Five out of China's six biggest EV makers posted record sales in September. Fueled by discounts and promotions, the Chinese EV pack led by BYD Company Limited (OTC:BYDDY) revived demand. While Li Auto Inc (NASDAQ:LI) and Xpeng Inc (NYSE:XPEV) also had a record sales month, Nio Inc (NYSE:NIO) was the only major Chinese carmaker that missed hitting record deliveries, but had sales grow by more than 35%.
BYD continues to race to take over Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA).
According to CnEVPost, BYD sold as many as 419,426 NEVs which include both EVs and plug-in-hybrids (PHEVs). Besides being the fourth straight month that BYD posted record sales, it is also the first time that BYD hit the 400,000 milestone in monthly sales. BYD also reached the 1 million mark in shipped vehicles in a single quarter. Keeping up with the larger trend to combat the EV slowdown, BYD also reported its hybrid sales went up more than 86% YoY. However, EV sales continued to pick up, rising 9% YoY and 11% from August.
Li Auto also had a month of bumper sales.
In September, Li Auto shipped a record 53,709 vehicles, which translates to a YoY rise of 48.94%. With this figure, Li Auto exceeded its prior record from July by 5%.
This means that Leapmotor posted its fourth consecutive monthly sales record.
In September, Stellantis N.V. (NYSE:STLA)-backed Leapmotor delivered 33,767 NEVs, which translates to a YoY increase of 113.7%.
Putting EVs aside, hybrid makers are emerging as winners on the mainland.
While BYD reached glory thanks to its affordable EVs, it continues to expand its portfolio, including pickups and luxury models, challenging Tesla who will report its full third quarter earnings on October 23rd. After two quarters of declines, Tesla sales seem to be picking up. For the three-month period ending in September, Tesla made 469,796 vehicles and delivered 462,890 of them, which means production rose 14.4% and deliveries grew 5.8% from the second quarter.
But before it releases the full figure third quarter report, Tesla will be revealing its long-awaited robotaxi on October 10th and provide a glimpse of its future and new identity as an AI and robotics company. But while its rivals continue to set new records, Tesla reported a smaller-than-expected rise in third quarter deliveries.
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