At least three Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers broke their monthly sales records in November, as consumers rushed to dealers before tax breaks and cash subsidies are phased out from January 1. Analysts and dealers, however, expect a sharp fall in deliveries at the beginning of the new year as buying interest dries up. Stellantis-backed Leapmotor, one of the fastest-selling EV makers this year, delivered 70,327 vehicles in November, hitting an all-time high for the seventh consecutive month. Leapmotor, which offers midsize intelligent EVs at half the price of Tesla’s models, has been widening its customer base in the world’s largest automotive and EV market with regular new model launches. Voyah, a unit of state-owned Dongfeng Motor, completed its fourth straight month of record deliveries, with sales increasing 16.2% from a month earlier to 20,005 vehicles. Zeekr, a premium marque owned by China’s second-largest automotive group Geely Auto, reported record deliveries for a second month, selling 63,902 vehicles in November, up 3.7% from October. Its parent Geely, which makes both petrol and electric cars, delivered 310,428 vehicles, hitting a monthly record for the third consecutive month.
Xiaomi, a smartphone and EV maker, said its November deliveries broke the 40,000-unit mark for the third month, although it did not disclose the figure. Nio and Xpeng, whose premium models compete with Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, also posted substantial year-on-year increases in monthly sales. Guangzhou-based Xpeng delivered 36,728 cars, up 18.9% from a year earlier, while Nio’s sales surged 76.3% to 36,275 units. In China, deliveries of 10,000 cars a month are seen as an important threshold for defining a powerful carmaker.
“The sales results were within market expectations since more consumers were purchasing EVs to take advantage of the existing incentives,” said Zhao Zhen, Sales Director at Shanghai dealer Wan Zhuo Auto. “Some carmakers are also offering bigger discounts to spur deliveries.” Until the end of the year, Chinese buyers replacing existing cars with EVs are eligible for a trade-in subsidy of CNY20,000, while those buying petrol-powered cars are entitled to a CNY15,000 rebate.
The central government is likely to announce soon whether the trade-in subsidies will be renewed in January. Meanwhile, EV buyers currently exempt from a 10% purchase tax will incur a 5% levy from January, which will rise to the original 10% in 2028. Car sales are likely to drop in 2026, the first decline since 2020, if Beijing stops granting cash subsidies and tax incentives, according to a JPMorgan Chase forecast. Nick Lai, head of car research for Asia-Pacific at JPMorgan, said in October that the overall market could shrink by 3% to 5% next year. The EV segment, a bright spot in the economy amid surging adoption by motorists, was expected to grow 15% next year, down from a projected 27% this year, Lai said as reported by the South China Morning Post.
