Thirteen carmakers turned in their August scorecards on 1 September, and the split between China’s new-force brands could hardly be sharper. At the top, Leapmotor crossed 100,000 deliveries for a second straight month. At the bottom, four ecosystems slipped. The through-line for European readers: Chinese electric vehicle exports are climbing off the same momentum.
Leapmotor clears 100,000 again, chases a million for the year
Leapmotor delivered 103,100 vehicles in August, up 80.7 per cent year on year and 1.84 per cent month on month, its second consecutive month above 100,000 and a fresh single-month record. By comparable registrations the company says it now ranks among the global top four and China’s top three new-energy passenger brands. Year to date it has reached 560,900 units, up 70.55 per cent, leaving it 439,100 short of its 1 million annual target, which requires an average of 109,800 a month over the remaining four months.
Leapmotor is also pushing abroad: on 18 August it entered Argentina with its B10 and C10 global models, and it continues localising with Stellantis. Zeekr, meanwhile, delivered 37,000 units, up 109.8 per cent year on year and 3.2 per cent month on month, its seventh straight month of dual growth, with the 9X helping drive overseas expansion.
Li Auto recovers as Xiaomi holds steady
Li Auto posted 37,700 deliveries, up 32.1 per cent year on year and 23.7 per cent month on month, an extra 7,211 cars versus July that reversed several months of declines and was the strongest month-on-month gain among the nine tracked groups. Xiaomi stayed above 30,000; with January to July retail at 216,300 plus August, its year-to-date exceeds 246,300, leaving 303,700 to hit a 550,000 target, or about 75,900 a month through December.
Four ecosystems dipped month on month: Harmony Intelligent Mobility minus 6.5 per cent, NIO minus 0.3 per cent, Deepal minus 1.9 per cent and Voyah minus 1.4 per cent. In July, seven groups had fallen.
The export surge is what Europe should watch
The traditional OEMs tell the real supply-chain story. BYD sold more than 440,000 vehicles, with overseas sales above 180,000, a record. Chery moved 280,100, up 15.4 per cent, with exports of 197,000, up 52.1 per cent, making it the first Chinese carmaker to pass 7 million cumulative exports. Geely sold 270,200, up 8 per cent, with exports of 110,000, up 205 per cent. Great Wall sold 113,400, down 1.87 per cent but up 4.93 per cent on the month.
Most makers are climbing out of the summer lull with new models and promotions, building toward the traditional autumn peak. For European buyers and suppliers, the headline is not any single brand’s number but the export curve: Chery and Geely are pushing foreign sales harder than ever, and BYD’s overseas mix keeps setting records.
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Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original CheDongXi report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://chedongxi.com/p/375308.html.
Translated and adapted from CheDongXi (https://chedongxi.com/p/375308.html).