There’s a quiet but seismic shift happening at the top of the automotive food chain, and it doesn’t involve a single car being sold. CATL, the China-based company that makes the batteries going into most of the world’s EVs, posted a net profit of around $3 billion in the first quarter of 2026. That alone would be impressive. What makes it remarkable is who it leaves in the dust. CATL’s profit exceeded the combined earnings of seven major Chinese automakers, according to CarNewsChina. Essentially, we have a supplier out-earning its entire customer base in one quarter.
CATL
When a Battery Maker Beats Its Own Customers
Here’s the thing about that combined figure from seven of China’s biggest car companies: it still fell short of CATL’s $3 billion by nearly half a billion dollars. None of those automakers individually crossed even a quarter of CATL’s profit. The battery giant also held nearly half of China’s EV battery market in Q1, growing its share year-on-year despite a slowdown caused by the phasing out of government subsidies.
The World’s Largest Battery Maker Is Closing In On The World’s Largest Carmaker
Toyota, which sells roughly 10 million cars a year, reported results for the exact same January-to-March period. Operating profit came in at around $3.8 billion, just enough to edge past CATL, but only just. Further, that number is only after a punishing 49 percent year-on-year collapse driven by US tariffs and rising Chinese competition. A year earlier, Toyota’s quarterly net income was $5.8 billion. This quarter, a company that makes no cars at all came within striking distance of matching it. The world’s biggest automaker is still ahead. But a battery supplier breathing down its neck is not a headline Toyota would have written for itself.
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