August EV sales figures: Leapmotor surpasses 100,000 units again to retain its top sales position; XPeng and Li Auto overtake NIO; HarmonyOS Mobility turns negative year-on-year.

August EV sales figures: Leapmotor surpasses 100,000 units again to retain its top sales position; XPeng and Li Auto overtake NIO; HarmonyOS Mobility turns negative year-on-year.

On September 1, the August performance reports of major Chinese new energy vehicle brands were released.

Leapmotor maintained its position as the top-selling new energy vehicle startup with 103,129 vehicles delivered globally, representing an 80.7% year-on-year increase and marking the second consecutive month exceeding 100,000 units. XPeng Group and Li Auto delivered 39,107 vehicles (up 4% year-on-year) and 37,679 vehicles (up 32% year-on-year) respectively, both surpassing NIO's 35,836 vehicles (up 14.5% year-on-year). HarmonyOS delivered 42,101 vehicles, a 5.6% decrease from 44,579 vehicles in the same period last year, making it the only one among the leading companies to experience a year-on-year decline.

The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) previously analyzed that August is not a traditional peak season for the auto market. High summer temperatures combined with extreme weather such as typhoons have kept the overall market volume low, but recovery momentum is gradually building. Gasoline-powered vehicles continue to face pressure due to high oil prices and aging product models, and are expected to maintain a significant year-on-year decline.

Leapmotor surpasses 100,000 vehicles again, and remains the only profitable company.

Leapmotor delivered 103,129 vehicles globally in August, a year-on-year increase of 80.7%. In July, the company delivered 101,267 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 102%, marking its first time exceeding 100,000 units in a single month—August marks the second consecutive month it has reached this milestone, making it the only new energy vehicle brand to surpass 100,000 units this month. According to the company, based on recent comparable vehicle registration numbers, Leapmotor ranks among the top four global new energy passenger vehicle brands and the top three Chinese new energy passenger vehicle brands.

Profitability is another key factor driving Leapmotor's current success. The latest financial report for the first half of 2026 shows that the company achieved revenue of 38.11 billion yuan, a record high for the same period; net profit reached 210 million yuan, marking three consecutive half-years of profitability; and the gross profit margin in the second quarter increased to 12.6% quarter-on-quarter. Furthermore, Leapmotor confirmed in its 2026 interim results call that it has already entered the robotics business.

XPeng maintained its second-place position, while Li Auto's sales rebounded but profitability stalled.

XPeng Group delivered 39,107 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 4%, maintaining its second-place ranking. The flagship model, the XPeng GX, delivered 7,338 units in August, marking three consecutive months of positive month-on-month growth, with a cumulative total of 21,501 units delivered as of August 31. The entry-level MONA series has accumulated over 310,000 deliveries.

The second-quarter financial report shows that XPeng's total revenue was RMB 19.74 billion, an increase of 8.0% year-on-year; vehicle deliveries were 103,295, an increase of 64.8% quarter-on-quarter; and the gross profit margin was 20.7%, an increase of 3.4 percentage points year-on-year.

The company's moves in robotics garnered even more attention that month: In August, XPeng Robotics completed its first round of financing, raising over $900 million, bringing its post-investment valuation to over $6.3 billion, breaking the record for a single-round private equity financing in China's embodied intelligence industry. This round was led by IDG Capital, with participation from Gaorong Capital, and received strategic investor support from Tencent and Alibaba. XPeng IRON plans to enter mass production by the end of 2026 and officially launch and deliver to Chinese and overseas markets in 2027.

Li Auto delivered 37,679 vehicles in August, compared to 28,529 in the same period last year, representing a year-on-year increase of 32% and rising to third place in the rankings. As of August 31, the company's cumulative deliveries reached 1,801,834 vehicles. The company stated that in the first half of this year, Li Auto ranked first in sales among Chinese brands in the 200,000 RMB and above new energy vehicle market; the Li i6 has ranked among the top three in sales of all models priced above 200,000 RMB for seven consecutive months.

NIO's stock price plummeted, falling approximately 5% after guidance missed expectations.

NIO delivered 35,836 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%, ranking fifth among leading emerging electric vehicle manufacturers. By brand, NIO delivered 21,174 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 101.2%; Firefly delivered 5,852 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 34.7%; and Ledo delivered 8,810 vehicles, the company not disclosing its year-on-year performance.

In the first eight months of this year, NIO delivered a total of 262,893 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 57.9%. Of these, 160,670 were NIO brand vehicles (up 64.5% year-on-year), 61,428 were Ledao brand vehicles (up 13.2% year-on-year), and 40,795 were Firefly vehicles (up 180.3% year-on-year). To date, the company's cumulative deliveries have reached 1,260,500 vehicles.

The second-quarter report released on the same day showed that NIO's revenue in the second quarter was 32.14 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 69%, lower than the market expectation of 33.36 billion yuan; automobile sales revenue was 22.78 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41%, compared with the market expectation of 29.83 billion yuan; and 107,658 vehicles were delivered, a year-on-year increase of 49%, compared with the market expectation of 111,501 vehicles.

For the third quarter, the company expects to deliver 108,000 to 111,000 vehicles, representing a year-on-year increase of 24.0% to 27.5%, compared to market expectations of 123,400 vehicles; and expects total revenue of RMB33.285 billion to RMB34.051 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 52.7% to 56.2%, compared to market expectations of RMB35.58 billion.

HarmonyOS Intelligent Mobility turned negative year-on-year, but new car orders supported the market.

HarmonyOS delivered 42,101 new vehicles in August, compared to 44,579 in the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 5.6%, making it the only one among the leading companies to experience a year-on-year decline. Year-to-date cumulative deliveries increased by 10.8% year-on-year, and the total number of vehicles delivered to date has exceeded 1.52 million.

In terms of vehicle models, the Zhijie V9 has achieved cumulative deliveries of over 20,000 units, setting a new record for the fastest delivery of a 500,000 RMB-level new energy MPV; the Wenjie M6 has achieved cumulative deliveries of over 45,000 units in four months since its launch. Regarding new models, the Xiangjie G9 received over 5,000 pre-orders within 24 hours of its launch; the Zunjie V800 and V680 received over 3,500 pre-orders within 24 hours of their launch.

Extreme spending doubles, Xiaomi is stuck at 30,000 vehicles.

Jike delivered 36,981 vehicles in August, a year-on-year increase of 109.8%, setting a new record high and achieving double-digit growth both month-on-month and year-on-year for seven consecutive months; from January to August, it delivered a total of 251,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 100.4%.

Structurally, the Shooting Brake has achieved monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units for three consecutive months, with a cumulative total of over 400,000 units; the 7X has received over 200,000 global orders, and continued to achieve monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units in August; the 9X is the top-selling MPV in the over-500,000 RMB category this year; and the 009 ranks first in sales among luxury MPVs in markets such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand. According to the plan, the 9X will be launched overseas this month, the five-seater version will see accelerated deliveries, and the Jike 9X Glory is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter.

Xiaomi delivered over 30,000 cars in August, though the company did not disclose specific figures. This marks the fifth consecutive month that it has delivered more than 30,000 vehicles. The company stated that it is fully preparing for the launch and delivery of Xiaomi's new car model.

Xiaomi Group's latest performance results show that in the second quarter of this year, its smart electric vehicle and AI and other innovative business segment generated revenue of RMB 24.9 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%, of which smart electric vehicle revenue was RMB 23.9 billion and other related business revenue was RMB 1 billion; the segment had an operating loss of RMB 2.6 billion and a gross profit margin of 19.2%.

Deep Blue, Voyah, and Huajing: Second-tier cities continue their upward climb.

DeepBlue Autos sold 28,659 vehicles globally in August, bringing its cumulative global sales from January to August to 222,028 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 11.77%, with cumulative global sales exceeding 947,600 vehicles.

Voyah delivered 13,003 vehicles in August, bringing its cumulative deliveries from January to August to 102,456 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 25%.

Huajing Auto delivered 7,306 vehicles in August, marking the fourth consecutive month of steady growth.

Traditional automakers are diverging, with Seres experiencing a widening decline.

BYD's sales of new energy vehicles in August reached 440,293 units, compared to 373,626 units in the same period last year, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 17.8%; of which 189,500 new energy vehicles were exported.

SAIC Motor's total vehicle sales in August were 357,007 units, a year-on-year decrease of 1.75%.

Chery Group's total sales in August reached 280,128 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 15.4%; among them, 120,909 were new energy vehicles, exceeding 100,000 vehicles for the fifth consecutive month; exports reached 196,984 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 52.1%, with cumulative exports reaching 7.18 million vehicles, making it the first Chinese automaker to exceed 7 million vehicles in cumulative exports.

Geely Automobile's total sales in August reached 270,200 units, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 8%.

Great Wall Motors sold 113,400 vehicles in August, a year-on-year decrease of 1.87%.

Seres reported sales of 24,244 new energy vehicles in August, a year-on-year decrease of 43.96%; production was 24,742 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 42.55%. Of these, Seres vehicle sales were 20,652 units, a year-on-year decrease of 49.68%. From January to August, the company's cumulative production was 229,700 vehicles and cumulative sales were 227,300 vehicles, representing year-on-year decreases of 13.22% and 12.58%, respectively.

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