ATHM Autohome Inc.

NYSE
$22.49

Autohome Inc. Q3 F2026 Earnings Call Transcript

AI Conference Call Analysis

Sign in or subscribe to read.
Conference Operator
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by for Autohome's third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow management's prepared remarks. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. A live and archived webcast of today's call will be available on Autohome's IR website. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Sterling Song, Auto Home's IR Director. Please, go ahead, Mr. Song.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Thank you, operator. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Auto Home's third quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Earlier today, Auto Home distributed its earnings release, which can be found on the company's IR website at ir.autohome.com.cn. Joining me today on today's call is our Chief Financial Officer, Ms. Quay Yan Zeng. Management will go through the prepared remarks first, which will be followed by a Q&A session where they will be available to answer all your questions. Before we begin, please note that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Education Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Potential risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to those outlined in our public filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Auto Home undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable laws. Please also note that Autohome's earnings press release at today's conference call includes discussions of certain unaudited non-GAAP financial matters. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings release. I will now turn the call over to Autohome's CFO, Mr. Quade Yan Zeng, for opening remarks. Quade, please go ahead.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Sterling. Hello, everyone.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
This is Craig Zeng, CFO of Otohome. Thank you for joining our earnings conference call today.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In the third quarter, we have achieved solid progress in upgrading to a one-stop car ecosystem service platform, steadily promoting innovative business, We are committed to the systematic construction of content and tools. The size of the user is the same as the stable growth. We will further help the platform to connect with each other. At the innovative business end, the new retail continues to polish and upgrade the business model, expand the service network, and continuously expand the coverage range of the city. The second-hand car is steadily advancing the construction of domestic and overseas double platforms. The whole process of selling car service platforms continues to improve and standardize the service system. and other high-quality drivers of the cross-border export service platform, and the amount of export sales has also achieved a simultaneous increase. In early September, we officially released the Autonomous Vehicle Service Intellectual App, Knowledge Car Manager. Through the integration of AI capabilities with user service and commercial service dual ecology, we are actively promoting vehicle service through information matching to reliable decision-making and reliable contract upgrade.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
In the third quarter, we made solid progress in upgrading towards a comprehensive automotive service ecosystem, with our innovative businesses developing steadily. On the user side, we set up our efforts to systematically develop our content under two metrics. Our user base maintains stable year-over-year growth, further strengthening our platform's moat. On the innovative business side, our new retail business refinance model has scaled up its service network, further broadening its city coverage. Our used car business advanced the development of both domestic and overseas platforms. Our full-process used car sales service platform continues to improve its standardized service system, while our cross-border used car export service platform achieved growth. in both the supply of quality vehicles and export transaction volumes. In early September, we officially launched our proprietary automotive service AI agent application, Cheese Car Butler, by deeply integrating AI capabilities with our dual service ecosystem of users and merchants. We are driving the shift in automotive services from pure information matching towards trusted decision making and reliable fulfillment. also represent the key strategic innovative for Autohome in the AI plus automotive services sector.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Zhijia Xie Shou, Mango Super Media, Zong Yi Entertainment, Taewang Co., Ltd., Star Challenge, Jing Cai, and many other ways to promote the growth of traffic and increase the brand's volume. Live activities have a positive response. The total exposure has exceeded 1.8 billion. In terms of the product, we have introduced a new feature called Viewing Function. It integrates the scattered information of the model with the eight highlights of the model in one picture, and the five scenario tools to help users understand the core points of the model more quickly and more objectively. At the same time, we have also introduced the selection of equipment tools for the high complexity of the selection of new energy vehicles. will make the selection process as simple as possible to effectively reduce the threshold of user decision. The data of Quest Mobile shows that in September, the number of Japanese users increased by 3.4% to 79.14 million. Its report further shows that in June-August, the number of cars in the car industry has been in the top six AI platforms for three consecutive months. On content, we continue to advance our brand rejuvenation.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
In partnership with Mango Excellent Media, Autohome produced the Variety Entertainment Gala August 18th Global Automobile Festival, which was broadcast across platforms. The gala featured celebrity and influencer challenge quizzes and other interactive formats, driving traffic growth and raising brand awareness. The live broadcast event was received positively with total impressions across all channels exceeding 1.8 billion. On the product side, our vehicle model library launched the at-a-glance feature, which helps users understand the vehicle in a single glance. by extracting and integrating scattered vehicle information into a single image covering eight major highlights and five scenario-based tools for each vehicle. This allows users to understand the key setting points of a vehicle more quickly and intuitively. In parallel, to address the complexity of configuring new energy vehicles, we also launched the Configuration Selector tool, which simplifies the configuration selection process and lowers the barrier to decision-making for users. According to Quest Mobile data, Autohome's average mobile DAUs grew 3.4% year-over-year to 79.14 million in September. Its report also showed that Autohome ranked first by citation rate as an automotive information source across six major AI platforms for three consecutive months from June to August. This demonstrates that the professional content accumulated by AutoHome over the years continues to be valued now in new information service scenarios.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In the field of new energy vehicles, we speed up the construction of a sales and marketing ecosystem network that covers all channels and all regions. By the end of the third quarter, Zhijia Mall will cover 38 cities across the country and others, more than 1,700 car dealerships have joined the market. There are more than 600 car dealerships on the market. By maximizing the authorization of car dealers, this model effectively enriches the co-ordination of car owners, breaks the limit of car purchase in hell, and further improves the trade chain of online car dealerships. At the same time, the offline channels of Jiajia Haoxe are also expanding steadily. In the new energy vehicle sector,
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
We accelerated the build-out of our dealer ecosystem across all channels and regions. By the end of the third quarter, Auto Home Mall's online car purchasing model had reached 38 cities nationwide, with more than 1,700 authorized dealers and over 600 vehicle series listed on the platform. This large-scale authorized dealer network has broadened vehicle supply, removed regional barriers to car purchases, and strengthened the online automotive e-commerce transaction chain. Meanwhile, Auto Home Good Car steadily expanded its offline footprint and store count. At the end of the third quarter, Auto Home Good Car had over 170 franchise stores with cumulative transactions of over 700 vehicles. As new retail offline channels take shape and our footprint across higher and lower cities develops, Autohome's transaction service system is becoming increasingly complete. With our online assets and offline channels working synergistically, the network effects of our O2O ecosystem are beginning to emerge.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
On September 5th, AI and large-model models will officially launch the AI original application knowledge driver. The product is based on Zhijia's self-proclaimed car industry model, the function of which is to cover the user to see, choose, buy and use the whole chain road, to connect the online smart consultation and the offline physical document service. On the user side, the knowledge car manager will gather a large number of real car owners' evaluation and reputation information, provide a reliable reference for the purchase decision, and integrate the discount survey, the market price appointment, the one-off transaction, the valuation comparison, the door-to-door inspection, the charging, and other military services to accompany users throughout the entire service period. In the short term, the product has covered the digital management of all industry mainstream 4S stores, second-hand car dealers and car service resources, and the digitalization of non-powerful dealers and car service providers. Intelligent Car Management is a product that combines the long-term accumulation of vehicle content, data, industry resources, user service experience, and AI technology capabilities. On AI and large language models, we officially launched our AI native application Cheese Car Butler on September 5th. The product is built on a proprietary Cangjie Automotive large
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Model. It covers the entire user journey of browsing, selecting, buying, and using vehicles, leading intelligent online consultations with offline store services. For users, Cheese Car Butler aggregates extensive reviews and word-of-mouth data from real car owners to offer credible references for car purchase decisions. It also integrates one-stop services, including incentives and discounts. test drive appointments, fixed price transactions, valuations, and price comparison, onsite inspection, charging, and maintenance fulfillment to support users throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle. For merchants, the product covers mainstream 4S dealerships, used car dealers, and automobile service providers across the industry, empowering dealers and aftermarket service providers. in their digital operations. Cheese Car Butter is an innovative product that combines Auto Home's long-accumulated automotive content, data, industry resources, and user service experience with AI capabilities. Going forward, we'll continue to refine the user experience and improve service quality, making it easier for users to access authentic information and find the offline service resources We need.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In terms of second-hand car business, we focus on the whole process of selling cars as the core platform. In the beginning of the year, we ran a four-point operation in Nantong and Changzhou. During the four points, the efficiency of the transaction and the satisfaction of the users were double-improved. We initially verified the possibility of the business model. In the third quarter, we expanded the four-point program to 60%. Through more detailed operation of the regional market continue to polish and standardize the service system, for the subsequent business in the national scope, repeat the promotion of Hengshi foundation. In terms of cross-border export service platform, we strengthen the joint integration of the online multi-language international station and the offline travel network, through the opening of the online driver display, the transformation of the circuitry and the offline car mine inspection, the passing of logistics and other key parts, to enhance the joint effect of cross-border transaction full chain. and others. At the same time, we are constantly rich in high-quality car users. In the third quarter, the platform has more than 3,000 online Japanese customers. Since the first export deal was completed in July, the number of deals has increased significantly, and the business has shown a good development. Overall, the global car sales service platform and the cross-border export service platform have been jointly promoted, and the model has been verified. The area expansion and the chain road promotion have been combined to further scale the expansion and the national layout.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
In our used car business, we focused on the full-process car-scale service platform and launched pilot operations in Nantong and Changzhou at the beginning of the year. During the pilot period, both transaction efficiency and user satisfaction saw improvements, preliminary proving the feasibility of our business model. In the third quarter, we extended the pilot to six cities. through refined operations tailored to regional markets. We continue to hone our standardized service system, laying a solid foundation for replicating the model nationwide. For our cross-border export service platform, we strengthened the integration of our online multilingual international sites and our offline fulfillment networks by connecting online vehicle supply displays and the inquiry conversion with offline vehicle condition verification, customs clearance and the logistics. We improved the collaborative efficiency of the entire cross-border transaction process. We also continue to expand our supply of high-quality vehicles. In the third quarter, the platform averaged more than 3,000 vehicles listed for sale online each day. Since the platform completed its first export order in July, monthly transaction volume has continued to rise demonstrating very sound business momentum overall the full process car sales and cross-border export service platforms are developing steadily with model validation regional expansion and operational change efficiency improvement progressing in parallel building momentum for further expansion and nationwide deployments
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
As mentioned above, on the one hand, we will continue to build traditional information platforms to strengthen the user's mind and flow base. On the other hand, we will do our best to promote the development of trading business, accelerate the deployment of AI intelligent application, and create a unique differential competitive advantage. At the same time, we will continue to make long-term promises to create the greatest value for shareholders. The board passed the cash distribution plan in the second half of 2026 and continues to actively buy back shares in the public market. In summary, we further solidified our traditional information platform, reinforcing user mindshare and our traffic base,
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
were actively developing our transaction business and accelerating the deployment of agent applications to build a differentiated competitive advantage. At the same time, in keeping up with our longstanding commitment to maximizing shareholder value, our board approved a cash dividend plan for the second half of the year, and we continue to actively repurchase shares in the open market, looking ahead We will continue to advance in key strategic priorities that can strengthen our long-term competitiveness while maintaining a streamlined cost structure, creating sustainable value for users, customers, and shareholders through a more efficient automotive service ecosystem.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Next, I would like to explain the financial situation of the third quarter of 2026.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
With that, let me briefly walk you through the key financials for the first quarter of 2026. Please note that all amounts discussed today are in RMB unless otherwise stated.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Net revenues for the third quarter were $1.31 billion. Specifically, immediate services revenues were $241 million. Least generation services revenues were $526 million, and online marketplace and others revenues
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
were 547 million.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
With respect to cost, cost of revenues in the third quarter was 431 million compared with 646 million in the third quarter of 2025.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Growth margin in the third quarter was 67.2% compared with 63.7% in the same period last year.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In terms of operating expenses, sales and market expenses for the third quarter were 5.75 billion yuan, and the same period was 6.2 billion yuan. Development expenses were 1.95 billion yuan, and the same period was 2.79 billion yuan. General management expenses were 0.91 billion yuan, and the same period was 1.25 billion yuan.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Turning to operating expenses, sales and marketing expenses in the third quarter were 575 million, compared with 620 million in the third quarter of 2025. Product and development expenses were 195 million, compared with 279 million in the third quarter of 2025. General and administrative expenses were 91 million, compared with 125 million in the same period last year.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Overall, operating profit was 96 million in the third quarter compared with 147 million in the same period of 2025. Adjusted net income attributable to auto home
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
were 253 million in the dead quarter, compared with 407 million in the corresponding period of last year.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In the third quarter, the adjustment, basic, and corruption of each share profit were divided into 0.61 yuan and 0.60 yuan respectively. In the previous year, they were divided into 0.87 yuan and 0.86 yuan respectively. Nan Gap basic and diluted earnings per share in third quarter were 0.61 and 0.660 respectively, compared with 0.87 and 0.86 in the corresponding period of 2025.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
nine gas basic and diluted earnings per ADS in the third quarter were 2.43 and 2.42 respectively compared with 3.47 and 3.45 respectively in the corresponding period of 2025.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
As of September 30, 2026, our balance sheet remained robust. Cash, cash equivalent, short-term investment, and other long-term investment totals $17.65 billion.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Net cash provided by operating activities for the third quarter was 360 million. On July 28, 2026, our board of directors authorized a share repurchase program under which we may repurchase up to US dollar 400 million of auto homes ADS over the next 12 months. As of October 30th, 2026, we had repurchased approximately 7.06 million ADS for a total cost of approximately US dollar 155 million.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In addition, according to the company's stock policy, the board of directors has approved the issuance of $1.58 per share of U.S. stocks, or $0.3950 per share of U.S. stocks, will be paid in U.S. dollars to the U.S. stockholders and U.S. stockholders who registered and re-registered on January 5, 2027. The total amount of the bonus will be about $1 billion. It is expected that by March 15, 2027,
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
In addition, in accordance with our dividend policy, our board has approved a cash dividend of U.S. dollar 1.58 per ADS or U.S. dollar 0.395 for ordinary shares payable in U.S. dollars for holders of ordinary shares and ADS These are the financial data of the company
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
That concludes our financial summaries.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Now we are ready to open up the Q&A session. Operator, please open up the line for the Q&A session. Thank you.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. To ask a question now, please press star 11 on your telephone keypad and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again. A moment for our first question. And our first question comes from the line of Brian Gong from Citi. Please go ahead, Brian. Your line is open.
Brian Gong / Richie Sun
Analyst
Okay. Thank you, Guan Licheng, for giving me this opportunity. I have two questions. First, what do we think about the future of the car industry? I will translate it myself. Thanks management for taking my question. I have two questions. First is what's our view on the Thank you for your question
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Thank you for your question. First, we do expect the domestic auto market to remain under pressure in the short term.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
But we believe it is already at the bottom for the moment. For next year, we believe there is likely to be some kind of recovery and stabilization.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In the third quarter of this year, the car market has not been as strong as it used to be. Part of the reason is that last year's supply and demand policy brought a relatively high number of cars. This year in the third quarter, we didn't see the Euro strength from the traditional golden September
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
and Silver October as strong sales leaders. This is partly because, first, the high base of last year's subsidy policies and the subsidy-induced demand pulled forward, as well as the consumer sentiment decrease, such factors, et cetera. And for this year, the whole year retail sales of passenger vehicles is projected to be 18.5 million units, which is a decrease 22% year over year. So this means that the overall retail sales in the fourth quarter is due to decline by 20 to 25% year over year.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
The Car Association's forecast for next year's car sales is 0% to 5%, which is 2%. This judgment has been communicating with our investors in the past, saying that China's car market should be a way of growing in a low number of places. It is consistent. We have several main judgments for the next year's market. One is that the overall sales should be stable. China Passenger Car Association, which is CPC,
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
it forecast that the domestic passenger vehicle retail sale will grow between 0 to 5% next year. The middle point is approximately 2%. And so this is in line with our judgment as we communicate with the market or investors in the past. Our forecast is a low single digit increase for the China auto market. So this is in line with our and the forecast. And for the auto industry next year, we have several key judgments or observations. First is that the overall sales are expected to remain relatively stable and the growth will continue to be driven primarily by the new energy vehicles. The EV penetration rate, in September has reached a record high of 67%. And going forward, the leading domestic automakers are likely to strengthen their market positions, market shares, while the weaker brands or weak players may face more accelerated wave of market consolidation and market exits. And on the cost side, There is a high international oil price, so it may also weigh on consumer demand for the traditional ICE cars.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
On the other hand, there is a lot of pressure on industry profits. In September, industry profits have been reduced to 3.3% this year. The trend of reducing prices to replace sales has basically come to an end. And profitability across the auto industry will still remain under
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
considerable pressure. For the first nine months this year, the auto industry profit margins had been compressed to 3.3%. So the strategy of simply relying on the price cut, price reduction to drive sales is becoming more and more difficult. And those leading automakers or leading brands with strong technological capabilities and strong overseas operations they are likely to be the first to return to you know better profitability while those weaker brands or weaker players in the industry will continue to to actually the market so so the channels are also shifting away from the you know selling cars making money to to rely on turnover and the rebates for continuous operations so the pressure is we believe the pressure is mostly concentrated on those joint venture brands especially ICE vehicles and some weaker second-tier brands as well as dealers with more fragile financial conditions.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
The power of industry growth will also be transferred from domestic first-time buyers to smart updates and overseas exports. The overseas exports are expected to continue this year's growth trend. The overseas model will gradually upgrade to overseas construction sites, local large-scale supply chains, and brand operations from a simple car inspection exit.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
And for industry growth drivers, you know, they are shifting from the domestic purchase towards replacement demand and overseas exports. Overseas exports are expected to maintain strong growth, growth momentum this year. At the same time, you know, automakers international expansion strategy will gradually evolve beyond simple, you know, exporting finished complete vehicles to include overseas manufacturing facilities or localized supplying chains and the more comprehensive brand operations in international market, etc.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In summary, we believe in the future, the auto market will face both challenges and opportunities. The massive demand will remain under pressure.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
and the industry has entered a period of deep structural adjustments, characterized primarily by the competition for existing market shares. And market share is packed to concentrate among those leading brands or leading companies with core technological capabilities or comprehensive ecosystem deployment and a strong brand equity.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
And for Auto Home,
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
We will continue to invest in several key areas which include content agents and end-to-end platforms for vehicle purchasing and selling services and across border service platforms, etc. Our goal is to provide users with more convenient and efficient services throughout the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle covering the car browsing, selecting, buying and using. And we also help our business customers navigate changes in the industry by improving transaction conversion, driving the sales growth, and reducing their costs. So this will be the core direction we will explore and develop in the future.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In the past few seasons, we have been working on network deployment in the offline market. In the past several quarters, we have been focusing on expanding our offline retail network. In high tier cities
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
we are expanding our city coverage and diversifying the supply of vehicles through the authorized dealerships. We currently have more than 1,700 participating dealerships. And in those low tier cities, we are strengthening our service capabilities in low tier markets through the auto home good car franchise stores with more than 170 franchise locations are currently in operation.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
O2O's trade ecosystem co-development also allows us to better meet the needs of our partners and users.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
While the number of our stores is one important metric, we place even greater emphasis on the channel quality and on the ability to achieve business synergies. Our core objective is to build an offline fulfillment network centered on O2O more, gradually establishing an integrated service network. comprising of auto home mall plus authorized dealers plus auto home good car franchise stores plus car tech synergies. As online traffic and vehicle supply continues to increase, continues to grow, and our offline distribution network becomes increasingly established, so the coordinated development of our online to offline transaction ecosystem will enable us to better meet the needs of both our business partners and our users. Thank you. The next question, please.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you. And our next question comes from the line of Jing Yuan from CICC. Please ask your question. Jing, your line is open.
Jing Yuan / Thomas Chong
Analyst
Thank you for accepting my question. Good evening. I have two questions. The first one is about over the past few years, the company has been very proactive in shareholder returns. Could we expect the company to maintain a similar pace and scale of shareholder returns going forward? The second one is given the challenging industry environment, how have new energy vehicles brand testing performance? Thanks.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
For a long time, Zhijia has always paid great attention to the management of shareholder returns and market value. We have also built a common stock policy and a double return system for shares. In terms of returns, in July this year, we completed the return of $200 million announced in early March. In July, the board of directors again authorized a new round of stock returns of $400 million for the next 12 months. Okay, thank you for your question. You know, Autohome has always played great importance on the shareholder return and the market cap management for a long time. We have established a dual shareholder return framework combining a regular
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
dividend policy with share repurchase. On the shares repurchase or share-by-buy, at the end of July this year, we complete our US dollar 200 million share repurchase program, which was announced in early March, quite ahead of schedule. And in July, the Commerce Board of Directors authorized a new share repurchase program with a duration of 12 months. and a total value of US dollar 400 million. As of the end of October last month, approximately US dollar 155 million or nearly 40% of the authorized amount has already been executed. So going forward, we will continue to actively execute the share by buy program in the open market in accordance with our established strategy.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
On the cash dividends, at the end of July this year,
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
We successfully completed the distribution of approximately RMB 500 million dividend to shareholders. The RMB 1 billion dividend program announced today will be completed in the first quarter of next year. And of course, we will be sure to keep shareholders informed in a timely manner of any future progress or update in our dividend policy.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Autohome has ample cash reserves and we keep a healthy balance sheet. We have also made notable progress in the new retail business, used car transactions, as well as the AI agents.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
So going forward, we'll continue to optimize our operating efficiency while maintaining a disciplined and prudent approach to our business investment.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
The next question is about the overall performance of the new energy brand. In terms of sales and penetration rate, in September, the penetration rate of the new energy brand reached 67%. This means that we have reached two-thirds of this level. In the previous nine months of this year, although the sales of new energy sales decreased by 13%, it is also better than the overall sales performance of the new car. In the previous nine months of this year, the sales of top-end brands of new energy sales accounted for 72% of the total sales, and half of this is traditional car flagships.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
for the NEVs. So in terms of sales volume and the penetration of NEV brands, in this September, the NEV penetration rate has already reached as high as 67%, which is two-thirds. So in the first nine months of the year, although the NEV retail sales fell 13% year over year, but it still outperforms the overall new vehicle market So it demonstrates a lot of resilience. So during the first nine months of the year, the top 10 NEV brands accounted for 72% of total NEV retail sales volume. So half of that are from the traditional automakers.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
From the industry perspective, the brand evolution is relatively obvious. Although the overall sales volume of new energy is declining, some new-generation brands have a relatively good growth compared to the previous nine months.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
From an industry landscape perspective, the brand differentiation remains quite clear, very evident. Although the overall EV sales declined, some brands still delivered strong year-over-year growth in the first nine months, so this is attributable to those brands early product line-up planning and their channel build-up. Okay, thank you. Next question, please.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you. We will now take our next question from Thomas Chong of Jefferies. Please ask your question, Thomas. Your line is open.
Jing Yuan / Thomas Chong
Analyst
Thank you for taking my questions. Can management share any updates on the progress of the company's used car business? Thanks. Okay, thank you. Currently, the company's used car business is being promoted both domestically and internationally.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
The domestic second-hand car is a one-stop sales service platform. From information integration to a standardized transaction, we provide full-chain service from delivery, invitation, detection, matching, delivery, and so on. The delivery is covered by two scenarios, both inside and outside the station. We have one-on-one exclusive managers on the invitation. We have 265 industry-specific professional detection systems for detection to provide the insurance system for the car frame. In terms of matching, we use our warehouse model to automatically match the management number of the driver and the salesman, and take a close-up shot of the whole country through Tiantian. Finally, we sign a contract on the spot, and hand over half of the goods. In the third quarter, we will standardize the whole process of selling and servicing in six cities across the country. At present, the transaction transformation and user satisfaction are not bad. In the future, we will further upgrade and polish this model.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Thank you for your question. For our used car business, it is currently making progress along the two parallel tracks. One is the domestic market, the other is the overseas market. Our domestic full-process used car sales service platform is upgrading from an information matching platform to a standardized transaction platform. From customer acquisition, we cover the entire chain of services from appointment scheduling, vehicle inspection, buyer and seller matching, and then to final delivery. On the customer acquisition, we cover both on-platform and off-platform customer acquisition channels. On the appointment scheduling, we can provide dedicated one-on-one customer service representative On the vehicle inspection, we can offer 265 professional inspection items benchmarked against the industry standards, providing a comprehensive vehicle condition assurance system. On the matching of buyers with sellers, we can leverage our Tangjie large language model to intelligently match vehicles based on dealers operational preferences as well as TTP to conduct nationwide auction. And finally, we provide other services for online agreements, signing and ownership transfer, et cetera. So in the third quarter, we piloted this standardized end-to-end vehicle selling service model in six cities across China. Initial results in terms of transaction conversion and the user satisfaction has been quite encouraging that we will further refine this model and replicate nationwide in the future.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
In terms of the cross-border export service platform, we are paying attention to the increase in the number of employees and the increase in the efficiency. After the full process of the export plan was completed in July, the turnover of the last few months has increased significantly. However, this amount is still very small. The coordination between the online international war and the offline travel network is still in the process of coordination. In the future, we hope to improve the efficiency. The company's original information services, sales services, and data platforms are all traditional mass-produced businesses. They are all continuing to develop. This part of overseas is a new opportunity for us.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
For our cross-border export services platform, we are focused on improving the vehicle supply and operational efficiency. Following the successful completion of our first end-to-end export transaction in July, So the number of transactions has increased month by month in the past few months. But of course, the total volumes are still relatively smaller amount. And we are still working to optimize coordination between our online international platform and our offline fulfillment network. And hopefully we can improve the operational efficiency in the future. and for our existing information services, auction services and data services, they are all established business lines and continue to develop and the overseas business represents additional growth opportunities for us. Okay, thank you. Next question, operator.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you. Our next question comes from the line of Richie Sun from HSBC. Please go ahead, Richie, your line is open.
Brian Gong / Richie Sun
Analyst
管理層,晚上好,謝謝你們接受我的提問。 我想了解一下,管理層,你們如何思考 AI Agent 對咱們傳統業務發展的挑戰還有機會, 那有哪些的點是已經體現在收入和成本上面呢?
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Good evening, management. Thank you for taking my question.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
I would like to ask how does management assess the challenges and opportunities brought by an AI agent to the traditional business? What are the actual impacts that have already been felt or realized in our revenue and the cost? Thank you.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Thank you. AI Agents have a great impact on the traditional business of the entire automotive industry. For example, in terms of interaction, AI Agents have become a new way to connect users and services. Conversational interaction is based on the traditional entry mode. In terms of service mode, AI Agents have achieved the distribution of intelligent services, and the traditional head content coverage mode requires more accurate access capabilities.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
Thank you for your question. On the impact of AI agents on our traditional automotive industry business from two levels. Level one is from the user interaction level. AI agents is becoming a new central hub connecting the users with services with conversational interactions increasingly replacing traditional platform entry points. And the second from the service delivery level AI agents enables intelligent service distribution. So traditional service models used by vertical automotive media platforms which have historically focused on content placement and the broad market coverage must evolve towards more precise targeting
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
And for Autohome, we have made
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
some achievements or progress in the AI. Here I can give you several examples. One example is the Cheese Car Butler, which was officially launched September this year. It enables users to find the service providers they need, and also enables offline service providers to find online users. Another example is our Chang Jie, large language model which serves as our underlying technology foundation. It enables us to establish a comprehensive AI empowerment framework which can improve internal staff efficiency and empower business partners and enhance services for users.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
So these technologies and product investment, its results have been reflected in the cost of Zhijia's report. But at present, in terms of scaled-down revenue, AI has not yet been able to make such contributions. Rather, as the underlying technology capabilities of Zhijia products, it continues to help optimize products and increase efficiency. It is still using this method to support and help our revenue.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
So these investments in technology and products are already reflected in our financial statements, financial results. However, AI are not already began to generate revenue in scale. Instead, they serve as the underlying technological capabilities across our various products, helping us optimize the product offerings and improve operational efficiency. So in this way, AI can support and strengthen our existing revenue generating more business. Thank you.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you. We have now come to the end of the Q&A session. I'll now turn the call back to management for closing remarks.
Craig Zeng
Chief Financial Officer
Thank you very much, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you again on our next quarter's conference call and to sharing the latest updates on AutoHome's corporate strategy and business development.
Sterling Song
Investor Relations Director
should you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at any time. Thank you very much. Goodbye.
Conference Operator
Operator
Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.