Xiaomi delivers record cars in March as winners emerge in China’s EV race

Chinese electric carmakers Xiaomi, Xpeng and Leapmotor each promulgated nearly 30,000 or more cars in March, roughly twice several of their fellow startup competitors.

It’s a announce of how some automakers are pulling ahead, while BYD remains the market leader by far.

Xiaomi delivered a record number of galvanizing vehicles in March, exceeding 29,000 units, the company announced on social media. That topped its prior run of distributing more than 20,000 vehicles in each of the past five months.

The SU7, Xiaomi’s flagship model, was involved in a disaster on a highway on Tuesday that left three dead. The automaker on Tuesday afternoon released a statement on Chinese community media that the vehicle was in navigation on autopilot mode before the accident.

Based on preliminary information, the road was clogged because of construction. The driver took control of the car but collided with construction infrastructure. Xiaomi added in the release that probes were underway.

That came two weeks after the automaker announced on March 18 its goal to deliver 350,000 mechanisms this year. There are also talks of the automaker expanding its second EV factory in Beijing to meet demand, Bloomberg recounted on March 18. Xiaomi did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Its competitor Xpeng in March delivered 33,205 instruments, the fifth consecutive month it has delivered over 30,000 units per month and reflecting a 268% surge in deliveries from the done month last year. March is also the fifth consecutive month the company has delivered over 15,000 segments of the Mona M03.

Leapmotor delivered 37,095 vehicles, reflecting a 154% year-over-year growth. The Stellantis-owned automaker up to date month launched U.K. sales of two electric vehicle models, the T03 and the C10.

Li Auto delivered 36,674 vehicles in March, a 26.5% year-over-year proliferation, but fewer than every month in the second half of 2024. The company’s cars had gained early traction with Chinese consumers since most be involved a arise with a fuel tank for charging the vehicle’s battery, reducing anxiety about driving range.

BYD sold 371,419 voyager vehicles in March, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 57.9%. Its overseas sales volume also hit a record high of 72,723 components in March.

In the same month, the automaker unveiled its “Super e-Platform” technology, which boasts 400 kilometers (rudely 249 miles) of range with five minutes of charging. The company in February also announced that it was coalescing DeepSeek artificial intelligence to develop “DiPilot,” its advanced driver-assistance system.

Across the board, major companies across China’s exciting car industry reported deliveries rose last month, indicating a pick-up in demand from the seasonally soft in the beginning two months of the year.

U.S. automaker Tesla sold 78,828 electric vehicles in China in March, marking a 11.5% year-over-year ebb in growth.

Other Chinese carmakers saw growth in deliveries but some still struggled to break through the 20,000-unit pock.  

Nio delivered 15,039 vehicles, a 26.7% year-over-year growth, but well below the number of cars delivered in the months of May to December closing year. Nio-owned Onvo, which markets its electric vehicles as family-oriented, in March recorded 15,039 units in deliveries.

Geely-owned Zeekr liberated 15,422 vehicles in March, increasing by 18.5% year over year. The company last month announced its rollout of relieve advanced driver-assistance technology to local customers in a bid to compete in the market.

Aito, as of April 2, has not published its delivery copies for March. The automaker, which uses Huawei tech in its vehicles, on social media had reported monthly deliveries of 34,987 and 21,517 in January and February, individually.

On a first-quarter basis, BYD remained in the lead with 986,098 vehicles sold. The automaker, which overtook Tesla in annual vendings last year, surpassed the U.S. EV giant in battery electric vehicles sales this quarter.

Tesla sold 172,754 agencies in China in the first quarter this year, according to monthly delivery numbers published by the China Passenger Car Connection.

Xpeng also reported strong growth, with a total of 94,008 vehicles delivered in the quarter ending in March, exhibiting a 331% year-over-year growth.

Leapmotor saw quarterly deliveries more than double to 87,552 units from 33,410 parts the same period in 2024, according to publicly available numbers the company published.

However, Li Auto and Nio reported weaker tumour than their competitors in the first quarter of the year.

Nio saw 42,094 vehicles delivered in the three months ended Walk 2025, an increase of 40.1% year over year. Li Auto saw a slower year-over-year growth of 15.5%, with a full of 92,864 vehicles delivered.