On August 11, Dongfeng Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (Dongfeng Group) announced a temporary suspension of its stock trading, with the company expecting a maximum 95% decrease in net profit for the first half of this year.
In the announcement on August 11, the Dongfeng Group stated, “The company’s shares were temporarily suspended at 9:00 a.m. on August 11, 2025, awaiting the publication of a notice containing insider information of the company.”
There has been speculation in the market about the reasons behind the suspension, with rumors circulating about the group possibly having “A+H dual listings,” “Lantu spin-off IPO,” and “joint venture reforms.” In response to inquiries from media outlets, Dongfeng Group stated, “Please refer to the official announcement.”
In a profit warning released by the group on August 8, it was projected that the net profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of 2025 would range from 30 million to 70 million yuan, representing a decrease of approximately 90% to 95% compared to the same period in 2024.
The reasons cited for the sharp decline in net profit include the continued downturn in the joint venture non-luxury brand market, leading to a significant decrease in sales volume and profit in the joint venture passenger car business. Additionally, the company has increased investments in the research and development, brand building, channel development, and marketing in its independent business area to cope with intense market competition.
From a sales perspective, in the period from January to July of this year, Dongfeng Group’s cumulative automobile sales totaled 978,500 units, showing a year-on-year decrease of around 8.9%. The joint venture brands under the Dongfeng Group have seen more noticeable declines in recent years. From January to July of this year, Dongfeng Nissan (including Dongfeng Infiniti and Venucia) sold a total of 306,400 units, down by 16.8% year-on-year; Dongfeng Honda, another joint venture brand, sold 173,400 units, a decrease of 31.2% year-on-year; and Shenlong Motors sold 30,400 units, down by 29.2% year-on-year.
The media outlet “Daily Economic News” believes that the significant drop in sales of joint venture brand passenger cars within Dongfeng Group is mainly due to the slow pace of electrification and intelligence transformation. The electric products introduced earlier were largely based on “oil-to-electric” conversions, failing to meet the rapidly changing market demands in China.
Public records show that Dongfeng Motor Corporation, also known as Dongfeng Motor or China Second Automobile, formerly Dongfeng Motor Company, was established in 1969, and its headquarters is located in Wuhan. It is a huge state-owned automobile enterprise directly managed by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, with its business focusing on car manufacturing, including research and development, component and equipment production, automobile finance, sales, and mobility services.
In September 2002, Dongfeng established Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. with Nissan, and in July 2003, Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. officially started operations. In the same month, Dongfeng partnered with Honda to establish Dongfeng Honda Automobile (Wuhan) Co., Ltd., which was later renamed Dongfeng Automobile Group Co., Ltd. in 2017.
As of August 12, 2025, at 16:00:00 Beijing time, Dongfeng Group’s stock price was reported at 5.970 Hong Kong dollars per share.