Leading Chinese bus manufacturer, limit up

Ask AI · Yutong Bus’s net profit surges—how will overseas markets become the key engine?

By Tairo

On March 31, Yutong Bus capped the stock and hit the daily limit. Stocks in the auto policy sector, such as Zhongtong Bus, King Long Motor, and Sunrise Shares, also showed strong performance.

On March 30, Yutong Bus released its 2025 annual report. In 2025, Yutong Bus achieved operating revenue of CNY 41.43B, up 11.31% year over year; net profit attributable to shareholders was CNY 5.55B, up 34.94% year over year.

In its annual report, Yutong Bus stated that in 2025, domestic demand in China’s bus market increased slightly year over year; demand in overseas segments such as buses, tourism, and passenger transport continued to grow steadily; and exports of new-energy vehicles increased steadily. In 2025, Yutong sold 49,518 buses, up 5.54% year over year. For overseas exports, Yutong Bus delivered 17,149 units in 2025.

As an industry leader, when looking back at Yutong Bus’s performance over the years, 2016 was a turning point, after which its results entered a bottleneck period. Especially in 2020, net profit fell as much as 73.43% to CNY 516 million.

Entering 2023, Yutong Bus achieved net profit of CNY 1.82B, up 139.36% year over year—an increase that nearly matched the scale of 2019. In the first quarter of 2024, momentum continued strongly: revenue reached CNY 6.62B, up 85.01% year over year; net profit surged to CNY 657 million, up more than 440% year over year. The growth rate ranked first among the six listed passenger bus companies.

For a traditional passenger-bus leader like Yutong Bus, its performance in recent years could be described as “explosive,” which also translated into a huge jump in its stock price. Its market capitalization has also widened the gap versus peers. Currently, Yutong Bus’s market cap is close to CNY 80 billion, while the market caps of other listed passenger bus companies are still below CNY 35k each.

From the perspective of market share, according to China Bus Statistics Information Network, in 2023 Yutong Bus held a 36% share in the large and medium passenger bus market, firmly in the absolute leading position. After these two years of market-cap changes, the industry pattern of “one super leader and many strong players” has already taken shape.

And a major contributor to Yutong’s performance is, in addition, the overseas market.

The overseas market therefore makes it impossible not to mention new-energy passenger buses. In the industry-wide wave of new-energy vehicle transformation, new-energy passenger buses are also an emerging force driving growth.

However, unlike the new-energy transition for passenger cars at home, domestic new-energy passenger buses are mainly focused on urban public transit. Previously, due to government subsidy policies, demand for new-energy buses was released early. As subsidies were reduced, demand for new-energy passenger buses also began to slow.

According to statistics by Guosheng Securities, in 2016 sales volume of new-energy urban passenger buses exceeded 100k units, but by 2023 it had shrunk to only 35k units. Therefore, the appeal of new-energy passenger buses is still concentrated in overseas markets.

The overseas market for new-energy passenger buses remains a blue ocean. According to Guosheng Securities, overseas new-energy passenger bus sales rose from 0.1 million units in 2017 to 1k units in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of about 63% during the period. Penetration rose rapidly from less than 2% to above 10% in 2023, and room for further improvement in the future remains substantial.

In the overseas market for new-energy passenger buses, Europe is the largest region. This is mainly attributable to the rapid development of local new-energy technologies, environmental regulation, and support for the new-energy industry. Between 2020 and 2023, Europe’s new-energy passenger bus sales recorded a compound annual growth rate of 39%.

Meanwhile, domestic automakers, based on advantages in the new-energy vehicle supply chain, relatively short delivery cycles, and higher product quality, have been in a “dominant” position globally. In 2022, China’s production and sales share of new-energy passenger buses already exceeded 95% of the global total.

For the large “cake” of Europe’s new-energy passenger bus market, automakers are also accelerating their efforts to capture it. Among them, BYD is the leader. According to Sustainable BUS data, BYD’s market share was 13% in 2023, down somewhat from 2022. Yutong’s market share was 8%, ranking second. Zhongtong Bus ranked third with a 4% share. At the same time, the shares of overseas automakers have increased.

Within the overall overseas market share, Yutong Bus performs particularly well in the large and medium-sized passenger bus segment. According to Guosheng Securities research, in January to May 2024, Yutong’s export volume was 19k units, with a market share of 28.6%, ranking first and already surpassing the King Long group. In the same period, Yutong’s market share in exports of new-energy passenger buses reached 24.3%. Compared with 12.4% in 2023, the increase was nearly double, and the gap versus the King Long group’s 25.9% share narrowed further. Catching up is only a matter of time.

The reason Yutong Bus has been able to form such a large advantage in overseas expansion is inseparable from years of deep cultivation in its sales model, channels, and localized operating and after-sales service systems.

On one hand, Yutong Bus has a first-mover advantage in overseas layout. As early as 2002, it achieved its first passenger bus exports. In terms of the sales model, it uses a “direct sales + dealership” approach. With a diversified channel layout through more than 60 subsidiaries, dealers, and direct sales teams, it covers six major regional markets, including CIS countries, Asia-Pacific, and Europe.

At the same time, Yutong adopts a localized cooperation model in which it implements KD (knock-down) assembly partnerships with more than a dozen countries and regions, such as Kazakhstan and Pakistan. Compared with building factories overseas directly, this results in less cost pressure.

From the perspective of cost reduction and efficiency improvement, Yutong Bus’s “super-latecomer” position in the industry still cannot be shaken.

Under industry trends such as going global, high-end upgrades, and the transition to new energy, Yutong has leading advantages. Unlike the situation in which domestic markets previously dominated performance, the overseas market has now opened up new possibilities, while also providing support for the company’s valuation.

Due to the huge growth expectations in overseas markets, as a super leader, Yutong—under the effect of top-tier brand branding—will make the industry pattern of “one super leader and many strong players” even more prominent in the future.

Disclaimer

This article involves information related to listed companies. The analysis and judgments it contains are the author’s personal views based on information disclosed by listed companies in accordance with their legally defined disclosure obligations (including but not limited to interim announcements, periodic reports, and official interaction platforms, etc.). The information or opinions in the article do not constitute any investment advice or other commercial recommendations. Market capitalization observations assume no responsibility for any actions taken as a result of adopting this article.

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