BEIJING, January 2 (TMTPost)— Data for the last month of 2023 showcased BYD Co. Ltd maintained leadership in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) sector.

Credit：Visual China

BYD sold 341,043 new energy vehicles (NEVs), including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), in December.That month was the eighth straight month for BYD to set new record after sales first topped a 300,000-unit milestone in October. Sales in December surged 45% year-over-year (YoY), accelerating from the previous month’s growth of 31%. Sales from January to December totaled 3.0244 million units, consolidating BYD’s leadership in China. The data suggested BYD managed to meet its annual target of 3 million NEVs. BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said in March 2022 that his company aimed to sell at least 3 million vehicles in 2023.

A number of BYD’s domestic peers posted double-digit growth of delivery in 2023. Aion maintained lead in emerging Chinese EV brands in terms of sales volume. The brand owned by the state-owned manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC) sold 45,947 vehicles in December with a 53% YoY increase. Its sales during the whole year thus increeased to 480,003 units, up 77% YoY. That marked the strongest annual growth for the GAC unit founded in July 2017. It took Aion four year and eight months to sell more than 1 million vehicles, the fastest for an automaker to hit the million-unit sales milestone.

Li Auto Inc. increased delivery 137.1% YoY to 50,353 vehicles in December, successfully achieved its monthly delivery target of 50,000 vehicles. The monthly delivery brought Li Auto’s yearly delivery to 376,030, jumping 182.2% from 2022. That is the first time in history for a Chinese NEV manufacturer to surpass the annual delivery milestone of 300,000 vehicles. Li Auto chairman and CEO Li Xiang noted his company has met the sales target of 376,000 vehicles for the year 2023 and will challenge a higher target of 800,000 units in 2024. The new target means Li Auto will seek sales more than doubled from those in the past year.

Nio Inc. delivered 18,012 vehicles in December, increasing 13.9% YoY, and deliveries for the year 2023 reached 160,038 units, up 30.7% YoY. Nio indicated the ET9, a smart electric executive flagship launched at Nio Day 2023 on December 23, will help fuel its delivery in the future. The company said ET9 embodies its latest advancements in technological research and development, presenting a combination of flagship-style exterior, innovative executive space, leading driving and riding experience, intelligent technologies, efficient power solutions, and comprehensive safety standards. Deliveries of the ET9 is expected to start in the first quarter of 2025.

Xpeng Inc. shipped 20,115 vehicles in December, setting a new monthly record with a 78% YoY growth. Its shipment in the fourth quarter reached 60,158 units, for the first time hitting 60,000 units in a quarter, marking a 171% YoY increase. The Guangzhou-based EV company delivered a total of 141,601 units for the full year 2023 with an increase of 17%, becoming laggard by growth compared with other leading emerging EV startups. However, the X9, a flagship model under SEPA2.0, is expected to be catalyst for Xpeng’s growth. Test drive of X9 started for customers across China in December, and deliveries of the model commenced right after the launch on January 1. Xpeng said X9 distinguishes itself from traditional MPV models with superior space, design and maneuvering that perfectly combine the advantages of MPVs and SUVs.

Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Ltd, delivered 18,618 vehicles, refreshing another monthly record with a 119% YoY increase in December. The accumulative delivery in 2023 reached 144,155 units, more than 29% YoY growth. Leapmotor plans to accept preorders of its first global model C10 on January 10 and the model will hit the market and start delivery in the first quarter. The company completed a deal on November 20 following an investment agreement with European auto giant Stellantis NV settled late October. Under the agreement, Stellantis spent 1.5 billion euros (US$1.58 billion) to acquire a stake of about 20% in Leapmotor. The two companies are going to set up a joint venture, in which Stellantis will own a 51% stake and have the exclusive rights for the export, sale and production of Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China.

AITO, a brand jointly developed by Huawei and Chongqing Sokon's brand Seres, said it delivered 24,468 vehicles in December, up 29.96% YoY, and brought annual delivery to 94,380 units. AITO has received over 30,000 preorders of the M9, the flagship six-seated SUV, in seven days since its launch. AITO has accumulated over 120,000 preorders since the launch of updated M7 on September 12. Delivery of the new M7 reached 20,611 vehicles in December, with a total delivery of 48,552 units. AITO said it has been improving deliveries and anticipted monthly delivery would top 30,000 units going into 2024.

Zeekr, an EV brand owned by Geely, set another monthly record in December. It shipped 13,476 EVs with a 18.9% YoY increase and annual delivery thus increased to 118,700 vehicles, up 65% YoY. Zeekr just launched its smart electric sedan 007 in December and began to deliver the model on January 1.