Carmakers aren't making money, but lidar sellers are

Carmakers under pressure

China's electric-vehicle makers are feeling the squeeze. Heavy discounting and rising costs have eaten into margins at market leaders such as Nio (蔚来), Xpeng (小鹏汽车) and Li Auto (理想汽车). It has been reported that some manufacturers are selling cars at or near breakeven to sustain volume and market share, leaving profitability elusive even as deliveries grow. Short-term revenue growth is not translating into profit on many models; the question for Western readers is simple — can these firms sustain loss-making promotion cycles until the market matures?

Lidar firms cashing in

Meanwhile, vendors of lidar sensors have seen a very different trajectory. Suppliers such as Hesai Technology (禾赛科技) and RoboSense (速腾聚创), alongside Western players like Luminar, have benefited from automakers’ and Tier‑1s’ push to add advanced driver‑assistance and autonomous features. Reportedly, lidar order books and ASPs (average selling prices) have held up better than expected, and investors have poured money into the space. The result: component makers are enjoying healthier margins even as the vehicle OEMs they sell to struggle financially.

Geopolitics and outlook

The divergence is partly structural and partly geopolitical. Export controls on advanced semiconductors and a global scramble to localize critical sensors have reshaped supplier relationships, and China’s industrial policy encourages domestic sourcing of lidar and perception hardware. But will the arbitrage last? As lidar volume ramps up, commoditization and price competition could compress margins; automakers may also push back on suppliers once sales stabilize. For now, though, the industry looks like two storylines in parallel — cash‑squeezed carmakers on one side, and profitable sensor vendors riding a wave of automation-driven demand on the other.