Cui Dongshu: Tesla's market value exceeds 10 trillion, with a price-to-earnings ratio as high as 200 times, while traditional international automakers have relatively low valuations

According to Zhitong Finance APP, on October 5th, Cui Dongshu stated that the market capitalization of automobile manufacturers is not only the pricing of the company's current operating results by the capital market but also a "barometer" reflecting the trends, technological changes, and policy directions in the automotive industry. Many automobile manufacturers regard market capitalization management as an important task, so tracking changes in market capitalization is also an important area of industry research. The changes in market capitalization for September continue to reflect the core growth momentum driven by new energy, but the improvement in market capitalization brought about by stable fuel vehicle companies is also a positive trend. There is a differentiation in market capitalization among international car companies, with most international companies in the US stock market performing relatively average, while domestic companies in the Hong Kong stock market perform excellently.

1. Market Capitalization of Automobile Stocks

The listed companies in the automobile sector are mainly studied in the three major markets: the US stock market, the Hong Kong stock market, and the domestic A-share market. The European market is relatively dispersed and is not currently under study. Among the world’s automobile companies, the US stock market has the largest scale, reaching a market capitalization of 14.8 trillion yuan by September 2025, while the Hong Kong stock market has also reached a scale of 3 trillion yuan, and the domestic A-share market has reached 840 billion yuan. Here, we focus on the market capitalization of companies listed in both A-shares and Hong Kong stocks based on their primary listing location, as A-shares are relatively simpler.

From the trends in market capitalization of automobile companies in A-shares, Hong Kong stocks, and US stocks, the market capitalization trend in Hong Kong stocks has shown relatively strong performance this year. Compared to the market capitalization trends in the US stock market, the listing trend in Hong Kong stocks is quite evident, with the total market capitalization of automobile companies in Hong Kong stocks increasing from 1 trillion yuan in January 2024 to 2.97 trillion yuan by September 2025, indicating a significant growth characteristic in market capitalization, influenced by both new stock listings and the appreciation of stock market value.

In contrast, the overall market capitalization in the domestic A-share market has grown relatively steadily from 580 billion yuan in January 2023 to 840 billion yuan by September 2025. The US stock market has seen a significant increase from 8.7 trillion yuan to 14.8 trillion yuan.

2. Changes in Market Capitalization of Major Stocks in September

Among international automobile companies, Tesla has reached a market capitalization of 1 trillion yuan, showing relatively strong performance, thus listed separately. In 2025, Tesla's year-on-year growth rate is relatively large, while the market capitalization of Seres and Nio has also seen significant increases compared to September of last year. Recently, the market capitalization of Dongfeng Group, represented by Voyah, has also achieved substantial growth 3 , Market Capitalization Performance of Various Vehicle Stocks

In September, the market capitalization changes of automotive companies were relatively large. Compared to August, Tesla and large groups performed strongly, with the increase in market capitalization for large groups mainly due to the incremental effect brought by Chery's listing. New forces performed relatively well in September.

4 , Month-on-Month Changes in Market Capitalization of Automotive Companies in September Compared to August

In September, the stock market capitalization grew well compared to August, with Tesla increasing by 33%, while Seres and Nio also performed relatively strongly. The companies that saw significant declines were mainly those focused on traditional vehicles, while the performance of some new energy vehicle markets was also relatively differentiated. Compared to 2021, it is mainly the new energy vehicle companies that achieved strong growth.

Here, Xiaomi and Seres are placed in the same category as BYD among private enterprises, mainly because their scale is too large, and they are actually industry competitors with Great Wall, Geely, BYD, etc., and should be said to have some relative industrial competitive advantages.

5 , Analysis of Market Capitalization and Operational Status of Listed Vehicle Companies

From the perspective of comprehensive price-to-earnings ratio and price-to-book ratio, it can be said that the price-to-earnings ratios of new force companies like Tesla are relatively high. Especially with Tesla's scale of 1 trillion yuan, the price-to-earnings ratio reaches 200 times, while companies like Leapmotor (09863) and Voyah also have relatively high price-to-earnings ratios.

The companies with lower price-to-earnings ratios are mainly slow-growing international companies, represented by Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, all at a price-to-earnings ratio level of 6-8 times. In addition, domestic traditional vehicle companies performed relatively well, with companies like Chery and Geely at a price-to-earnings ratio level of 8-9 times.

From the perspective of price-to-book ratio, some companies' price-to-book ratios have also dropped significantly, with Stellantis having a price-to-book ratio of only 0.3, and Honda at a price-to-book ratio of only 0.5. General Motors and Ford also have price-to-book ratios around 1. Therefore, overall, it can be said that the valuations of traditional international car companies are relatively low, while the valuations of new force companies and international companies like Tesla (TSLA.US) are favored by investors