China’s EV market reshuffles faster in May: Leapmotor, NIO, and Zeekr sprint ahead, Li Auto loses momentum, BYD under pressure.

China’s EV market reshuffles faster in May: Leapmotor, NIO, and Zeekr sprint ahead, Li Auto loses momentum, BYD under pressure.

According to delivery data for China’s new energy vehicle market in May, industry polarization has intensified, with widening growth gaps among leading brands: Leapmotor, NIO, and Zeekr recorded sharp year-over-year delivery increases, while Li Auto and XPeng saw declines and BYD remained essentially flat.

In May, Leapmotor achieved a record monthly delivery of 81,569 units, up 81% year-over-year.

NIO delivered 37,705 units, a year-on-year increase of 62.3%; Zeekr delivered 34,377 units, up 81.8% year-on-year, and the rising share of flagship models pushed the average transaction price per vehicle up 52.4% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, Li Auto delivered 33,350 units in May, a year-on-year decline of 18.37%, making it one of the few major brands with negative year-over-year growth.

BYD’s May new energy vehicle sales totaled 383,453 units, basically unchanged from last year’s 382,476 units. However, cumulative sales in the first five months of this year fell 20.32% year-on-year, and cumulative production dropped 21.27%, showing overall pressure since the start of the year.

Leapmotor, NIO, Zeekr Surge

Leapmotor delivered 81,569 units globally in May, up 81% year-over-year and setting a new monthly sales record for the brand.

NIO delivered 37,705 units in May, up 62.3% year-over-year and up 28.4% month-over-month.

By brand, NIO delivered 20,013 units, up 50.8% year-over-year; ONVO delivered 12,029 units, up 91.5% year-over-year and up 124.8% month-over-month; firefly delivered 5,663 units, up 53.9% year-over-year. In the first five months of this year, NIO’s cumulative deliveries reached 150,526 units, up 68.7% year-over-year, and total cumulative deliveries to date are 1,148,118 units. May was a period of intensive new product releases for NIO: NIO ES9 started delivery on May 27, ONVO L80 on May 15, and the 2026 ONVO L90 delivered from May 9.

Zeekr delivered 34,377 units in May, up 81.8% year-over-year, achieving both month-over-month and year-over-year growth for 4 consecutive months. Flagship models like Zeekr 009, 9X, and 8X made up nearly 50% of deliveries, driving average transaction prices up 52.4% year-over-year. By the end of May, Zeekr’s global cumulative deliveries were close to 800,000 units.

Li Auto Down Year-Over-Year, Model Update Cycle Impacts Delivery Pace

Li Auto delivered 33,350 units in May, a year-over-year decline of 18.37%. As of May 31, its cumulative deliveries reached 1,702,792 units.

Li Auto chairman and CEO Li Xiang stated that the brand-new Li L9 was officially released and deliveries began in May, marking the beginning of a full series upgrade for the Li L lineup.

The brand-new Li L9 Livis received more than 10,000 large orders within two weeks of sales launch. The company expects it to maintain a 20%+ market share in the new energy SUV market above RMB 500,000. The company also revealed it will launch the brand-new Li L8 at the end of June. Since March, Li Auto’s monthly deliveries have consistently exceeded 20,000 units.

Aito, Xiaomi, XPeng Deliver Over 30,000 Units Each

Aito delivered 34,320 units across all models in May, a 48.2% month-over-month increase, and cumulative delivery growth from January to May rose 28.7% year-on-year. Its parent company Seres sold 33,476 new energy vehicles in May, down 16.27% year-on-year, including 30,187 Seres-branded vehicles, down 17.18% year-on-year.

Xiaomi’s car deliveries exceeded 30,000 units in May; for two consecutive months in April and May, deliveries have topped 30,000 units.

Notably, Xiaomi has only published delivery ranges in recent months, not specific figures. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun explained that he does not want to fall into direct number comparisons with other brands, saying "roughly is enough."

XPeng Group delivered 32,158 newly sold vehicles in May, up 4% over last month; last May’s figure was 33,525 units.

On May 20, the XPeng GX was officially launched with deliveries starting, and 24,863 orders were placed within 12 hours of launch, with the Ultra flagship version accounting for over 80% of orders. XPeng also announced the first domestic factory full-stack self-developed L4 level Robotaxi, which rolled off the line in Guangzhou in the same month and plans to start a demonstration in Q3 in Guangzhou.

Traditional Auto Makers and Other Brands Show Divergence

Great Wall Motors sold 100,399 units in May, down 1.79% year-over-year; production was 110,423 units, up 8.38%. In the first five months, cumulative sales reached 475,815 units, up 3.64% year-over-year; cumulative production was 506,606 units, up 9.52%.

Geely’s total sales in May were 237,637 units, up 1% year-over-year; however, pure electric vehicle sales in May were 76,633 units, down 19% year-over-year, indicating clear pressure in the pure electric sector.

Beijing New Energy Vehicle under BAIC BluePark sold 21,871 units in May, up 27.75% year-over-year; cumulative sales in the first five months were 68,613 units, up 24.39% year-over-year.

Voyah delivered 13,003 units in May, up 30% year-over-year; in the first five months, cumulative deliveries were 62,041 units, up 35% year-over-year.

Risk Warning and DisclaimerThe market has risks; investing needs caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account individual users’ specific investment targets, financial situation, or needs. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article suit their particular situation. Investment based on this, responsibility is your own.