Deep Analysis of Aulton New Energy's Hong Kong IPO: Opportunities and Challenges in the Battery Swapping Track

Aulton New Energy Co., Ltd. officially submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in December 2025, aiming to become the ‘first battery swapping stock’ in Hong Kong. CMB International acts as the exclusive sponsor, and when the company completed its last round of equity financing in January 2022, its post-investment valuation reached 11.9 billion yuan [1][2]. According to data from CIC Consulting, based on revenue from battery swapping station operation services in 2024, Aulton New Energy is China’s largest independent third-party battery swapping solution provider with a solid leading market position.

As of June 30, 2025, the company’s smart energy service platform has connected 521 battery swapping stations, including 267 self-owned stations, 62 stations accessing the company’s battery swapping operation services, and 192 stations accessing the company’s platform services. The platform has more than 130,000 registered electric vehicles and manages over 160,000 batteries. The average daily swapping times per station has steadily increased from 120 in 2022 to 206 in the first half of 2025, with continuous improvement in network utilization efficiency and user activity [1][2].

However, Aulton New Energy’s financial performance reflects the common dilemma of the battery swapping industry. According to the prospectus, the company has accumulated losses of approximately 2 billion yuan over the past three years and is still in the strategic investment period before profitability [3]. In the first half of 2025, the company’s operating cash flow turned from positive to negative, with an ending cash balance of only 438 million yuan. Against the backdrop of shrinking revenue and continuous losses, financial pressure may be an important reason for the company’s eagerness to go public for financing.

Since 2022, the company’s strategic focus has shifted from battery swapping equipment sales to platform services, selling some swapping stations to local urban investment companies and instead providing operation services. While this transformation model has reduced asset burden, it has also led to a contraction in the company’s revenue scale. The number of self-owned swapping stations of Aulton New Energy was 321 in 2023, and dropped to 267 in the first half of 2025 [1][2].

CATL is undoubtedly the leader in the current battery swapping ecosystem. In 2022, the company launched the ‘Chocolate Swapping Block’ and the EVOGO swapping brand, realizing the universality of the swapping model through modular design. The Chocolate Swapping Block uses standardized dimensions, with a single block capacity of 26kWh and a driving range of approximately 200 kilometers. Users can choose 1 to 3 blocks to replace according to their travel needs, fundamentally solving the pain point of ‘one car, one standard’ in the traditional swapping model [4][5].

In April 2025, five major automakers—FAW, Changan, BAIC, Chery, and GAC—jointly released 10 new Chocolate Swapping models with CATL, marking that mainstream automakers have begun to accept the swapping standards of third-party battery enterprises, forming a division of labor model where ‘automakers focus on vehicle manufacturing and battery enterprises lead energy services’ [4]. Leveraging the openness of the Chocolate Swapping ecosystem, CATL achieved explosive growth of 300% year-on-year in sales of swapping models in the first half of 2025 [4][5].

In the battery swapping heavy truck sector, CATL is an undisputed leader. In May 2025, the company signed a provincial strategic cooperation agreement with the Shanxi Provincial Government to start the construction of 41 Qiji swapping stations in Linfen. According to the plan, Linfen will complete 41 swapping stations and promote 1,000 swapping heavy trucks within the year, and will gradually expand to 60 swapping stations in the future, with a cumulative promotion of 50,000 swapping heavy trucks by 2030 [6].

More importantly, CATL and Sinopec signed an industrial and capital cooperation framework agreement in April 2025. The two parties will comprehensively deepen their long-term strategic cooperation and jointly build a national swapping network ecosystem and standard system through ‘industrial cooperation + capital cooperation’. They plan to build no less than 500 swapping stations in 2025 and jointly strive for the goal of building 10,000 swapping stations in the future [5].

The competitive pattern of the current battery swapping market has evolved from the early ‘NIO standing alone’ to a situation where multiple forces are fiercely competing based on different strategic paths. According to statistics from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance, in the sales of swapping models in 2024, the combined market share of platforms like NIO, Geely, and CATL EVOGO exceeded 85%, showing an obvious ‘head concentration’ characteristic [4][6].

As of December 30, 2025, NIO has built a total of 3,665 swapping stations nationwide, forming the world’s largest high-speed swapping network, and plans to officially deploy the fifth-generation swapping stations on a large scale in the first quarter of 2026 [6]. ‘E-E Connect’ under Geely mainly serves the new energy taxi and ride-hailing market, with more than 470 swapping stations deployed and operated as of April 2025 [5].

Behind this centralization trend is the comprehensive requirement of the swapping market for technical standards, capital strength, and ecological resources. Small and medium-sized enterprises are unable to bear huge R&D and construction costs, and can only participate in market competition in segmented fields or as partners [4].

The development trajectory of the battery swapping model is closely linked to policy guidance. The ‘New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2025-2030)’ released in 2025 clearly listed swapping and charging as the main energy supply methods for new energy vehicles for the first time, and proposed to build a nationwide, efficient and coordinated swapping service network by 2030. This policy shift is a strategic choice based on three considerations: energy security, grid balance, and automotive industry competitiveness, marking that swapping technology has crossed the experimental stage and entered a new cycle of full promotion [4][5].

CATL predicts that by 2030, swapping, home charging, and public charging will form a ‘three-way split’ pattern, each accounting for about 30% of the market share. At that time, swapping will not only be a guarantee for ‘anxiety-free travel’ but also a core engine to promote ‘equal prices for oil and electricity’ and the ‘dual carbon goals’ [4].

Facing strong competition from CATL, Aulton New Energy is exploring a differentiated development path. The company plans to cooperate with 2 to 3 passenger car and commercial vehicle enterprises every year in the next five years to develop new swapping models, focusing on the transformation in the commercial vehicle sector. As of June 30, 2025, 9 swapping stations have completed upgrading and now support swapping for passenger cars and light trucks [1].

For the freight industry with extremely high time efficiency requirements, the long time-consuming of traditional charging mode is a core pain point, while swapping can be completed in just a few minutes, which can greatly improve vehicle operation efficiency. Its commercial demand for swapping is more rigid and the willingness to pay is stronger [1]. If Aulton New Energy can establish a competitive advantage in the commercial vehicle swapping segment, it may gain a certain survival space.

However, from the perspective of industry competition, CATL, with its absolute discourse power in the power battery field (market share as high as 42.92% in the first half of 2025, maintaining the first place in domestic installation volume for five consecutive years) and the open ecosystem of standardized technical routes, is reshaping the competition rules of the entire swapping industry [5]. As a third-party swapping operator, if Aulton New Energy cannot form unique advantages in technical standards, network scale, or business model, its market position may be further eroded.

Comprehensive analysis shows that Aulton New Energy’s Hong Kong IPO faces the following core risks:

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The company has accumulated losses of approximately 2 billion yuan over three years, with negative operating cash flow in the first half of 2025 and limited cash reserves. Its business model has not yet been verified for sustainability.

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CATL is expanding rapidly with its industrial chain discourse power and standardization advantages, while NIO continues to lead with first-mover advantages and scale effects. Aulton New Energy faces a competitive pattern of ‘strong enemies ahead and pursuers behind’.

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The construction and operation of swapping stations require a large amount of capital investment, and the profit prospects are unclear before scale effects are formed.

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If CATL’s Chocolate Swapping Block becomes the mainstream industry standard, Aulton New Energy’s existing technical route may face the risk of marginalization.

Nevertheless, if Aulton New Energy can successfully IPO and obtain financing, coupled with the transformation layout in the commercial vehicle sector and strong policy support for the swapping model, the company may still maintain a certain market share in the segmented track. However, from the perspective of investment value, investors need to have a clear understanding of the profit cycle and competitive landscape of the swapping industry, and carefully evaluate the risk-return ratio of participating in the Hong Kong IPO.

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[1] Sina Finance - “New Stock Preview | 11.9 Billion Valuation Swapping Leader Goes to Hong Kong: Can Aulton New Energy Impress Investors?” (https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/hkstock/hkstocknews/2025-12-23/doc-inhctxhr7106064.shtml)

[2] Phoenix Finance - “11.9 Billion Valuation Swapping Leader Goes to Hong Kong: Can Aulton New Energy Impress Investors?” (https://i.ifeng.com/c/8pJWB07Gt7r)

[3] OFweek Industrial Control Network - “Aulton New Energy Breaks Through Hong Kong Stock Market: The ‘Swapping Brother’ Who Lost 2 Billion Yuan in Three Years, Relying on IPO to Survive?” (https://dianyuan.ofweek.com/2025-12/ART-8321000-12003-30677473.html)

[4] China Youth Network - “The Final Push for the Swapping Market” (https://auto.youth.cn/xw/202512/t20251208_16394290.htm)

[5] Baidu Encyclopedia - “Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited” (https://baike.baidu.com/item/宁德时代/19308544)

[6] Sina Finance - “Swapping Industry 2025: Ecological Reconstruction, Booming Supply and Demand” (https://finance.sina.com.cn/tech/roll/2026-01-01/doc-inheuwcn2977280.shtml)