From the strategic layout of "Breaking Boundaries," a deep insight into Autohome's value enhancement

With China’s auto industry entering a new phase defined by electrification, direct-to-channel operations, and intensifying competition among existing players, users no longer stop at simply looking up information. Instead, they seek end-to-end one-stop services across the entire journey—browse, choose, buy, use, and trade in. For the auto internet service platform, entering a profound transformation period is already an inevitable path.

On the evening of March 5, China’s leading auto internet service platform, Autohome (ATHM.US,02518), officially disclosed its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025 and the full year. This undoubtedly provides the outside world with an excellent window to observe how a top player in online auto services can carry out strategic transformation during a period of industry change.

According to the financial report, the company’s total revenue in the fourth quarter was RMB 1.46 billion. Autohome’s adjusted net profit attributable to the company was RMB 304 million. In terms of full-year performance, for 2025 the company’s total revenue was RMB 6.45 billion, and the adjusted net profit attributable to Autohome was RMB 1.61 billion.

Although this financial report does not show a strong growth trend, the bold innovation and deployment throughout the past year is absolutely the best time to test Autohome’s strategic results.

In response, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of the company, Liu Chi, said: “2025 is the first year for Autohome’s transformation from an auto information platform into a one-stop auto ecosystem services platform. Facing profound changes in the auto industry, the company focuses on two core initiatives: in the content layer, it will continuously strengthen high-quality content development, improve the ecosystem for creators, and enhance new media communication capabilities; in the service layer, it will accelerate the building of an online-and-offline (300959) integrated service system, to create a more efficient, more convenient, end-to-end auto ecosystem service experience for users and industry partners. During the transformation process, AI is used as the engine to comprehensively empower product innovation and operational optimization.”

As can be seen, at a time when the auto consumer market is entering a period of profound change, Autohome is not passively defending. Instead, through firmly executed strategic steps, it continuously strengthens its platform’s comprehensive service capabilities by using content as its foundation, new energy as its growth engine, AI digitalization as the core driving force, and used cars as its differentiated competitive strength. This will also lay important groundwork for the company’s future revenue growth.

Quality content drives transactions, strengthening the bedrock of traffic and trust

In the auto internet services industry, high-quality content is like a precise “magnet” that gathers users with real intent to buy onto the platform. For Autohome, which stands on content, continuously optimizing content development remains a key area for the company to build professional trust into a moat, enhance user retention and growth, and create long-term barriers.

Looking through the financial report, in 2025 Autohome optimized its content development from multiple dimensions by innovating content coverage, strengthening the creator ecosystem, and expanding the boundaries of its content ecosystem, thereby achieving “high DAU” and “high stickiness” for platform data and consolidating the company’s ecosystem traffic foundation.

Specifically, in terms of innovation in content coverage, at the November 2025 Guangzhou International Auto Show, the company innovatively integrated auto-show coverage with a creator conference. Centered on the theme of “useful auto-show coverage,” it created an ultra-long immersive livestream lasting 2 days and 23 hours, while also covering six major mainstream new media platforms for efficient multi-dimensional, scenario-based content distribution. In deepening the creator ecosystem, the company launched in the fourth quarter a one-stop auto industry content marketing platform called “Zhijia Wanxiang.” By focusing on five vertical fields—industry experts, technology, motorsport, outdoors, and overseas—it further broadened the company’s ecosystem service boundaries and attracted more than 2,500 high-quality new media creators from Autohome and across the entire web to join.

Numbers are the best test of truth. As the company continuously optimized content development, this arrangement also brought strong positive feedback effects.

According to QuestMobile data, in December 2025 Autohome’s average daily users on mobile reached 77.51 million, remaining stable year over year, further confirming the strong appeal of the platform’s high-quality content ecosystem. At the same time, the company’s “Zhijia Media MCN” continued to expand, having already assembled more than 500 high-quality creators across different fields. The scale of full-domain user reach on the new media side successfully surpassed 100 million, and scale effects also became evident in new media communication.

Based on the operational metrics above, a mobile average daily user count of 77.51 million and a new media full-domain reach scale surpassing 100 million are not only traffic. They are “living water” that enables downstream businesses such as marketplace transactions and financial services to run. As the company continuously deepens its “moat” of quality content, this will undoubtedly have positive effects on the company’s revenue and monetization, achieving the outcome of “the better the content, the more money it makes.”

Building an O2O new retail model—the second growth curve gradually takes shape

In December 2025, China’s retail and wholesale penetration rates for new energy passenger vehicles were 62.2% and 64.3%, respectively, officially entering the “60% era.” As new energy fully penetrates, auto channel models are also beginning to be rebuilt—from “offline as the primary mode” to “online-and-offline deep integration.” Against this backdrop, Autohome is accelerating efforts to drive online-and-offline deep integration, using an O2O new retail model to break the traditional auto consumption model—clearly a forward-looking move.

From the company’s strategic actions, Autohome’s push to break through with an O2O new retail model is mainly reflected in its deployment in the new energy business.

In the new energy space, Autohome initially explored a new retail model integrating online and offline, using its marketplace business as a pivot. After starting trial operations in late September 2025, Autohome’s marketplace was officially launched in the fourth quarter.

Specifically, on the online side, Autohome further integrated industry resources, connected vehicle source information flows, and optimized the user experience for choosing a car. On the offline side, the company focused on filling加盟 networks in blank areas in lower-tier cities, precisely covering channel blind spots of mainstream new energy OEMs. In addition, scenario-based operations for offline events also became an important touchpoint for O2O integration. In 2025, Autohome rolled out more than 5,000 offline auto shows and group-buy events nationwide. On that basis, it also proactively cross-linked youth-culture IPs such as esports and music festivals, extending the car-buying chain of “see, choose, test, and buy” to immersive experience spaces.

In its used car business deployment, Autohome’s differentiated competitive moat is also gradually forming. The company builds one-stop end-to-end service across two major scenarios: buying used cars and selling used cars. From AI price appraisal, on-site inspections, and selling cars at high prices across multiple channels, to large volumes of real vehicle sources, multi-dimensional strict selection and inspection, and fully transparent vehicle condition and pricing. It is also supported by low-interest finance, insurance, extended warranties, and after-sales protection, and offers end-to-end assistance with transferring ownership, filing for title, registering plates, and delivering vehicles to buyers’ doors. This creates a used-car transaction experience that is convenient, reassuring, efficient, and protected for both buyers and sellers.

With such a strategic layout, Autohome’s “second growth curve” is also gradually taking shape, becoming a new growth engine for the company.

AI technology empowers—deepening a differentiated competitive moat

Over the past one or two years, as artificial intelligence technology has accelerated its penetration into application scenarios across industries, “AI as a new form of productive force” has become a shared understanding across sectors. However, how to leverage AI technology to empower business processes and drive major leaps in operational efficiency, decision-making efficiency, and service efficiency is also an important issue that companies need to discuss.

On this topic, Autohome’s answer is—embrace the AI transformation comprehensively and actively promote the deep integration of technical capabilities with business scenarios.

On the one hand, Autohome uses AI digitalization as the core driving force to rebuild the entire end-to-end chain. Specifically, during the reporting period, Autohome successively launched its self-developed “Cangjie” large model and the Tian Shu intelligent platform, integrating DeepSeek and vertical data; it launched AI marketing brain and AI customer acquisition tools such as “Xuanqi Qianxian,” “Xiansuo Dashi,” “Xiaoguan Shenqi,” and “Chache Zhuanjia,” along with other AI data-and-digital products covering the entire end-to-end chain of marketing, sales, and evaluation. In addition, during the period, the company also rolled out user-side AI tools such as an AI intelligent assistant, an AI buyer agent, an AI vehicle-checking expert, and AI intelligent live-streaming staging, helping the company achieve an efficiency leap from multiple dimensions.

On the other hand, Autohome also uses AI technology to advance the construction of a standardized services system for used cars. For example, on the vehicle-source side, Autohome uses the “AI vehicle-checking expert” to address information asymmetry, making “non-standard” vehicle conditions transparent and standardizing value. It also works with nine authoritative inspection institutions to establish a strict vehicle-source certification alliance, pushing the used-car transaction environment toward greater standardization and transparency.

结合最新数据来看，年内，公司已完成全产品线AI化升级，实现用户体验与产业服务能力的同步跃升。截至目前，升级后的数字化产品已成功服务超过50家主流汽车品牌，为汽车产业的数字化转型与智能化升级注入新动能。

Summary

As everyone knows, the capital market looks at quarterly reports, but ecosystem building delivers the “once-in-a-century answer sheet.” Trading short-term “deceleration” for long-term “ownership of the right to define the track”—this is what the “strategic value” account is. And Autohome’s “reshaping the auto ecosystem with AI and offline stores” is, in essence, a strategic choice of “using today’s net profits to secure tomorrow’s industry definition power.”

In the short term, by vigorously building the four key initiatives of content, new energy, AI, and used cars, Autohome’s profit scale may be affected to some extent. But in the long term, Autohome, through upfront investment to seize the right to define the industry, realizes the critical leap from an information media outlet to an ecosystem platform. The long-term value brought by this strategic layout is self-evident.

Looking ahead, as Autohome’s growth momentum continues to be released, the company may see a two-way leap in both performance and valuation.