1、ab24 July 2025Global ResearchFirst ReadChina Premium Auto DealersOur thoughts on recent share price rally Recent share price rally of dealersZhongsheng and Yongdas share price has rallied around 20%/5%over the past five days.We mainly attribute the share price rally to:1)market expectations on deale

2、rs new car margin improvement amid Chinas anti-irrational competition campaign,which might lead to retail price improvement;2)several dealer store closure news flow may have led to market speculation on sector consolidation;3)general H-share sentiment improvement has led investors to seek stocks tha

3、t fall to low P/B levels(both Zhongsheng and Yongda trade at below 0.7x 2025E P/B).Impact of Chinas anti-irrational competition campaignThere has been some communication from the central government calling for refraining from race-to-the-bottom price competition since late June.On 18 July,Tao Qing,a

4、n official with the industry ministry,said that China will issue action plans to stabilise growth in several sectors,including auto.Since 2023,auto dealers new car margin has been significantly weighed by expanding retail discounts due to price competition.With the anti-irrational competition campai

5、gn and OEMs consolidation of their dealer network,we think it is possible to see near-term cessation of the price war and benefit dealers new car margins.As dealers earnings are more sensitive to the new car margin than sales volume,we could see a meaningful boost to net profit for Zhongsheng and Yo

6、ngda if the anti-irrational competition campaign turns out to be effective.Demand remain in questionTraditional premium car sales volume in China declined 14%YoY in H125,among which Mercedes and BMW was down 14%and 18%respectively.In H125,Chinese brands share at China PV market reached 69%with 25%vo