China's EV Makers Post Strong August Sales, but Growth Remains Uneven

By Jiahui Huang

Chinese electric-vehicle makers recorded broadly higher sales last month, with outsize gains from a handful of fast-growing brands, underscoring how the intense competition is reshaping the world's largest auto market even as overall demand remains under pressure.

BYD continued to lead the market, with sales of new-energy vehicles--a term encompassing EVs and plug-in hybrids--totaling 440,293 units in August, an 18% increase from a year earlier. Geely Automobile sold 270,194 vehicles, up 8% from a year ago.

Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology and Geely's premium brand, Zeekr, posted a surge in monthly sales despite a slowing Chinese market. Leapmotor's August deliveries jumped 81% to a record 103,129 vehicles. Zeekr also sold a record number of vehicles, with deliveries more than doubling to 36,981 units.

Several major EV makers posted more modest growth. XPeng delivered 39,107 vehicles in August, up 3.7% from a year ago, while NIO's sales climbed 14.5% to 35,836 vehicles.

NIO's sales figures dragged its shares 6.4% lower in Hong Kong on Tuesday. A sales breakdown showed an uneven performance across its three brands: Deliveries under its namesake brand more than doubled to 21,174 vehicles, while its family-oriented ONVO and premium compact Firefly brands delivered 8,810 and 5,852 units, respectively.

Li Auto logged stronger growth, with August deliveries increasing 32% to 37,679 vehicles. The company is preparing to launch a new generation of its Mega electric minivan and the i9 SUV this month as it seeks to expand its pure-EV lineup.

Xiaomi said its August deliveries exceeded 30,000 units, the fifth consecutive month above that level. The company is also preparing to begin deliveries of its Xiaomi Sky Nomad model.

The August figures come as China's auto market is entering a traditionally stronger sales period, with demand recovering after a relatively weak start to the month. Still, the uneven performance among EV makers points to intensifying competition for market share rather than a broad-based recovery in demand. Automakers are increasingly relying on new models and broader product lineups to sustain growth in a saturated market, as price competition continues to weigh on profitability.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 01, 2026 07:07 ET (11:07 GMT)