H1 auto market results are out: Both production and sales of cars exceeded 15 million units, and power battery installations approached 300 Gwh!

Leap Motor Tops New Energy Vehicle Delivery Rankings for Four Consecutive Months, XPeng Motors Exceeds Half of Annual Sales Target!

The chart below shows the delivery performance of new energy vehicle makers in June, compiled by Cailian Press:

Data shows Leap Motor delivered 48,006 units in June, up 138.65% YoY, setting a new record. Its H1 cumulative deliveries reached 221,664 units, ranking first among new energy vehicle makers for four consecutive months. Its full-year sales target was 500,000-600,000 units, with H1 completion rate at around 44.33%.

Li Auto delivered 36,279 units in June, down 24.06% YoY, with H1 cumulative deliveries at 203,758 units, up 7.91% YoY. On June 27, Li Auto updated its Q2 2025 delivery guidance, citing factors such as reduced local subsidies, intensive new model launches, and intensified wait-and-see sentiment due to volume discounts. The high-end vehicle market (above 200,000 yuan) slowed, with luxury brand sales declining significantly YoY. Li Auto expects Q2 deliveries at 108,000 units. Media reports indicate Li Auto internally adjusted its full-year production schedule target to 640,000 units, implying an H1 completion rate of around 31.84%.

XPeng Motors, ranking third in H1 cumulative deliveries, delivered 34,611 units in June, up 224.44% YoY. Q2 cumulative deliveries reached 103,181 units, setting a new quarterly record and meeting guidance. H1 cumulative deliveries totaled 197,189 units, surpassing its full-year 2024 performance. Previously, XPeng Motors set a sales target of over 380,000 units for 2025, and currently, it has achieved 51.89% of this target.

Regarding BYD, the "top EV automaker," it sold a total of 382,585 vehicles in June, up 11.98% YoY. In the first half of this year, BYD's cumulative sales reached 2,145,954 units, up 33.04% YoY. Previously, BYD set a sales target of 5.5 million units, and currently, it has achieved 39.02% of this target. As of now, BYD's cumulative new energy vehicle sales have exceeded 12.7 million units. Considering that sales usually pick up in the second half of the year, the market expects that BYD's annual sales target of 5.5 million units is still very promising.

Looking ahead to July, the Passenger Car Association Branch stated that there will be 23 working days in July 2025, providing relatively ample time for production and sales. With the structural differentiation in the growth of the auto market, some enterprises have ample capacity for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles, and the characteristics of destocking under the pressure of a shrinking internal combustion engine vehicle market are evident. It is expected that the time for summer high-temperature holidays will be relatively long, and the auto market will enter a period of adjustment in July. Due to the abnormal and early northward jump of the subtropical high-pressure system in China this year, the plum rain belt in south China has moved abnormally northward, the weather in the north is hot, and sudden thunderstorms have increased. Under the trend of climate warming, there is a strong rigid demand for vehicle use in summer. As the trade-in policy was launched in July 2024, the sales base for July this year will be relatively high. Given the high production enthusiasm of producers at the beginning of this year, the industry did not exhibit the destocking characteristics seen in previous years. By the end of May, inventory had reached 3.45 million units, with 57 days of inventories, and both internal combustion engine vehicles and new energy vehicles faced significant destocking pressure. Therefore, production and sales in July will still exhibit a relatively rapid growth state with a gradual slowdown.

However, it should also be noted that with the continuous deepening of anti-cut-throat competition efforts, automakers are striving to maintain the relative stability of market prices, and the production rhythm will show a further steady trend. Due to the decline in the interest rate spread between bank deposits and loans, high-interest and high-rebate auto loan policies have been controlled. The original interest rebates that banks provided to dealers will be partially subsidized into vehicle prices. After the significant reduction in auto loan rebates, the profitability pressure on dealers has further increased, indirectly leading to deeper conflicts between producers and dealers. With inventory at a relatively high level, the sales growth of producers has slowed down.

The MIIT has stepped in to ensure that automakers fulfill their payment term commitments! Automakers can report overdue payments online!

It is worth mentioning that in June, the "Regulation on Ensuring Payment of Accounts to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" came into effect, which clearly stipulates that large enterprises shall not exceed 60 days for paying engineering payments. At the same time, they shall not force small and medium-sized enterprises to accept non-cash payment methods such as commercial bills to extend the payment period in disguise. Subsequently, dozens of automakers, including FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, GAC Group, Seres, BYD, Great Wall Motor, Xiaomi Motors, XPeng Motors, Chery Group, Leap Motor, BAIC Group, Li Auto, NIO, etc., have issued announcements stating that "they will unify the payment terms for suppliers to within 60 days."

This situation is undoubtedly a significant positive for automotive supply chain enterprises, once sparking market euphoria. However, concerns also arose about enterprises potentially failing to fulfill commitments as scheduled. In response, on July 9, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) launched the "Online Feedback Window for Key Automakers' Accounts Payable Commitments (Suggestions)" ([https://sme-dj.miit.gov.cn/car) under the "National Complaint Platform for SME Payment Defaults." This platform aims to receive feedback (suggestions) from SMEs regarding key automakers' non-compliance with payment cycle commitments and inadequate enforcement of the "Regulations on Safeguarding Payments to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises," facilitating coordinated resolution efforts. Among the prioritized issues are automakers' failure to honor 60-day payment term commitments and contractual payment periods exceeding 60 days—key concerns for supply chain enterprises.

The launch of this MIIT feedback window operationalizes the "Regulations on Safeguarding Payments to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises," enforces payment term commitments, and benefits SMEs. According to China Battery Network, MIIT will next guide industry associations to formulate automotive sector settlement payment standards, promote model contracts, further regulate automakers' supplier payment processes, foster a collaborative "automaker-parts" ecosystem, and promote sustainable automotive industry development.

Price wars, auto tariffs, and intelligent driving "rebranding" kept the H1 automotive market abuzz!

With H1 2025 concluded, the automotive market witnessed frequent major developments. National-level policies against cut-throat competition repeatedly targeted automotive, PV, and e-commerce sectors, with relevant enterprises frequently invited by authorities to jointly advance anti-internal competition efforts. Terms like "price wars," "anti-internal competition," and "tariffs" became 2025 H1 industry buzzwords. For a detailed review of H1 automotive market highlights, see SMM's article "Price wars, auto tariffs, and intelligent driving "rebranding" kept the H1 automotive market abuzz! [SMM Hot Topic]."

CAAM evaluated the H1 automotive market as follows: Since the beginning of the year, the state has implemented proactive macro policies and accelerated measures to stabilize employment, stabilize the economy, and promote high-quality development, maintaining generally stable economic operations. The automotive market sustained positive momentum in H1, with multiple economic indicators achieving double-digit YoY growth. Specifically, the trade-in policy continued to drive noticeable domestic demand improvements, providing critical support for overall automotive growth; NEVs maintained rapid growth, continuously driving industrial upgrading; exports remained on an upward trajectory, particularly NEV exports; and Chinese brands maintained high sales market share.

Looking ahead to H2, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) stated that the "program of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins" will continue to be implemented in an orderly manner. The preferential tax exemption for new energy vehicles is facing a phase-out, and coupled with the continuous enrichment of new product supply by enterprises, this will help boost the growth of automobile consumption. However, it should also be noted that the complexity, severity, and uncertainty of the current external environment have increased. It is necessary to closely monitor the suspension of automobile trade-in subsidies and other trade-in activities in some regions. Competition in the industry remains fierce, with overall profitability continuing to be under pressure, and the stable operation of the industry still facing challenges. It is necessary to stabilize policy expectations, regulate market competition order, strengthen industry self-discipline, and enhance policy guidance and supervision to support the healthy and stable operation of the industry.