly from young Chinese urbanites.

Other small, more affordable city cars, such as the Baojun E-Series from SGMW and the Ora R1 from Great Wall Motors (GWM), are also proving very popular.

Canalys forecasts 1.9 million EVs will be sold in China in 2021, growth of 51% and a 9% share of all cars sold in China.

Forecast of China digital automobile and transportation market 2021-2025

In the first 11 months of this year, the cumulative production and sales of domestic automobiles were 22.372 million and 22.47 million, respectively, down 3% and 2.9% year-on-year. The sales volume of new energy vehicles was 1.109 million, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.

China’s domestic auto market is expected to sell 25 million vehicles this year, according to Fu Bingfeng, executive vice president and Secretary-General of the China Automobile Association.

Nio’s vehicle deliveries increased by over 154% in Q3 2020

China’s automobile sales up 13% in Sep 2020; NEV up 68%, Tesla among top 3

China’s automobile sales volume in September reached 2.655 million, up 12.8% year-on-year, and the cumulative sales volume from January to September was 17.116 million, down 6.9% year-on-year, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The total number of automobiles manufactured in September was 2.524 million units, up 14.1% YoY. And, the total in the first nine months of 2020 reached 16.96 million, down 6.7% YoY.

In September, 138,000 new energy vehicles were sold, up 67.7% year on year, according to CAAM. The top 3 are:

1. GMAC Wuling 24,386
2. BYD 19,048
3. Tesla China: 11,329

July 2020

In July 2020, the production and sales of automobiles in China were 2.201 million and 2.12 million, respectively, up 21.9% and 16.4% year-on-year, according to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

12.314 million and 12.365 million vehicles were produced and sold in China in the first seven months of 2020, respectively, down 11.8% and 12.7% year-on-year.

Passenger cars

In July, the production and sales of passenger cars were 1.729 million and 1.665 million, respectively, up 13.2% and 8.5% year-on-year.

In terms of vehicle types, the production and sales of sedans were 810,000 and 773,000, respectively, with a year-on-year growth of 7.1% and 4.6%; the production and sales of SUVs were 800,000 and 772,000, with a year-on-year growth of 20.5% and 14%.

The production and sales of MPV were 84,000 and 85,000, of which the production increased by 2.2% and the sales volume decreased by 0.7%; the production and sales of cross-type passenger cars were 35000, with an increase of 36.9% and 8.5% respectively.

Commercial vehicles

In July, the production and sales of commercial vehicles were 472,000 and 447,000, respectively, up 70.3% and 59.4% year-on-year.

In terms of vehicle types, the production and sales of freight cars were 438，000 and 415，000, respectively, with an increase of 86.3% and 71.1% over the same period of last year; the production and sales of passenger coaches were 34000 and 32000, respectively, down 19% and 15.1% year-on-year.

New energy vehicles

In July, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were 100,000 and 98,000 respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 15.6% and 19.3% respectively, the first increase since this year.

In terms of vehicle types, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles were 79,000 and 78,000, respectively, with a year-on-year increase of 17.9% and 24.2%; the production and sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were 210,00 and 190,00, respectively, with a year-on-year growth of 7.8% and 2.7%.

Export

In July, 62,000 vehicles were exported, a year-on-year decrease of 23.1%. In terms of vehicle types, 45,000 passenger cars were exported, a year-on-year decrease of 25.9%; and 18,000 commercial vehicles were exported, a year-on-year decrease of 14.9%.

China Auto Sales in H1 2020

China’s auto sales surged by 11.6% year on year in June to 2.3 million units, driven by rising demand for trucks and other vehicles, improved consumption market, and stimulative policy, according to data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Auto sales and productions both hit a record high.

During the first half of 2020, the decline of China’s auto sales and productions continued to narrow, with 102.6 million units being sold and 101.1 million being produced, down 16.9 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively.

Sales of commercial vehicles, which account for around a quarter of the overall market, increased by 63.1%. Truck sales stood out thanks to the rapid recovery of work and resumption amid COVID-19, especially the resumption of major infrastructure projects.

The increase in overall sales in China in June follows a rise of 14.5% in May and 4.4% in April, before which sales had languished in a nearly two-year slump. Sales of commercial vehicles went up by 48% in May and 32% in April.

Automakers such as Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, Great Wall Motor, Tesla Inc and Ford Motor Co reported sales growth in China in June.

However, sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) fell for the 12th straight month, to 104,000 units. NEVs include battery-powered electric, plug-in petrol-electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.

Despite recent signs of improvement, China’s auto sales are expected to fall by 10-20 percent in 2020 as a whole due to their earlier collapse, from over 25 million units sold in 2019, CAAM said last month.

China Auto Sales in May 2020

China’s automobile sales reached 2.194 million units in May 2020, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

In May 2020, the production and sales of automobiles were 2.187 million and 2.194 million respectively, up 4% and 5.9% on a month on month basis, up 18.2% and 14.5% on a year-on-year basis, up 15.9 and 10.1 percentage points on a month on month basis according to CAAM.

China’s new energy vehicle production in May was 84,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 25.8%; China’s new energy vehicle sales in May was 82,000, a year-on-year decrease of 23.5%.

As of June 11, a total of 204 production bases of 23 vehicle enterprises have returned to work.

Tesla sold 11,095 Shanghai-made Model 3 vehicles in China in May, more than triple the volume seen in April, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The China-made Tesla Model 3 powered by lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries has appeared in a catalog issued by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on May 15, according to CAAM.

Although the information was deleted afterwards, it still triggered speculation within the industry that the locally-produced model will be priced lower by using the cheaper batteries.

With a curb weight of 1,745kg, the new model is as heavy as the China-built Model 3’s Long-range RWD version that carries a ternary-lithium battery pack. Thus, if the data was confirmed later, the newly-exposed one might be an upgraded variant of the Standard Range as LiFePO4 battery is outperformed by the ternary-lithium battery in density.

Reuters reported on May 14 that Tesla plans to introduce a new low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China later this year or early next, expecting to bring the cost of EVs in line with gasoline models, and allow EV batteries to have second and third lives in the electric power grid.

The new battery, which is purportedly designed to last for a million miles of use, is said to be co-developed with CATL.

Other May updates: retail sales, smartphone shipment, express delivery