China’s premium EV sales cruise along, while price war pushes profits further off for most

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Li Auto and Geely’s Zeekr turned in the strongest growth in July, while Xpeng and Nio delivered more modest increases

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Employees work on an assembly line of Li Auto in Changzhou, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: AFP

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 9:00pm, 1 Aug 2024Updated: 2:50pm, 25 Sep 2024

Major electric vehicle (EV) makers in mainland China maintained sales momentum in July thanks to attractive discounts and the growing preference for battery-powered cars in the world’s largest automotive market.

But profitability remains an uphill battle as the costly price war is unlikely to end soon.

Beijing-based Li Auto, Tesla’s nearest rival on the mainland, led the way with record sales of 51,000 units in July, up 49.4 per cent year on year and 6.8 per cent from the previous month.

Xpeng in Guangzhou delivered 11,145 vehicles in July, up 1.2 per cent year on year and 4.5 per cent month on month.

Shanghai-headquartered Nio handed 20,498 vehicles to mainland customers last month, up 0.2 per cent from the same period in 2023 but down 3.4 per cent from June. Nevertheless, it was the third consecutive month that the carmaker recorded deliveries of more than 20,000 units.

Monthly sales of 10,000 units is seen as a meaningful threshold in the market.

Zeekr, the premium EV unit of Geely, delivered 15,655 units last month, up 30 per cent from the same period in 2023 and down 22.1 per cent from June.