(Yicai) May 21 -- Earnings at Chinese carmakers are still under strain, with five of the 12 leading producers reporting lower profits for the first quarter and three posting deeper losses.

Leapmotor Technology had the sharpest widening in its net loss, tripling it to CNY390 million (USD53 million) in the three months ended March 31 from a year earlier. Net losses at BAIC Group and JAC Motors widened 189 percent to CNY830 million and 172 percent to CNY606 million, respectively.

Of the profitable carmakers, Changan Automobile saw its net profit fall the most, down 74 percent to CNY351 million. Net profit at BYD slid 55 percent to CNY4.1 billion (USD612.5 million), while that of Great Wall Motor shrank 46 percent to CNY945 million, and those of Geely Automobile and Chery Automobile fell 27 percent and 10 percent, respectively, to CNY4.2 billion each.

Four carmakers -- Seres Group, SAIC Motor, GAC Group, and BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology -- reported higher net profits or smaller net losses. But profit growth at Seres and SAIC was less than 1 percent, while GAC and BAIC BluePark only made modest progress in reducing losses, pointing to a fragile and uneven sector recovery.

Even with profitability under pressure, nine of the 12 automakers continued to ramp up investment in research and development.

Quarterly revenue across the industry dipped 0.2 percent to CNY2.41 trillion (USD354.6 billion), while costs rose 0.7 percent to CNY2.14 trillion, said Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association. Profit tumbled 18 percent to CNY78.4 billion (USD11.5 billion), with a profit margin of just 3.2 percent.

The industry has not shown any signs of a recovery so far this quarter. Retail passenger car sales sank 16 percent to 1.4 million units last month from a year ago, and in the first 17 days of this month, they plunged 23 percent year on year to about 680,000, according to CPCA data.

Profit strains in the auto sector are not unique to China. Volkswagen Group's net profit plunged 30 percent in the period, while that at Mercedes-Benz and BMW skidded 17 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

Seven major Japanese automakers, including Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, and Nissan Motor, are expected to report a combined net profit of JPY3.9 trillion (USD24.5 billion) for the fiscal year 2026, down about 48 percent from a record JPY7.54 trillion in fiscal 2023, according to the Nikkei Asian Review.

Editor: Futura Costaglione