In the first week of April, EV registrations in China were mainly down due to the Qingming Festival, with several exceptions. Nio was down 40%, Tesla was down about 80%, and BYD was down 25%, while Xpeng was up 21% compared with the week before.

337,000 passenger cars were registered in China, down 30% from last week and up 25.9% from last year. Of these, 169,000 were electric vehicles, meaning the EV penetration rate was 50.1%, up 4.8% percentage points from the same week last year.

The weekly sales were published by Li Auto. However, Li Auto ceased publishing them last week after the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) “recommended” that Li Auto, the media and any third parties end it. CAAM says weekly data “undermines the industry order” and “fuels vicious competition.” Li Auto has now published only its own EV registration.

The weekly data are used by consultants, analysts, or investors to see the sales trend and forecast monthly deliveries. They show how many cars were registered for road traffic, which can be later compared with automakers’ self-reported monthly sales, which, unlike registrations, include cars for showrooms, test cars, and other uses.

China-controlled media have followed CAAM’s recommendation to stop publishing weekly figures. However, as an independent source of information on the Chinese auto market since 2010, CarNewsChina continues to publish weekly insurance registrations, sourced from China EV DataTracker.

The numbers are rounded and present new energy vehicle (NEV) sales, the Chinese term for BEVs, PHEVs, and EREVs (range extenders). To be completely precise, it also includes hydrogen vehicles (FCEVs), but their sales are almost non-existent in China.

Week 14 of 2025 (W14) was between March 31 and April 6.

BYD led the week with 45,100 insurance registrations in China, falling 25.3% from 60,400 units the previous week.

BYD’s brand Denza recorded 2,600 registrations, falling 25.7% from 3,500 units the week before.

BYD sold 4.3 million vehicles in 2024 and is expected to deliver around 5.5 million units in 2025. In April 2022, BYD ceased production of ICE-only vehicles and focused solely on EVs.

Xpeng followed with 7,500 registrations, up 21.0% from 6,200 units a week earlier. Xpeng managed to outsell Li Auto and got the first spot among EV startup sales in week 14.

Xpeng’s monthly delivery volume has exceeded 30,000 vehicles for the fifth consecutive month as the company announced 33,205 delivered units in March. The Mona M03 entry-level sedan has powered its deliveries, contributing about half of the sales in the last three months. Mona M03 recently reached 100,000 produced units, 216 days after the launch.

Li Auto posted 6,200 registrations, down 29.5% from 8,800 units the previous week.

Li Auto sells mainly EREV SUVs. Last year, it launched its first all-electric car, Li Mega. However, the sales were disastrous for the coffin-like vehicle. In response, Li Auto delayed the launch of another all-electric model to Q2 2025 – it will be an all-electric SUV, Li Auto i8, which was already teased in spy shots.

Li Auto reportedly aims to sell 700,000 cars in 2025. In 2024, the company sold 500,508 vehicles.

Leapmotor recorded 5,400 registrations, declining 33.3% from 8,100 units the week before.

Xiaomi saw 5,100 registrations, decreasing 34.6% from 7,800 units a week earlier.

Last month, Beijing-based smartphone giant raised its 2025 delivery target by 50,000 units to 350,000 vehicles.

In 2024, the company delivered 135,000 vehicles.

Huawei’s Aito registered 4,800 vehicles, rising 37.1% from 3,500 units the week before.

Deepal reported 4,100 registrations, down 22.6% from 5,300 units the previous week.

Tesla saw a sharp decline to 3,600 registrations, down 82.6% from 20,700 units the week before.

Tesla China sold 78,828 vehicles in March, including domestic sales and overseas shipments from Giga Shanghai. This is 11.5% down from 89,064 units last year and up 156.9% from 30,688 units in February.

Zeekr posted 2,700 registrations, decreasing 20.6% from 3,400 units the previous week.

Nio had 1,800 registrations, down 40.0% from 3,000 units a week earlier.

Nio’s brand Onvo recorded 700 registrations, a 50.0% decrease from 1,400 units the previous week.

Onvo sells a single model, an L60 SUV, launched in September 2024 to compete with the Tesla Model Y. Its initial monthly sales target was to reach 10,000 units in December and 20,000 in March.

The December target was achieved with little help from selling cars to its own employees. However, the March target of 20,000 units was strongly missed; the brand delivered only 4,820 vehicles. As a result, Onvo CEO Alan Ai resigned and was replaced by Shen Fei, head of Nio Power.

Onvo will soon launch its second car, the massive SUV L90. It will compete with Li Auto L9 and Aito M9 and most likely cannibalise sales of Nio’s first mass-produced EV, the ES8.

Nio Group’s sales target is about 440,000 vehicles in 2024, of which Onvo should contribute half. Last year, the company delivered 220,000 vehicles.

Together, Nio Group registered 2,500 vehicles, down 43% from 4,400 vehicles the week before.

Luxeed registered 1,300 vehicles, a 38.1% drop from 2,100 units the previous week.

Avatr posted 1,300 registrations, down 31.6% from 1,900 units the week before.