Now in the fourth year of the price war, most automakers' Q3 reports are still talking about trading price for volume—but Geely has added a footnote for "high-quality growth."

In the first three quarters, Geely Automobile sold 2.235 million vehicles, up only 3% year-on-year. Yet revenue reached 272.6 billion yuan, up 13%, and core net profit attributable to shareholders—excluding one-off items—hit 14.9 billion yuan, up 41%. Volume, revenue and profit: each curve is steeper than the last. The third quarter was even more striking—sales of 813,000 vehicles, up 14% quarter-on-quarter, and core net profit of 5.21 billion yuan, a record high for a single quarter.

Putting these three sets of numbers together makes for an interesting picture: the company sold barely more cars, yet earned 40% more money. Where did the difference come from? First, each vehicle sold for a higher price. Second, among the vehicles sold, the overseas share is growing heavier and heavier.

Start with vehicle prices. In the first three quarters, Geely's average revenue per vehicle was 112,000 yuan, up 12% year-on-year. The increase was mainly driven by Zeekr—the brand accounted for only 12.9% of total sales but 31.3% of revenue, 13.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year. With one-eighth of the sales volume, it brought in nearly one-third of the revenue. In the third quarter, Zeekr delivered 110,000 vehicles, with more than 37,000 in September alone, completing 96% of its full-year target of 300,000. The 500,000-yuan-class Zeekr 9X maintained monthly sales above 7,000 units, ranking first in domestic sales among models priced above 500,000 yuan from January to September.

The volume-driving task was left to other brands. Galaxy sold more than 130,000 vehicles in September alone, entering the first tier of NEV brands. Lynk & Co sold more than 18,000 in September, continuing to stabilize quarter-on-quarter since August. China Star exceeded 100,000 in September, firmly holding the fuel vehicle sales champion position. In the third quarter, NEVs accounted for 64.9% of Geely's sales, and 59.3% in the first three quarters.

The quality of the books is improving too. In the first three quarters, gross margin was 18.0%, up 1.5 percentage points year-on-year; core net profit per vehicle was 6,664 yuan, up 37% year-on-year; the administrative expense ratio and selling expense ratio each fell 0.1 percentage point year-on-year. In August, An Conghui took over as chairman of the board of Geely Automobile, and the sales head office was established at the same time; organizational integration is still continuing.

Now look at overseas expansion. This is the item with the largest increase in the Q3 report: exports in the third quarter were 323,000 vehicles, up 189% year-on-year, accounting for about 40% of total sales in the quarter; cumulative exports in the first three quarters were 798,000 vehicles, up 169% year-on-year, of which NEV exports were 484,000 vehicles, up 531% year-on-year. Overseas sales have stood above 100,000 units per month for four consecutive months.

What went abroad along with sales was also production capacity and channels. In the first three quarters, Geely put 13 overseas plants into operation, with overseas capacity exceeding 840,000 vehicles; it acquired part of Ford's Spanish plant equity, models from its joint venture with Renault rolled off the line in Brazil, and Volvo became Lynk & Co's exclusive dealer in Europe. The European channel is planned to reach 1,000 stores by the end of the year, and the joint venture plant with Ford will start production in the second half of next year. In the fuel vehicle segment, China Star is advancing full HEV conversion, and the i-HEV model with measured fuel consumption of 2.22L accumulated nearly 60,000 units in sales in the first three quarters.

The company's full-year export target is 920,000 vehicles, with about 122,000 still needed in the fourth quarter. At the third-quarter pace of an average of 108,000 vehicles per month, this target is within reach—but not comfortably so. In the fourth quarter, the Galaxy M8, Lynk & Co 900L and the overseas version of Zeekr 9X will be launched successively, and the full-year delivery situation will need to be verified by year-end data.

Frankly speaking, this scorecard is quite competitive in the current auto market. Sales rose only 3%, but profit increased by 40%—not by cutting prices to push volume, but by selling cars at higher prices and selling them abroad. After the price war has gone on until now, most automakers are still trading profit for sales, while Geely has already balanced the accounts one step ahead. Galaxy's per-vehicle contribution still lags behind Zeekr's, but the direction is right: volume is shifting overseas, and money is coming back from Zeekr. If this curve can continue through the end of the year, the full year will not just be a good-looking quarterly report, but a signal that the growth logic has completed its shift.