Dear online investors, good morning, good afternoon or good evening. My name is Rainy, a response person for the Investment Relations in JD Auto. Because of this pandemic, we have to meet online again to give you a report on our interim results the first half of twenty twenty one, we're about as the senior management of the company. They are the CEO of JD Holding Group And the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of JD Auto Holding Company, Mr. Daniel Lee, The Chairman of Geely Auto Group and CEO of Zika and Managing Director of Geely Auto Holdings, Mr.
Anzhong Hui And CEO of JD Holdings, Mr. Kanjia Yue and CFO of JD Auto Holdings. We also have with us Mr. Kuei Shen Yue, the Managing Director of JD Auto Holding Corporation Limited Mr. Hong Shao Leung, the Managing Director of GD Auto Holding Corporation Limited.
Well, today's announcement conference is comprised of 3 parts. First of all, we'll give you the disclosure of the interim results in 2021, Then our senior management will deliver presentations and this conference will be run up by Q and A session. Now let's turn back to Mr.
Dear friends, good afternoon. My name is Dai Qing, CFO of JD Auto Group. Now let me introduce to you the interim results of JD Auto Holdings 2021. First of all, the general performance of the first half of twenty twenty one. The profits attributable to shareholders increased by 31 percent to RMB3.022 billion excluding share based payments.
For the first half of this year, the product mix improved with sales volume up by 19% year on year. The strong export sales were recorded By up by 173% year on year. The average selling price including Lincoln Co increased by 10%. The margins improved at about 17.2%, OP at 6.1% with strong financial positions Standing at about RMB19.92 billion with cash, so we have a really strong financial performances. Now let's take a look at the following few figures.
First of all, in terms of the sales volume for the first half of this year, we have achieved 630,200 Sales up by 19%, in which for GD, the figure is 522,400, up by 10% Lincoln Co, 107,900,000 up by 97 percent. In terms of revenue, the first half of this year has seen an operating revenue About RMB45.32 billion, up by 22%, for Lincoln Co, the figure is RMB14.3 RMB2 1,000,000,000 up by 78 percent, the combined operating revenue for GD and Lincoln Co stands at about RMB59.35 RMB2 1,000,000,000 up by 32%. For profitable attributable to shareholders, the figure is RMB3.022 billion up by 31% sorry, this is a profit attributable to shareholders excluding share based payments that's 3,020,000,000 And for PAS, that's RMB2.38 billion, up by 4%. In terms of the regional Distribution of the sales, domestic sales increased by 13%, international sales increased by 173%, for the distribution of car models, Sedan up by 22%, SUV increased by 18%, MPV down by 22%. In terms of brand, Geely up by 8%, Geometry up by 154%, Lincoln Co up by 97%.
For NEVs and Electric Cars or EVs up by 3%. BEV and PHEV increased by 189%. This is the analysis of the sales volume composition. The China Star Series sales up to about 7,200, up by 556 percent. For the average sales revenue or ASP for GD brand that's about RMB 70 RMB 5258 up by 6% Lincoln Co, RMB 127 RMB1406 down by 0.9 percent.
The combined ASP for GDN and Lincoln Co is RMB84, Up by 10%, the Zika brand average order price is about RMB 335000. The pre order sales has already started. For GPM or gross profit margin with the soaring cost of raw materials and chips, the GPM for first half of this year is 17.2 percent, up by 0.1 percentage points compared with the first half of year twenty twenty. For EBITDA, the figure is 13.3%, up by 0.7% compared with 12.6% For the same period of last year, for the expense ratio, we have seen continuous investment for R and D Yuan. The R and D expense ratio is 5.1%, up by 0.4 percentage points for other Expenses, that's up by that's down by 0.5%.
The sales expense rate is about 0.2%. This is a clear reflection of the improvement of the efficiency for the operation of the company. For the cash flow, For the ONCF for the first half of this year, that's about RMB4.117 billion for investment, That's minus KRW3.086 billion for free cash flow, KRW1.031 billion. For the financing that's about minus RMB185 1,000,000. And also for foreign exchange, you can also see the figures on the chart.
Now let's take a look at some of the key highlights of the operating results. First of all, we have seen the comprehensive improvement on key financial indicators, sales up by 19%, revenue up by 22%, Profit up by 31% year on year. Profit distribution and the contribution was largely diversified with technology services and the licensing income accounting for about 29% of the total profit. The profit contribution from joint ventures Lincoln Co and Genius AFC up By 62% year on year, in which Lincoln Co up by 144%, Genius AFC net profit up 41% year on year. We have seen prudent cash flow management of RMB19.92 billion.
And also we have fully embraced the Version 4.0 module architectures, existing models covering SEA, CMA, BMA, SPA, the product competitiveness has Significantly improved. At the same time, we have introduced the China Star Series and has well accepted it was well received by the market like the Preface, Flagship SUV Xinyue L and Xinyue S, we also stick to high efficient and high quality development Of our technologies and it accounts for about 29% of the total profit. Also we have set up the Zika JV targeting the high end smart Electrical vehicle market, we have seen really strong momentum for the growth in BEV and PHEV sectors Up by 189 percent and we hope to see more improvement for the latter half of this year. Export recorded higher high growth of year on year growth by about 193% With Lincoln Co covering Western European markets with subscription models, For the JVs, we have also seen really rapid improvement as well. You can see we have seen high growth rate on both sales and profits For Lincoln Co and also the profit increased margin is much larger than that of the sales.
So far we have seen the delivery of more than 556,000 units by July 2021. We have delivered our cars off Lincoln Coast in the Netherlands, In terms of the customers management, we have seen 285 Lincoln Co. Clubs in China And more than 2,500 offline functions were organized. In 2021, WTCR, Lincoln Co Racing ranking number 1 after the 1st 3 rounds. For Genius AFC JV, we have seen continuous and a strong momentum of Growth of profit, standing at about 41% year on year growth.
At the same time, we have seen the establishment of a sound and healthy risk management system with a default rate at a very low level About 0.18 percent, we have also seen the issuance of ABS maintaining adequate capital level. Also, we are ranking number 1 in the retail credit segment of JD Power China Dealer Financing Satisfaction Studies. Next chart is about Zika JV. First of all, this company was established already in the next 3 years. We are going to launch more cars based on SEA configuration.
So more than 2 car models will be launched every year for the next few years. Also, this April 15, we have seen the debut of the first model, Zika 1, Which are shooting break, the 2021 delivery capacity are all sold out. Also the average order price was over RMB335,000 with more than 40% customers choosing the high end versions. Zika is now working actively on the experience centers and some charging facilities. In the future, we are going to work continuously on the 3 electrical equipments, charging facilities and More international R and D center facilities.
Also the Zika A application was launched and debuted Since July 1 this year and so far more than 450,000 fans were signed up in this application. So much for the first half of this year and now let's take a look of what GD has been doing in terms of ESG. We have issued the 1st standalone ESG report, which strengthened our ESG disclosure based on the inputs from various shareholders, both home and abroad. Also we are working actively on the BlueGD action plans. Plan 1 is to launch new products equipped with S2.0 Intelligent Hybrid Powertrain Systems.
Plan number 2 is to launch Zika 1, The first intelligent pure electric vehicle built on SCU structure and architecture, And we actively participated in ESG ratings and enhanced ESG performance continuously. And also we have been upgraded from the pro form a to Chiva this year ranking among top 20 among HSI constituents in the Hong Kong Business Sustainability Index. We received MSCI Yes, ESG BBB rating and review the material ESG issues. So much for ESG. Now let's take a look at the plans for the next half of this year.
First of all, new technologies and new cars. We are going to launch the generation 2 GHS 2.0 technology including HEV and PHEV including Xinyue L and the 4th generation M grant, Lincoln code 9 based upon Spark and Zika 1, so altogether 5 new car models will be launched. Now the last slide is about the outlooks for the second half of this year. We hope to further optimize our product mix To see much higher performances, we are going to increase the sales of China Star Series and the Lincoln Co Series models. Also we are going to sell and launch more high end models.
We are going To further improve the development of BEV sectors and PHEV sales volumes, So these 2 will be the 2 priorities for the last half of this year. The first SEA model, Zika-one delivery starts From early October this year, also we are going to be moving ahead With full momentum with GHS 2.0 Hybrid Technology and this technologies will find its place in all brands. We are also going to work continuously on the promotion of the globalization of Lincoln Co To expand our business in the Western Europe market and executed Lincoln Co Asia Pacific plan and entered the new markets in the Middle East. Also we are quite confident about the future because we have seen strong order demand and new products in the second half, Providing strong support for the sales target of 1,530,000 units, But at the same time, we also bear in mind some uncertainties arising from the COVID-nineteen and the chip shortage. So the annual sales target is still facing challenges to some extent.
So much for the main content of the interim report. Thanks for listening. Thank you.
All right. Thank you, Ron, for your presentation. Now let's invite the management members to deliver a speech. First of all, let's invite Mr. Kuwei.
Mr. Kuwei, the floor is yours. At the same time, we announced that our products will move from version 3.0 to version 4.0. Well, it's fair to say that if you take a look at the absolute number of the business performance in the first half of this year, It is not very satisfying due to the impact from The short supply of chips, COVID-nineteen pandemics as well as the price surge in raw materials. But if you take a look at the momentum of our product performance, especially the eversion 4.0 products, It's fair to say that we're still moving rapidly towards our strategic goals.
What is that? Now let's invite the CEO of Geely Auto Group And the Chairman of Geely Auto Group and CEO of Zika, Mr. Anson Hui, As well as Mr. Li Dong Hui, the CEO of Geely Holding Group to give you presentations on Geely, Lincoln Co and Zika's future strategies. And also I want to invite Mr.
Li Dong Hui to give you the introduction of the general strategy, which is the 715 The strategies, now I would like to give the floor back to Mr. Ganjia Yue.
Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Gui, for your introduction. Dear friends from the Western Circle, good afternoon. My name is Kanjia Yu.
You can call me Agan by Chinese and Jerry by English. This is my first time to attend the interim results report announcement seminar for JD Automotive Holdings Limited and it is my great pleasure to meet with all of you to discuss about the future growth of GD Auto and also through today's Interaction and more to come in the future, we can really deepen our understandings about each other So that we can have a bright future for GD in general, currently the new foreign organizations Have embraced a big era for the auto industrial growth in China in general. For GD, so we are very fortunate Enough to be involved into this great transformation and this is a great opportunity and a fresh opportunity Endowed by the new era, I want to dwell upon a little bit about what happened lately, especially some of the interim results. Early this year, Geely has formulated Two blue action plans centering on new energy development, smart technology and intelligence Based connectivities, the first action is to really strike have a full strike on the intelligence based Energy saving and small dischargment, new electric vehicles including BVs and PHEVs and Range extended PHEVs, the action number 2, action plan number 2 is to work on the high end pure electric vehicles.
So far we have formulated the brand new Zika company, which is a high-tech company to be fully engaged into the market competition in this smart Pure electric vehicle market, so these two plans not only can maintain our advantages and merits For energy conservation and the new energy vehicles, but also work diligently on the future intelligent or smart vehicles development for high end markets. So I want to dwell upon the following few details By centering on the main direction of our strategy, so the first point I want to Share with you is to work on GHS version 2.0, which is a hybrid Strategy, which is also center of your attention. So what on earth is our core competency for our hybrid Technologies to be more exact, 3 key words. 1st of all, highly intelligent secondly, Highly powerful. Thirdly, extreme low oil consumption.
For highly smart or highly intelligent, it is fully compatible with the VOTA and It can change the power mode according to different driving habits, driving intentions and road conditions By providing much better driving experiences for the users, for strong power output, Our hybrid engines With the highest heat efficiency, which is about 43.32 percent coupled with 3 level or 3 gear hybrid Transmission Box, based upon nearly 20 smart or intelligent modules To cater to different scenarios for car use every day, this can really ensure a great power output. So compared with the same category of HEV products of Japanese manufacturers, the acceleration Time is much better by 2 seconds for each 100 kilometers, so we hope to be a benchmark of the industry. For low oil consumption, we can achieve the target as low as 3.6 liter Of oil consumption per 100 kilometers, for SUV, 100 kilometer oil consumption is lower than 4.3 liter, the oil consumption rate Conservation rate is above 40%, which is also above the benchmark of the industry. And the next main point is to work actively on geometry as part of our new energy vehicle development strategy. So this is mainly to target the so called mass production electric vehicle market segment, Especially by launching those highly competitive products with best price performance ratio and also to Be striking the market with a differentiated market position is with that of Zika.
So Geely Really stress a lot about the copiculture since March. I spent much of my time on geometry, So we really depend upon the driving force from the top 20 dealers by enhancing the management expertise for each outlet To attract more high caliber personnel to be involved into the management and sales and marketing of GD cars, So far we can see really rapid and substantial improvement of the sales volumes of geometry, electric vehicles and PHEV models. So the figure for April is over 2,900 units and by June the figure is over 6,000, July figure is over 7,000 Units, in other words, the accumulated growth rate for the 1st 7 months of this year is up 184% year on year, so this is by no means a low figure. On one hand we need to stabilize The so called key account market, on the other hand, we need also work actively on the distribution of the so called pure electric Private car market, for the latter half of this year, we are going to launch the Level A00 electric vehicle markets products To face the mass production segment, hopefully within the short period of time, our new EV sales volume will top 10,000 units per month.
So far we have in our hand over 10,000 Or nearly 15,000 units in our order book, of course you have to bear in mind about the short supply of the chips. So you can see there is a shortage of supply of geometry vehicles and for some dealers they are also running out of stocks. Not long ago, I've been talking a lot with the dealer representatives to see whether we can do something to optimize the Production of new EVs, the 3rd main point is to really develop our GHS version 2.0 technological merits And to launch those new EVs with long durations or range, Based upon GHF 2.0, we are going to further optimize the battery capacity and the PHEV and HEV range We'll be further enhanced to about 100 to 200 kilometers with the battery density up to about 18 KWH to 36 KWH, because you know the current pure electric EV market is what we call a dumbbell State without due growth of the very central part because mainly because of the mileage anxiety, So because of our GD technology expertise, as I said about 100 to 200 kilometers, which can cover hopefully 80% to 90% of the scenarios for use.
By 2022, we are going to launch 5 vehicles With a long extended range hybrid modules to provide better Mobility experiences for the market and also for the users, of course, the oil consumption in general can also be further lowered. So the new electric vehicles based upon GHS 2.0 Technologies will become our core competencies for the future Blue GD Action Plan number 1. So here I want to tell you that JD Auto Group is also a new electric vehicle company. It is also a new force Company with new great smart power, because we have the power of a new force, but also have the new power of a new power, Because in essence, change is our DNA, we have every reason and we Competency to embrace such a world of change. The 4th main point is to efficiently enhance The so called modularization based car making practice, last September 26, Mr.
An has announced that we are going to enter Era, which we call version 4.0 with a brand new configuration. For the first half of this year, we have launched China's Star Series products with CMA configuration, and you know that JD Xingray is also a game changer In China's sedan industry, the average selling price is over RMB130,000. For this In July, we have seen another big product of Star Series which is Xinyue L. So within 48 hours after this launched, we have a pickup over 10,000 order sheets on a book. So far within less than 1 month, we have sold about 30,000 cars in our order book.
I got a confirmation from the marketing department from the sales department that the current figure is over 35,000 Units in our order book, for the next few months of this year, we are going to launch the version 4 Amgrand Based upon BMA and SPA PA enabled Lincoln Co 9, by 2024, Almost all the main products of GD Auto will be transferred to such modules like CMA, BMA and SPA and So we are going to weed out those low price and outdated products So that modularization based car making practice will help us to launch those stock products and block out and blockbuster products in the market. The 5th main point that I'm going to share with you is to work actively on the high Quality growth because high quality growth is always our bottom line. We from Version 1 to version 2, you can see our sales volume was increased to a new margin. The underlying logic is to stick us where we need to the high quality growth. From version 3 to version 4, We are going to launch the so called full value chain quality ecology.
Lincoln Co as a mid and high end Car brand in China has taken the lead to make its entry into the European market And we have delivered our cars of Lincoln Co in Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Sweden and other countries. So we expect that our order volume from Europe will also be enhanced to a new high based upon the current Scale, of course, because of the chip issue, we cannot meet fully the demands, the growing demands of Europe. So through the above mentioned product mix and product distribution, in the near future, we are going to So these above mentioned 5 main points hopefully can serve as Explanation of some of the details and effects of the financial statements. And also within internal Organizational structures, we have also done a lot of optimization. We have set up a new entity called Geometry Brand Research Institute.
As a standalone organization, it is devoted to the development of EVs. Currently, we also have a central research institute, research for GD Brand, Lincoln Pro Brand and the Geometry Brand. So by addressing such issues related to Smart driving, smart cabin and electric and electrical configuration, we have also set up some corresponding organizations. The product development today It's different from what it was in the past, mainly in that we use matrix to fulfill the so called generically applied modules like for chassis and the development of electronic and electric configurations. So it can be reused by different projects at the same time by enhancing our efficiencies for R and D.
Also we have set up some highly Ningbo and how the agile liquid organizational structure. Some key personnel can be allowed to make their Okay, full play to their talents so that we can have an enabling run for the young people, so that There will be an accountability based corporate culture in our company. Since this March, I spent most of my time on product planning and marketing.
Of course, we're going to invest resources on research and development of new products. At the same time, the GD Auto Group is committed to the formation of the 5 year development plan. So we're going to fully embrace The revolution in the auto industry in the world. According to our initial plan, by 2025, our market share will be number 1 in China. The annual sales volume will reach 3,650,000 units in which new energy vehicle will account for more than 30%.
We believe we can fully capitalize on the advantage of modular based manufacturing and scale of economy to ensure the sustainable development of Chigaudo. In the near future, we are going to disclose the details of our 5 year plan. Dear investment friends, Due to the time limitation, I have to cut it short. My team and myself will be Fully committed to the implementation of the above mentioned strategies to create the maximized value for our shareholders. And most importantly, we're going to provide the high quality product experience to our users in the market.
Thank you very much. Now let's invite the CEO of Zika, Andy Ayn, to deliver a presentation. Dear investors, A very big welcome to all of you for joining this Chile Automobile Holdings Limited 2021 End of RIM Results Announcement Conference. You're very interested in the development of Zika. And of course, you would like to know more about Zika, and of course, you have very high expectations for the development of Zika in the future.
As a brief review of the history, we announced the establishment of SEA last October. In March this year, We made a public announcement for the establishment of Zika Company. On April 15, We launched the Zeker brand and we started to accept order. And the first delivery will take place in October this year. This is a very brief Review of the history of the development of Zika.
Also, I'd like to share with you some information about the orders of Zika. We started to accept order On April 15, in 2 months' time, we've accepted the orders That is large enough to cover our production capacity in 2021. As we all received after June 15, the delivery will take place in 2022. The orders we're accepting right now will be fulfilled after the spring Festival in 2022, well, the Zika is well accepted by the market. None of our customers have has personally experienced
the Zika,
Yes, we still have a very full order book. And very soon, we're going to offer offline driving experience Activities for our potential customers, I believe once we launch these activities, we'll have a fuller order book. The order I'm talking about is the order with the RMB5000 non refundable Down payment, by the end of yesterday, The average selling price for Zika Reached RMB 335000. Is positioned as a high end luxury pure electric brand This positioning is well accepted by the market and customers as evidenced by the selling price per unit. Talking about our product strategy, well indeed we have a Full flash product strategy based on SEA, we're going to deliver our 1 product from SEA and in 2022, We're going to deliver 2 products from SEA and in 2023, we have 3 new launches.
So in 3 years' time, We're going to launch a total of 16 models based on SEA. This product Mix includes UV, Sedan, MPV. The SEA architecture It's flexible enough to support vehicles of different dimensions. You might have similar feelings with regard to CMA. Once we have established a new architecture, The development of new models will be expedited.
That's our product strategy, our product plan in the next 3 years. As for sales forecast, We're very confident and positive about our future development of Zika. We once said that we're going to sell about 7,000 Zika this year and right now we're trying to work towards a higher number. In 2025, Azika is going to sell about 650,000 units. And in our niche market, we will be one of the top 3 in the world.
We have the SCA's architecture. Right now, I would have a long history of investment in the smart technology In Automobile Ecology, the entire Zika team is fully confident about the future of Zika. As I said, We're trying to work toward the target or a number that is higher than 7,000 units, But the production volume as well as the sales volume will be restricted by the short supply of chips. On Zika, we're going to install New chips, We're going to equip many Royal debut technologies on equipment on our new Zika. But thanks to our friendly relationship with our suppliers, we still have the potential to increase our production and sales volume.
Before the conference, We received some inquiries about our future strategies in the capital market From our investors, in the announcement 715, It was made clear that we will make very good use of the capital market To support the rapid growth of Zika, We're making pretty smooth progress in this regard so far. 1.75 is the largest shareholders of Zika. 1,175 will continue to play an important role in the future development of Zika, right? This is inevitable. Right now, the Zika team is fully geared up to ensure the delivery In October and also we're working towards a higher delivery of volume this year.
Well, that basically wraps up my presentation. I would like to leave more time for Q and A. Thank you, Andy. Last but not least, let's invite Mr. Li Dong Hui to deliver his speech.
Dear investors, dear analysts, you very much for your long term interest in Geely. Jerry and Andy I gave you the report on business performance of Geely and Zika during the first half of twenty twenty one. We had a solid performance of both Zika and GD. And GRA as well as Endy Announced their strategic sales target in 2025. Right now, We can see that there is a very complicated competitive landscape in the world automobile industry.
Geely Auto is committed to becoming a high-tech company that provides high end mobility service. The different brands under the umbrella of Geely Holdings will collaborate with each other In terms of the sharing of architecture, in terms of the co procurement, to support the growth of each other And reduce the cost of production and maintain a competitive edge in the auto market. GD Auto has always been the important component in GD Holdings Limited. So in the future, the JD Holdings will invest more resources in the development of new technologies to Make sure that there is a smooth transition from version 3.0 to version 4.0 in terms of our product upgrade and to provide the mobility service our customers that exceed their expectations and to create higher value for investors. In order to capture the opportunities in Science and Technological Development, The GD Holding Corporation Limited and GD Auto Group and Zika Company We made significant improvement over corporate management and talent strategies.
Well, based on our new operational strategies, We've established resilient organizational structures
And
we made full use of the young talents and months of exploration, I believe that this new strategy is suitable for the future growth of the company. We're going to create the Favorable environment for the young talents to grow and develop. The world economy as well as the world structure It's under severe challenge. So we focused on the domestic circulation. At the same time, we are committed to the development of international market.
We will further explore the domestic market at the same time we will join in the world economy. Firstly, We have a strong system. We have the scale economy. We have international presence. We will support the rejuvenation of Proton in Malaysia.
Of course, at the same time, the Geely Auto will gain access in the Malaysian market as well as The ASEAN market, we're going to invest more in Lincoln Coal and Zika to increase our international influence and impact. Global presence is based on sound and robust business performance and financial performance. During recent couple of years as a result of the cross brand development, Co R and D, Co Procurement, JD Holdings enjoys fairly stable business performance. This year, our profit, sales revenues exceeded that in 2020 also exceeded the same period in 2019. We have ample cash flow.
Financial structure is pretty robust. As we extend our collaboration with our suppliers And partners, JD Holdings Will witness further improvement over its technological capabilities and financial robustness, the development JD Holding will lay the solid foundation for the development of JD Auto Group and we're going to invest more resources to JD Auto. Thank you.
Thank you, Daniel. Now let's move on to Q and A session. So before the Q and A session, I'd like to explain to you that after the invitation letter was sent out, we have picked up a lot of questions from the investors. Due to the time limits and also the format of the conference, we only selected a couple of representative questions that most of you have raised. So for those questions that are not covered within this session, My apologies for that and we will have some other follow-up sessions where you can have a further chance to Discuss these issues with our leaders.
So the first question is about the chip supply. You know that the chip Shortage has become even worse since August. So my question for you is how would you comment on this issue and how would you comment on the future trend of the Chip supply shortage and then when can we see the burdens relieved? Thank you. So thank you very much, Mr.
Moderator, and also thank you, our friends from Investment Circle. Ever since this year for automotive industry and also for the CE industry, consumer electronics industry, we are under The impacts of the shortage supply of chips to different extents and we Can see that it has delivered some impacts and blows to the automotive market in general, we're no exception. So Yesterday, in the WeChat moments, There is a picture bearing the words of a senior Official of a certain company describing about the worsening situation of Delta, variety of COVID-nineteen in Malaysia that has resulted in the uncertainties of the production of chips that We'll deliver its impacts over the automotive industry and the C Industries in China, so you can see That this has sparked some discussions, but actually chip supply shortage was not something new. Ever since the let off of last year, the supply chain has experienced some ups and downs. Since last June, I was rotated to some positions in charge of the supply chain.
And when I was overcharging overseeing the supply chain departments, I can feel keenly about The impacts of the shortage of chip supply, so according to the instruction of Mr. I, we are supposed to really screen Some issues related to the short supply. So since last July, we were working on the issues related to the undersupply of ships. Some timely actions were taken, Some adjustments were
made.
So we have set up a new business unit called The commodities purchasing department for the main commodities Purchasing unit and for this unit we found that a chip supply is a very main issue. So we have started the stockings and the pre stockings of some chips that can hopefully serve as a cushion to ease the supply shortage of our cars for the first half of this year. So we have done something in time. So this is the first response. 2nd response to this issue is that internally We have been quick enough to set up some liquid organizations.
By liquid, I mean we have Put into place so called squad or some ad hoc groups to deal with issues related to the replacement of Chips by approaching some domestic suppliers, this is very important to ensure the stable and steady supply of Supplies, supply of raw materials and also the chips to stabilize The production of cars. Thirdly, which is also our advantage, we have an international practice Over the management of chips through the collaborative efforts between GD and Volvo, GD and Proton And especially through our collaboration with Photon, we can fully mobilize the resources locally in Malaysia. This can help us to mobilize some of this supply in Malaysia. This is not only a contribution to GD but also to China as well. So we benefited immensely from the coordinated management of our international supply chain.
Of course, admittedly, we have also to be aware in mind that Stark reality of shortage of chip supply. So many people ask me to give Some clear instructions as to when we will see the ease of the burdens of the shortage of chips. To tell the truth, It is really hard to give you any forecast at this moment, but we have the confidence to depend upon Our resources both domestically and internationally and also benefiting from the nimble response and active Response from all business units along the supply chain and also benefiting from the scale of economy of a big group, I think we will feel The impacts of the shortage of supply of chips to a lesser extent, I hope that you can have a correct understanding of this I'm sure this issue can be resolved sooner or later. So Please really focus on whether or not we can give foreplay to our strength as a result of our sustainability strategy. So we, GD Autos, will surely play a pivotal role in this regard.
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gang. The second question is about Zika. Since its launch, Zika has attracted most of attention.
Zipcar001 has been sold out for the 1st batch. My question for Andy is about the products and also future sales plan and also can you share with us about the next NPV Zika's competitiveness and also Some key features of NPV version of Zika. Thank you. Actually, just now over my briefings to you, I've already mentioned that Some of the details of the Zika here, I also want to mention and stress that this year we have one model of Zika, next year we 2 followed by 3 the year after the next. In other words, within 3 years after its launch altogether, 6 models will be launched.
The first model is already made public to you. This is a 1 next year. 1 of the 2 cars to be launched next year will be an NPV. In the highly smart and high end market for MPVs, this is Blue Ocean. You can see premium luxury high end NPVs in the traditional ICE markets that are also quite popular among the markets.
But when now we are in the electric low and smart era, so the high end NPV will be even more popular among the So I'm sure that the launch of Zika NPV next year Will surely help us to earn our market niche in this blue ocean. Thank you. Thank you, Andy. Next question. And by the end of this June, you have announced some external financing for Zika.
So is there anything on your mind about so called external financing for Mr. I want to thank Mr. Investor for your question. Over the past few years, our working style is Bear in mind or give full consideration to all different types of demands for all investors and shareholders. Based upon our collective and consensus based Demand, we will come up with our correct arrangement of the financing decisions and strategies.
For the JD Automotive Holdings Limited Strategy, on one hand, you should focus more on the action plan number 1, number 2 for Blue Genie. Just now Jerry and Andy have come up with some quite clear explanations of the strategies. Eventually, these action plans will I will leave you an impression that we in the future will become a fully science based company Our tech company to be sure enough for the whole GD Automotive Holdings Limited in general. So based upon these fundamentals, we are going to launch more effective measures to ensure that The company in general can deal with such a challenge from this transformation. For Zika, As a spearhead of this transformational campaign, we'll Quicken its steps to identify its leading position in the future pure electric vehicle market niche.
Just now when Mr. Ahn is explaining this issue, he also stressed that Give you some timely updates in accordance with the changes of times and But as to the details, We will bear in mind the real tangible demands for Zika, and also we will bear in mind the environments that are most suitable for the growth of 1 from 1.75. So these are the generic descriptions, And we will wait until the actions were taken by Zika Before I report back to you what happened really to all investors and shareholders. Thank you. Next question It's about the signing of MOU between GAH and Renault.
So what Impacts did you see from such collaboration? And also there are a lot of collaborations Between GD and other external partners, how would you comment on the significance of such a practice and such collaboration? So Daniel, would you please answer these two questions? Thank you. Okay, no problem.
Our collaboration between GD and Renault It's based upon our friendly and Well intended discussions and we have really high recognition of the competencies of each other before some consensus we Since we reached, of course as to the details of the agreement, currently it is not long after the MOU was signed, so currently we are still working on the details. We will release these details to all investors When time is appropriate, what I'm going to stress at this moment is GD is actually moving ahead along with our collaboration with Renault. Just as our collaboration With Proton, our acquisition of Proton, which took place about 3 years ago, At the time when we were releasing the information to the investors and the analysts, I told you already that GD will always be the beneficiary of such a collaboration, but as to What type of models that we are going to embrace in the future, being GD played a pivotal role or Other parties played a pivotal role. So No matter what type of collaborative models we are going to embrace, all these will be quite conducive to the so called highly coordinated, synergic development both parties, because you know all these collaborations will help us to reduce the cost, enhance our efficiencies And enhance our bargaining powers for all parties concerned.
Of course for GD Holdings, GD Automotive Holdings, Collaborations and partnerships with others, our eventual goal is to ensure that 0175 will benefit immensely from Collaboration.
To give you an example, the Julli Holding, I set up a smart company together with Daimler. GD Auto 1.75, the best of its own electric system And while you can transfer the technology to smart technology company and get the benefit of that transference. And I hope that we'll have more time to engage in in-depth discussion with you in the future. Next question is related to finance. An investor asked what are the reasons for the changes in the profitability and sales volume And sales revenue in the first half of twenty twenty one, what is your revenue forecast when the products move to version 4.0?
We will disclose our annual result In March this year, I remember we said that we saw the transition from version 3.0 to version 4.0 by the launch of new Xinrui, our sales revenue increased by 22% During the first half of this year, when excluding the Equity related payment, our profit increased by 31%. And during the first half of twenty twenty one, We took significant effort to overcome the difficulties imposed by the short supply of chips And the price surge of raw materials, you know that the copper price increased by 50% during the first half of twenty twenty one. It increased From US40 $1,000 per tonne to US60 $1,000 per tonne, For other precious metals, we also experienced a significant price increase. Our gross margin in 2021 is at par with that in 2020. And Gross profitability increased by 1% Even in the context of a sales decline, So we can see that there is a significant improvement over the profitability.
And at the same time, we also diversify the profit contribution. Lincoln Co registered at 144% increase in profitability in profit And at the same time, as sales volume increased by 97%. I believe in the future, we can Continue to rely on the full potential of the profitability from Lincoln Coal. I believe there will be a significant improvement over the profitability from Link and Co. As to our Auto Finance business, its profit increased by 41% during the first half of twenty twenty one.
So that growth rate outnumber the growth rate of our sales revenue. Thanks to many years of investment in new technologies, Geely Auto It's capable of transferring new technologies to our partners, which will become a constant source of Revenue and profit. Looking into the future, Xinyue L is the 3rd Model in the Star series, we're going to launch more products From the Starz series and Ogunna Ochmanas from the Lincoln Coal Brands. As we increase the product mix, we're going to make full use of the New architecture to drive down the per unit manufacturing cost. Well, you might be concerned about our double credit pressure During the second half of this year, we're going to increase the percentage of HEV and P half a percentage of our total sales mix to ensure that we'll start to see A neutral double credit point.
And in the future, we will continue to commit The technology will become a constant source of revenue in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dai. Our next question?
So the sales volume is 630,000 during the first half of this year. And the total year's sales target is RMB1.53 million. So are going to sell approximately 900,000 units during the second half of this year. How are you going to do that? I think in the disclosure of our interim results, we said that we've sold a total of It accounts for 41% of our annual target.
I think that's in line with our expectation Regarding our annual target, our annual plan, we're going to sell a little more than 40% For annual target during the first half of this year, we're going to sell a little more than 50% of our annual target in the second half of twenty twenty one. That is something to do with our product mix or product plan because in the second half of twenty twenty one, we're going to launch some new models. New models will drive new sales volume. In second half of twenty twenty one, we're going to launch 4 new models. On July 20, We launched the Xinyue L, which is a new SUV.
It was very well received by the market. So far, we have a total of 35,000 orders of Xinyue L in our hands. As I've said, the Xuela is in a short supply status And our 4th generation of MGRAM will be launched by the end of August. The M Graham has been in presales for a week, and so far, we've received 15,000 orders It's through the Lincoln Code 9, which is from the Spar Architecture. We're going to launch it in the second half of twenty twenty one.
We're going to launch pure electric vehicles in the A00 class also in the second half of twenty twenty one. So I believe these 4 new products will drive new sales and the order books are quite positive In the first half of twenty twenty one, Lincoln Co. Enjoyed a 97% increase in sales volume. In the international market, We got very positive feedbacks on our Lincoln Co. Series in Europe.
We believe our sales volume in European market will be higher than our original forecast, but I don't think we can fulfill all the orders from European market Because of this short supply of chips, we're still confident about the target of 1,530,000 units. We're in August right now. The COVID-nineteen pandemic is causing some uncertainty and the short supply Chips still lingering around, the combined effects of these two uncertainties Might have negative impact on the fulfillment of our annual target From the product perspective, we are very confident about our target. That's it. Thank you.
Next question is about Zika. So how to adjust the Zika organizational structure To ensure that your organization is customer centric, Andy, you may take up the question. This is very good question, high quality question from our investors. And also it is a very general question. To the time limitation, I have to be very brief and succinct.
The mission of Zika is to create ultimate experience of mobility. Well, it takes a systematic approach to turn Zika into a customer centric organization. Our mission is to create the ultimate experience of mobility together with the customers. Well, the mission itself is a guidance for the company to turn itself into a customer centric organization. We need to collaborate with our internal partners, external partners and customers.
And also we need to renovate our business models. Take our Zika team, for example. Some of the members are from the Electric Vehicle Business Sectors of GD. And also we have introduced and have recruited many crossover Talents into organizations, some of them are from the Internet industries, from Mobile Phone Industries and Fast Consumer Industries, So we can see there is a diversified composition in our in our product team, in our research team, in our marketing team. Talking about collaboration with the customers, Zika is well accepted by the customers.
Zika offers a very positive product experience to our customers because we develop these products together with our customers. And this has been a very fruitful Experience for us, I would like to provide detailed examples in the future. If you take a look at the results or in particular look at the business performance of the Zeker, if you take a look at the order books of the Zeker products, You were buying that we develop these products together with customers. And talking about the sales model, we would employ a direct sales model to sell our products to our customers. Of course, there are a
whole lot
of things going on around this strategy. Of building A customer centric organization. Well, this is indeed a very general, a very big topic. I have to stop here. Thank you.
Thank you, Andy. Because of the time limitation, we We only have time for last question. The question is related to the international strategy of Geely. In 2021, there is a significant increase in the
I'm sure you all see the figures that for the first half of this year our export has increased by 173 Malaysian Proton's market share Also, Lincoln Co. Has made substantial progress In Europe, previously Jerry has mentioned about Some of the distributions and our plans to roll out our products in the Western European countries, so I won't Repeat his words. For the latter half of this year, we hope to hopefully we can export over 10,000 units of Lincoln Cocos to Europe. Also you have to bear in mind some new subscription models in Europe bringing to us Fresh opportunities, but also some potential pressure on cash flows. In the Middle East, some Middle East and Middle East countries, We are also going to launch more Lincoln Co products there.
Also Xinyue and Haoyue and Amgrand and many other products can Hopefully be exported to Middle East countries. So in general, no matter Whether it is already existing layout or some new layout that we're going to launch, we work always together Collaboratively with our partners like Volvo and other areas of the world, In Europe, in Asia and in the longer term in America, there are more Export opportunities waiting ahead for us. I hope that our export businesses will become A quite unique advantage for us in the future. Thank you. Thank you, Daniel.
So In conclusion, let's invite Mr. Gui to give a quick wrap up of today's session. Okay. I want to thank you all investors and Shareholders for your continuous support to us. My colleagues have already shared with you some of their observations about some Key issues arising from the interim reports because today's briefing is about the interim results.
Due to the time limit, we don't have much time to dwell upon some of the more details, but Our colleagues have already mentioned a lot about these important aspects and in addition to the information They have also pointed out to our future plan for the next 5 years by 2025. Our GD Automotive Holding Limited sales target is about 3,650,000 units. So I'm sure you have different observations and comments on this figure. I want to tell you that we are going to Interact with you within the next 2 to 3 weeks about what we are going to do To support such a target, such a target is made And set as a result of the efforts and the collaboration and the consensus of GD Automotive Holdings Limited, so maybe some of you might not Feel that the figures are that aggressive, but I hope you can understand some of the Relevant targets or some of the sub targets of this 3,650,000 units, we are going to also be the number one for all The self proprietary brands in China, the market share, so the market share should be number 1 in China. This is another Parallel goal, just now Andy has also stressed that Zika Electric Vehicles will also Be among the top 3 in the world in the future, this is also another parallel target.
So I'm sure that the future automotive industry in the future will undergo profound changes, But there are some a lot of uncertainties as many of you can see. So these uncertainties will also deliver some impacts over the future products and also the volumes. But More importantly, the market share and how our company will be perceived But others in this industry will be more important. So we'll treat these two items as the most important directions for our future endeavor. Just now Daniel Lee has also mentioned that Currently in our progress of internationalization, we are moving ahead with a lot of successes success stories.
So our strategy now is totally different What it was in the past, currently we have already seen our products into some well developed countries in Europe, so if we can do everything in accordance to our plan now in the next 5 years, you can easily imagine what will happen amid the general context of the great transformation of the automotive industry of the world. I'm sure you will arrive at the conclusion that GD Automotive Holding Limited will become one of the most competitive groups in the world for this industry. So that's my brief comment on this issue. From tomorrow onwards, there were a lot of road shows. So your participation will be more than welcome by raising more questions to our officials and leaders at all levels for more discussions.
Last but not least, I want to say a big thank you to all of you here. We are not perfect, Of course, over the past so many years, we've been always so active and so modest And so pragmatic and humble enough to learn from your comments and learn from our past experiences. We welcome Comments, advice, suggestions and criticism of all kinds, no matter they are bad things or good things, we accept all those comments and observations. So now as they are constructive to our future development, we are all the more open to those comments and suggestions. So that's all for my brief comment and a wrap up.
Thank you. Thank you very much for your participation. That concludes today's session. Thank you. Bye bye.