In September, most EV makers were firmly up, with BYD and Li Auto being notable exceptions. Nio grew 64%, Xpeng 95%, Leapmotor 97%, while BYD was down 6% compared with the same month of the previous year.

Automakers rushed to meet sales targets as the Golden Week holiday, which began on October 1 and runs through October 8, approached. Moreover, September 28, Sunday, was an adjusted working day in China.

The data comes from company reports and includes global sales of new energy passenger vehicles (BEV+PHEV), compiled by China EV DataTracker.

Note:

Xiaomi didn’t report exact numbers as usual, only saying they delivered over 40,000 units. In September of last year, the company delivered 13,559 cars in China, based on insurance registrations, which represents a more than threefold increase in year-over-year deliveries.

Tesla China doesn’t share sales data, which is only revealed later in the month by Chinese car associations. Based on insurance registration, we know that Tesla registered 50,200 cars in China during the first four weeks of September (1-28.9). CarNewsChina expects the Tesla deliveries in China will be around 55,000 units in September, excluding exports from the Shanghai plant.

China EV sales in September by Group

BYD Group sold 393,060 passenger vehicles globally, up 5.8% from August but down 5.9% from the same month in the previous year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), BYD sold 3,223,475 passenger vehicles, up 17.8% from the same period last year.

The automaker had a sales target of 5.5 million vehicles for 2025, which was internally slashed to 4.6 million last month.

Geely Group sold 165,201 electric vehicles, up 12.1% from August and up 81.3% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), Geely Auto sold 1,167,823 electric vehicles, up 113.9% from the same period last year.

Geely’s surge was primarily driven by its new Galaxy brand, which was launched in February 2023 as a series and later evolved into a brand. Geely also merged some other models and lineups into it, for example, the Geometry brand.

Geely Galaxy contributed 120,868 units to its EV sales, surging 316% year-over-year in September.

GM’s Chinese joint venture with SAIC and Wuling, SGMW, sold 100,593 vehicles, representing a 35.9% increase from August.

Leapmotor sold 66,657 vehicles, up 16.8% from August and up 97.4% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), Leapmotor sold 395,516 vehicles, up 128.8% from the same period last year.

In August, Leapmotor raised its 2025 sales target to 580,000–650,000 units.

Huawei’s HIMA alliance sold 52,916 vehicles, up 18.7% from August and up 32.5% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), HIMA sold 350,101 vehicles, up 113.7% from the same period last year.

HIMA is Huawei’s automotive alliance, comprising five brands: Aito, Luxeed, Stelato, Maextro, and Shangjie (Saic).

Great Wall Motor sold 45,961 vehicles, up 22.6% from August and up 52.5% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), Great Wall Motor sold 278,463 vehicles, up 31.7% from the same period last year.

Xpeng sold 41,581 vehicles, up 10.3% from August and up 94.7% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), Xpeng sold 313,196 vehicles, up 217.8% from the same period last year.

Xpeng’s 2025 sales target of 380,000 units is now sure to be surpassed.

Nio Group sold 34,749 vehicles, up 11.0% from August and up 64.1% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), Nio sold 201,221 vehicles, up 34.8% from the same period last year.

Li Auto sold 33,951 vehicles, up 19.0% from August but down 36.8% from the same month last year.
In 2025 so far (January – September), Li Auto sold 297,149 vehicles, down 13.1% from the same period last year.

In July, Li Auto internally lowered its 2025 sales target from 700,000 to 640,000 vehicles. The sales target can’t be achieved at this point and will most likely be reduced again.

Polestones (Rox Motor) sold 1,398 vehicles, up 2.9% from August.