On August 1, China’s electric vehicle startups collectively disclosed their July delivery report cards. In this mid-year sprint, Leapmotor (09863.HK) rewrote industry records with monthly deliveries exceeding 100,000 units, becoming the first startup brand to enter the “100,000-unit monthly sales club.” Meanwhile, multiple leading players—including NIO (09866.HK/NIO.US), XPeng (09868.HK/XPEV.US), Li Auto (02015.HK/LI.US), Zeekr, and Xiaomi Auto—all surpassed the 30,000-unit delivery threshold, demonstrating the robust growth momentum in China’s new energy vehicle market.
Leapmotor’s July deliveries reached 101,267 units, surging 102% year-over-year and climbing 8.45% month-over-month. This figure not only made Leapmotor the first startup brand to exceed 100,000 monthly deliveries but also pushed its January-to-July cumulative deliveries to 457,754 units, achieving approximately 45.78% of its full-year target of 1 million units. Leapmotor has now built a product matrix spanning A, B, C, and D series, covering the mainstream market with prices ranging from 60,000 yuan (approximately $8,888) to 300,000 yuan (approximately $44,441). Leapmotor founder, chairman, and CEO Zhu Jiangming revealed that a new model, the Leapmotor A05, will launch in August, and the company’s Technology Day in September will showcase the latest breakthroughs of Leapmotor’s world model in smart driving.
Xiaomi Auto’s monthly deliveries remained above 30,000 units for the fourth consecutive month. According to Xiaomi Auto’s disclosed data, first-quarter cumulative deliveries totaled 80,856 units, second-quarter deliveries exceeded 90,000 units, and January-to-July cumulative deliveries surpassed 200,000 units (approximately $29,627), advancing toward its annual target of 550,000 units. Xiaomi Auto’s current lineup includes the all-electric SU7 sedan, the all-electric YU7 SUV, and the YU7 GT performance variant. Notably, the extended-range SUVs Pengcheng N90 Max and N70 Max, unveiled on July 30, will officially launch in September, marking Xiaomi’s formal entry into the rapidly growing extended-range market segment.
NIO delivered 35,934 new vehicles in July, up 71% year-over-year but down 11.49% month-over-month. By brand breakdown, the main NIO brand delivered 20,008 units, up 57.9% year-over-year; the Onvo brand delivered 10,155 units, up 69.9%; and the Firefly brand delivered 5,771 units, up 143.9%. From January to July, NIO Inc. delivered a cumulative 227,057 new vehicles, setting an all-time high with a 68% year-over-year increase. Among these, the NIO brand accumulated 139,496 deliveries, Onvo delivered 52,618 units, and Firefly delivered 34,943 units—all three brands setting their own records for the first seven months. To date, NIO Inc. has cumulatively delivered 1,224,649 new vehicles.
XPeng delivered 38,027 new vehicles in July, up approximately 4% year-over-year but down 5.23% month-over-month. As of July, XPeng’s global cumulative deliveries have surpassed 1.2 million units. Zeekr also delivered an impressive performance, with 35,837 units delivered in July—a 111% year-over-year surge and a 1.9% month-over-month increase—once again setting a new monthly record. While the Zeekr 9X and 8X super hybrid models continued to lead, global deliveries of pure electric models such as the shooting brake and 7X also exceeded the 10,000-unit mark. Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance delivered 45,046 units in July, with January-to-July cumulative deliveries reaching 286,000 units, up 13.7% year-over-year.
Li Auto delivered 30,468 new vehicles in July, a slight 0.86% year-over-year dip and a 1.38% month-over-month decline. As of July 31, Li Auto’s historical cumulative deliveries reached 1.764 million units. Li Auto chairman and CEO Li Xiang stated that July saw the official launch of the new-generation Li L6, the market entry and localized production commencement of the Li L9 in Kazakhstan, and the Li L9 surpassing 300,000 cumulative deliveries. He anticipates that the Li L6 will exceed 400,000 deliveries in August, becoming the fastest extended-range model priced above 200,000 yuan to reach this sales milestone.
Deepal’s global sales in July totaled 29,213 units, up 7.52% year-over-year but down 13.12% month-over-month, with overseas sales rising 22.87% month-over-month. January-to-July global cumulative sales reached 193,369 units, up 13.48% year-over-year, while overseas cumulative sales hit 44,508 units, surging 87.48% year-over-year. In July, the Deepal S07 launched in the Eurasia region, the Deepal S05 successively entered Indonesia and Greece, and the all-new Deepal S05 will launch on August 6. Deepal chairman Deng Chenghao revealed at the Chongqing Auto Show that all Deepal models this year will feature mass-produced LiDAR and urban intelligent driving assistance systems, while pure electric models in the second half of the year will successively adopt 800V high-voltage platforms supporting 6C ultra-fast charging, enabling 30% to 80% charging in just 10 minutes. Voyah (07489.HK) delivered 13,189 units in July, down 7.27% month-over-month; January-to-July cumulative deliveries reached 89,453 units, up 31% year-over-year.
Looking at the overall July landscape, the divergence within China’s EV startup camp continues, but the head effect is becoming increasingly pronounced. Leapmotor leads with an absolute advantage exceeding 100,000 units, while Xiaomi, NIO, XPeng, Li Auto, and Zeekr have all firmly established delivery levels above 30,000 units, collectively forming the first tier of the new energy vehicle market. Notably, most automakers experienced varying degrees of month-over-month decline in July, which may be related to a normal pullback after end-of-quarter sales pushes and also reflects a market entering a more intensely contested phase.
In terms of product strategy, the extended-range route is becoming a common choice for multiple automakers. Xiaomi’s upcoming extended-range SUV, Li Auto’s continued deep cultivation in the extended-range space, and the leading performance of Zeekr’s super hybrid models all indicate that extended-range technology is gaining increasing market acceptance. At the same time, smart driving and high-voltage fast-charging technologies have become competitive focal points. Deepal’s announcement of LiDAR and urban smart driving systems across its entire lineup, and Leapmotor’s preview of world model smart driving technology breakthroughs, signal that competition among startups in the intelligence domain will further escalate in the second half of the year.
Overseas market expansion was another highlight in this round of reports. Deepal’s overseas sales surged 87.48% year-over-year, Li Auto’s L9 commenced localized production in Kazakhstan, and Zeekr’s pure electric models achieved over 10,000 global deliveries, demonstrating that Chinese EV startup brands are accelerating the pace of their global expansion.
