Major news frequently emerges in the auto market! In May, the retail sales and production of passenger car producers reached a record high for the month. Is there no future for price wars?

In terms of charging piles,

according to statistics from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA), the number of public charging piles increased by 91,000 units in May 2025 compared to April 2025, representing a YoY increase of 33.9% in May. As of May 2025, member units within the alliance had reported a total of 4.083 million public charging piles, including 1.895 million DC charging piles and 2.187 million AC charging piles. From June 2024 to May 2025, an average of approximately 86,000 public charging piles were added each month.

From January to May 2025, the increment of charging infrastructure was 1.583 million units, and domestic sales of NEVs reached 4.753 million units. Both charging infrastructure and NEVs continued to grow rapidly.The ratio of charging pile to vehicle increments was 1:3.0, indicating that the construction of charging infrastructure can basically meet the rapid development of NEVs.

In May, among the new EV automakers, Leap Motor continued to top the list, while BYD's sales in May increased by 15.3% YoY.

The following figure shows the delivery data of new EV automakers in May compiled by Caixin:

On June 1, four new EV automakers, namely Leap Motor, Li Auto, XPeng, and NIO, announced their delivery data for the previous month as scheduled. Among them, Leap Motor secured the top spot in the new EV delivery rankings with a standalone performance of 45,067 units, representing a YoY increase of 148.1%. It is worth noting that Leap Motor has maintained its top position among new EV automakers for the third consecutive month; its cumulative deliveries in 2025 reached 173,658 units, up 160.83% YoY.

As for Li Auto, it also broke through the 40,000-unit threshold in a single month after a four-month gap, with deliveries reaching 40,856 units in May, up 16.67% YoY. Its cumulative sales in 2025 reached 167,479 units, up 18.73% YoY.

Although XPeng Motors ranked first among new energy vehicle (NEV) startups in terms of total deliveries in the first four months, it was surpassed by Leap Motor and Li Auto in May. XPeng Motors delivered 33,525 units in May, up 234.43% YoY. In 2025, it delivered a total of 162,578 units, up 293.08% YoY. NIO delivered 23,231 units in May, up 13.08% YoY, and a total of 89,225 units in 2025, up 34.75% YoY.

As for BYD, the leader in the EV market, according to official data from BYD, it sold 382,476 new vehicles in May, up 15.3% YoY. From January to May, BYD's cumulative sales reached approximately 1.7634 million units, compared to approximately 1.2713 million units in the same period last year, representing a cumulative YoY increase of 38.70%.

Regarding Xiaomi Auto, it delivered over 28,000 vehicles in May. Its CEO, Lei Jun, stated on June 16 that the Xiaomi YU7 would be launched at the end of June, along with many other significant new products, such as the second tablet equipped with the Xuanjie O1 chip: the Xiaomi Pad 7S Pro.

Looking ahead to the automotive market in June, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) analyzed that there are 20 working days in June 2025, one more day than in June last year. Especially with the Dragon Boat Festival falling on May 31, it is conducive to the steady growth of vehicle production and sales. With the launch of the scrappage and renewal policy in 2024, the passenger vehicle market gradually recovered from May to June 2024, and the growth base for June this year will be relatively high. Due to high production enthusiasm at the beginning of this year, the industry did not exhibit the destocking characteristics seen in previous years in Q1. Inventory reached 3.5 million units at the end of April, with 57 days of inventories. Therefore, production and sales in June are still in a state of relatively rapid growth, albeit gradually decelerating.

A new round of price war broke out in late May, with the MIIT and CAAM making statements one after another

It is worth mentioning that on May 23, BYD took the lead in announcing price reductions for 22 car models, with the Ocean Network and Dynasty Network launching a "limited-time fixed-price" campaign, offering discounts of up to 50,000 yuan. Subsequently, automakers such as Leap Motor, Geely, SAIC-GM-Buick, and Chery followed suit, sparking another round of "price war."However, on May 31, the MIIT and CAAM made statements one after another regarding the new round of automotive "price war," stating that "cut-throat competition" has no winners, let alone a future.The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) issued the "Initiative on Maintaining Fair Competition Order and Promoting Healthy Industry Development," which pointed out that for some time, the industry's profitability has declined, and "cut-throat competition," primarily manifested as disorderly "price wars," is a significant factor contributing to the decline in industry benefits. Continuous investment is needed for product after-sales service guarantees and enterprise innovation and development, while "price wars" seriously affect the normal operations of enterprises, impact the security of the industry chain and supply chain, and drive the industry into a vicious cycle.

To this end, CAAM has proposed that all enterprises strictly adhere to the principle of fair competition and conduct business activities in accordance with laws and regulations; dominant enterprises should not seek to monopolize the market, squeeze the living space of other entities, or harm the legitimate rights and interests of other operators; enterprises should not dump goods at prices below cost or engage in false advertising that induces consumers, thereby disrupting market order and undermining the fundamental interests of the industry and consumers, except when reducing prices in accordance with the law to dispose of goods; all enterprises should conduct self-inspections and rectifications in accordance with relevant national laws and regulations.

Following CAAM's statement, a relevant official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) subsequently expressed agreement with and support for the "Proposal" put forward by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The "price war" among automakers has had a significant impact on the normal production and operation of automobile enterprises, endangering the healthy and sustainable development of the industry.

The aforementioned MIIT official introduced that the MIIT will intensify efforts to rectify "cut-throat competition" in the automotive industry, promote the optimization and adjustment of the industrial structure, strengthen spot checks on product consistency, cooperate with relevant departments in carrying out anti-unfair competition law enforcement, take necessary regulatory measures, resolutely maintain a fair and orderly market environment, effectively safeguard the fundamental interests of consumers, and promote the high-quality development of the automotive industry.

Subsequently, several automakers also followed suit to express their support. On June 11th, Zhu Jiangming, Chairman and CEO of Leap Motor, shared his views on the recent "price war" in the automotive industry during an interview with the media: "In fact, the so-called price war is not as fierce as everyone imagines. Many companies are simply stacking various discounts together. This is a marketing strategy that attracts more attention. We cannot arbitrarily reduce prices. We are the least inclined to, and do not wish to engage in, a 'price war'." Li Tengfei, Vice President of Leap Motor, added: "Firstly, we do not participate in (the price war), and we will not initiate it on our own accord; secondly, our cost control capabilities enable us to cope with such market changes, ensuring both product competitiveness and sustained profitability.

Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motor, also stated that under the "price war," some enterprises have launched products with quality issues, and some automakers have gone bankrupt due to poor management, leaving consumers with nowhere to turn for complaints and making vehicle maintenance, repairs, and after-sales service difficult. He believes that the automotive industry should not be excessively influenced by capital and must return to its inherent value. In his view, the "price war" will only lead the industry into a vicious cycle, ultimately harming the interests of the entire industry.

Zhu Huarong, Chairman of Changan Automobile, predicted, "I believe that soon, within no more than two years, the (market) will return to a more benign state of value-based competition"; He Xiaopeng, Chairman of XPeng Motors, stated, "We should not compete on price but rather on technology. "Automotive companies should go global and move towards embodied intelligence."

Dozens of automakers have collectively spoken out! They will unify the payment period for suppliers to within 60 days.

Furthermore, with the implementation of the "Regulations on Ensuring Payment of Accounts to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" starting from June 1, 2025, which clearly stipulates that large enterprises shall not exceed 60 days for paying engineering payments and shall not force small and medium-sized enterprises to accept non-cash payment methods such as commercial bills of exchange to extend payment terms, from June 10 to June 11, dozens of automakers, including FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, GAC Group, Seres, BYD, Great Wall Motor, Xiaomi Auto, XPeng Motors, Chery Group, Leap Motor, BAIC Group, Li Auto, and NIO, issued announcements stating that "they will unify the payment period for suppliers to within 60 days."

It is understood that the current supply chain settlement in China's automotive industry typically adopts the "settlement after vehicle assembly" model. After parts pass inspection, automakers will pay suppliers in cash or accept bills of exchange according to the agreed-upon period. However, the actual settlement period often has some flexibility, ranging from as short as two to three months to as long as six months or even more. Regarding this collective statement by OEMs, the industry generally believes that it is undoubtedly a significant positive for automotive parts enterprises.

On the one hand, the shortening of automakers' payment periods will enable parts suppliers to receive payments faster and accelerate the speed of capital return. Suppliers can use the recycled funds to purchase raw materials, thereby avoiding raw material supply issues caused by capital shortages and maintaining normal production schedules. This improvement can accelerate the capital turnover of automotive parts enterprises and reduce the risk of production interruptions caused by financial constraints. Secondly, it also helps enhance the operational stability of automotive parts enterprises and promote the coordinated development of the entire automotive supply chain.

Fu Yuwu, Honorary Chairman of the China Society of Automotive Engineers and the China Association of Automotive Talents, and Chairman of the China Auto Culture Foundation, also mentioned in an exclusive interview with Gasgoo that the government's efforts this time are unprecedented, not just a simple call, but using effective management and proactive actions to curb cut-throat competition! Fu Yuwu pointed out that the new round of price wars that erupted in late May this year has caused unprecedented concerns in the industry. "The industry consensus is that the price war is unsustainable," he analyzed, "Over the past two years, the price war has intensified, which is not unrelated to the lack of effective policy constraints." However, this collective commitment by OEMs occurred under the background of strong national supervision in 2025. Therefore, he expressed, "This is not just a simple statement; we should have confidence in its effective implementation."