In the last week of September, China EV market was firmly up. Nio Group was up 60%, Xpeng 13%, Tesla 12% and BYD 30% up, compared with the week before.

It was expected to be a strong week as automakers pushed for sales before the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which falls between October 1 and October 8. Moreover, due to adjustments, Sunday, 28/9, was a working day in China.

Key events to watch

• Nio Group joined the 10k weekly club for the first time, thanks to the ES8 success
• Firefly is at an all-time high in weekly sales
• Leapmotor is at an all-time high
• After poor performance in August, BYD grew for three consecutive weeks in September

In March 2025, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) “recommended” that media and any third parties end sharing weekly registration numbers. CAAM says weekly data “undermines the industry order” and “fuels vicious competition.”

CarNewsChina continues to publish weekly insurance registrations, based on China EV DataTracker data.

The data present the brand’s new energy vehicle (NEV) registrations in China, the government 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 39 of 2025 (W39) was between September 22 and September 28. 

BYD brand registered 92,400 vehicles, up 30.7% from 70,700 the week before, but down 12.67% from 105,800 in the same week last year. In the first four weeks of September (1-28.9), the BYD brand registered 279,930 vehicles in China.

BYD’s Fang Cheng Bao registered 7,100 vehicles, up 31.5% from 5,400 the week before and up 370.20% from 1,510 a year earlier. In the first four weeks of September, Fang Cheng Bao registered 19,300 vehicles.

BYD’s Denza registered 3,100 vehicles, 42.9% up from 2,710 the week before. The Yangwang brand registered about 200 cars.

Tesla registered 19,300 vehicles, up 11.6% from 17,300 the week before but down 14.60% from 22,600 a year earlier. In the first four weeks of September, Tesla registered 66,340 vehicles in China.

Tesla produced only two models at its Shanghai plant in China: the Model 3 sedan and the Model Y SUV. This changed on August 19, when the US automaker launched the three-row six-seater Model Y L to compete with China’s massive SUVs (Li i8, Nio ES8, Onvo L90) and popular MPVs.

Leapmotor registered 16,000 vehicles, up 24.0% from 12,900 the week before and up 58.42% from 10,100 in the same week last year. In the first four weeks of September, Leapmotor registered 52,690 vehicles.

For Stellantis-backed automaker, this is the highest weekly result in history.

Xiaomi registered 11,000 vehicles, up 1.9% from 10,800 the week before and up 189.47% from 3,800 a year earlier. In the first four weeks of September, Xiaomi registered 37,760 vehicles.

Aito registered 10,700 vehicles, up 4.9% from 10,200 the week before and up 15.05% from 9,300 in the same week last year. In the first four weeks of September, Aito registered 36,900 vehicles.

Xpeng registered 10,400 vehicles, up 13.0% from 9,200 the week before and up 65.08% from 6,300 in the same week last year. In the first four weeks of September, Xpeng registered 34,400 vehicles.

Li Auto registered 8,600 vehicles, the same as the week before, but down 39.44% from 14,200 in the same week last year. In the first four weeks of September, Li Auto registered 31,410 vehicles.

Deepal registered 6,300 vehicles, up 12.5% from 5,600 the week before. In the first four weeks of September, Deepal registered 19,600 vehicles.

Nio brand registered 5,200 vehicles, up 101.6% from 2,580 the week before but down 14.75% from 6,100 in the same week last year. In the first four weeks of September, Nio registered 12,735 vehicles in China.

Onvo registered 3,800 vehicles, up 36.7% from 2,780 the week before. No year-on-year data is available. In the first four weeks of September, Onvo registered 11,850 vehicles in China.

Model breakdown:

• L90: 2,600 units
• L60 1,200 units

Firefly registered 1,800 units of its Firefly EV, up 37.4% from 1,310 the week before. No year-on-year data is available. In the first four weeks of September, Firefly registered 5,325 vehicles.

Nio Group registered 10,800 vehicles, up 61.9% from 6,670 units the week before. In the first four weeks of September (1-28.9), Nio Group registered 29,910 vehicles in China.

Nio launched the facelifted ES8 on September 20 at Nio Day. During the media roundtable attended by CarNewsChina, William Li confirmed that the company aims to produce 40,000 units of ES8 by the year’s end.

The ES8 came with aggressive pricing, with the entry-level version being about 14,000 USD cheaper than the previous model year. This resulted in news from last week that ES8 is basically sold out until March 2026, according to the waiting time shown in the Nio app.

Nio currently has two plants officially in operation: F1 and F2, both in Hefei. The third plant, F3, was intended to focus on ES8 production to support F1 and F2, with operations scheduled to begin in September. According to a report from Yicai, the F3 is not yet complete, and workers responsible for its construction are still on-site; however, limited production of the ES8 has already begun.

According to Nio delivery guidance, the company expect to deliver 34,678 – 38,678 vehicles globally in September.