New technologies power China’s Tesla challengers to monthly sales records
Bucking muted market sentiment, Leapmotor and Zeekr both set records for a second consecutive month
Stellantis-backed Leapmotor delivered 93,376 electric vehicles (EVs) last month, up 94.5 per cent year on year, as it rewrote its sales record for a second consecutive month.
“The two carmakers, along with Xpeng, Nio and Xiaomi, are emerging as the winners of China’s EV market this year, but they represent just a small portion of the country’s EV industry,” said Eric Han, a senior manager at Shanghai consultancy Suolei. “Their technological advancement and fancy new models effectively spurred a sales jump.”
Tesla has yet to announce last month’s delivery volume in China, but its Shanghai Gigafactory now assembles only Model 3 and Model Y vehicles priced above 200,000 yuan (US$29,441).
Hangzhou-based Leapmotor builds and sells midsize smart EVs at roughly half the price of comparable Tesla models.
In May, Tesla’s Shanghai factory delivered 47,281 vehicles to customers in mainland China, up 22.5 per cent year on year, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association.