Vehicle Production and Sales Hit a New Record High in 2025, Maintaining the Global Top Position for 17 Consecutive Years [SMM Special Report]

2025 Auto Market Concluded Successfully! BYD Surpassed Tesla for the First Time to Become the Global Pure EV Sales Champion; Multiple New-Automaker Brands Achieved Their Sales Targets

Following the successive release of December 2025 sales data by major automakers, the 2025 auto market also concluded successfully. The chart below summarizes the December 2025 and full-year 2025 sales figures for 14 A/H-share listed automakers, as compiled by a Cailian Press journalist. Details are as follows:

In December 2025, domestic EV leader BYD led with sales of 420,398 units, down approximately 18.2% YoY. Cumulative sales for 2025 exceeded 4.602 million units, up 7.73% YoY. Among these, sales of pure electric car models reached 2.257 million units, up 27.86% YoY, surpassing Tesla for the first time to become the global pure EV sales champion. Cumulative sales of plug-in hybrid models were 2.289 million units, down 7.91% YoY.Previously, BYD had set a 2025 sales target of 4.6 million units, which has now been exceeded.

Looking at the full-year data, Tesla's global cumulative deliveries in 2025 were 1.64 million units, a pullback from 1.79 million units in 2024. According to Reuters, Tesla's sales decline in 2025 was primarily dragged down by factors including intensified market competition, the expiration of US EV tax credit policies, and decreased demand due to brand image damage.

Entering the new year, BYD continues to push forward, with the launch of new variants for the 2026 BYD Qin L DM-i and Qin PLUS DM-i. Furthermore, the 2026 Qin L DM-i offers a limited-time guarantee covering the NEV purchase tax, with a limited-time starting price after comprehensive subsidies of 92,800 yuan.

SAIC ranked second after BYD with sales of 4.507 million units, up 12.32% YoY, showing a significant rebound in sales. It is reported that NEV transformation, upgrades of self-owned brands, and overseas market expansion were the three main drivers of its sales growth.

Among the emerging automakers,Leap Motor became the final "winner" in 2025. Since March 2025, its sales have consistently topped the emerging automaker rankings, achieving nine consecutive months of leading sales, with deliveries exceeding 70,000 units for two straight months, annual deliveries reached 597,000 units, up 103.1% YoY,setting a new annual sales record for emerging automakers.

Notably, Leap Motor's sales target for 2025 was set at 500,000 units,and it had already achieved this goal ahead of schedule by November 15, 45 days early.Leap Motor Chairman Zhu Jiangming set a higher target for 2026, aiming to reach 1 million units.

In December 2025, NIO ranked second among emerging automakers with 48,135 units, up 42.11% YoY; full-year 2025 sales totaled 326,000 units, up 46.88% YoY. It is reported that NIO's previous sales target was 440,000 units, with a final achievement rate of 74.1%. NIO Chairman Li Bin stated that the company's sales target for 2026 is to maintain steady growth of 40%-50% and improve growth quality. With cumulative sales of approximately 326,000 units in 2025, its 2026 sales target is calculated to be 456,000-489,000 units.

Additionally, Li Bin mentioned during the Q3 2025 earnings call that the company's operational goal for 2026 is to achieve full-year profitability. He also noted that the halved purchase tax on NEVs in 2026 would have a relatively small impact on NIO, "because the battery price deducted under the BaaS leasing scheme is not included in the tax base, giving us some advantage. The specific strategies to respond to market changes in the coming year will be adjusted flexibly based on overall market conditions."

XPeng Motors ranked second in the 2025 sales ranking among emerging automakers, with annual deliveries of 429,000 units, up 125.94% YoY; December 2025 deliveries were 37,508 units, up 2.22% YoY.It is reported that XPeng's sales target for 2025 was set at 380,000 units, and it also achieved its annual target ahead of schedule in November 2025.

Entering 2026, XPeng is also fully accelerating its efforts. On January 8, XPeng Motors launched four new models. XPeng CEO He Xiaopeng stated at the launch event that all four new models will be equipped with XPeng's second-generation VLA (Vision-Language-Action) large model. He Xiaopeng stated that this is the industry's first large-scale physical world model capable of achieving preliminary L4 functionality. In 2026, XPeng will implement and mass-produce physical AI, begin operating Robotaxi, and initiate mass production of humanoid robots and flying cars.

Li Auto delivered a total of 406,000 new vehicles in 2025, a slight decrease YoY. In December 2025, it delivered 44,246 new vehicles, down 22.38% YoY. It is reported that Li Auto's previous sales target was 640,000 units, with a final achievement rate of 63.44%.

On January 9, Li Auto launched a limited-time financial policy for the i8 featuring "0 interest" and "0 down payment"! Users who lock in orders for the Li i8 from now until January 31 (inclusive) can enjoy a 3-year zero-interest policy, saving up to 18,000 yuan in interest; the down payment starts at 99,800 yuan, with daily payments as low as 220 yuan.

Additionally, Li Auto's Supercharging stations provided over 19.53 million charging sessions to all users in 2025, including over 8.71 million sessions for Li Auto users. In 2025, the number of Li Auto Supercharging piles grew from over 9,000 at the beginning of the year to over 20,000, and the number of stations increased from over 1,700 to over 3,900.

Xiaomi Auto's December deliveries exceeded 50,000 units. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun previously stated that Xiaomi delivered a total of 410,000 vehicles in 2025,surpassing its initial annual delivery target of 350,000 units as early as November.On January 3, 2026, Lei Jun indicated that he would devote more effort to the automotive business this year. The delivery target is set at 550,000 units—neither too high nor too low—with the hope of exceeding this figure by the end of 2026.

On January 1, 2026, Xiaomi Auto's official Weibo account announced that customers who place orders before 24:00 on February 28 can enjoy a "3-year zero-interest" offer on the entire Xiaomi YU7 series, with a down payment starting at 74,900 yuan and monthly payments as low as 4,961 yuan.

Looking ahead to the passenger vehicle market in January 2026, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) predicts that there will be 20 working days in January 2026, one more than the same period last year but three fewer than the 20 working days in December. Since the 2026 Chinese New Year falls on February 16, and considering the early holiday break last year, production and sales time in January this year is relatively ample.

Additionally, it was mentioned that the national retirement and renewal policy and various local trade-in policies implemented in 2025 to stimulate auto consumption have achieved positive results. However, retail sales growth of passenger vehicles turned negative in Q4, contracting by 5%. Wait-and-see sentiment among some consumers intensified toward the year-end, but this has also built some momentum for the auto market at the beginning of 2026. Although the subsidy intensity of the 2026 trade-in policy will be gradually reduced, it started earlier compared to last year. Overall, this is conducive to stabilizing consumption expectations and achieving a strong start in January. The "Strong Start" in January has been a long-standing goal for local governments and automakers through years of joint efforts. Combined with the impact of the Chinese New Year in February, this leads to a certain volume of wholesale transfers in January. Under the current market model of pre-sales orders, some enterprises still have a considerable number of orders awaiting delivery. As the beginning of the "16th Five-Year Plan" period and given that this year is a peak year for automotive consumption, January sales are expected to achieve slight growth YoY.

2026 Outlook

Looking ahead to 2026, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) stated that policy incentives for commercial vehicle renewal subsidies will remain unchanged, while subsidies for passenger vehicle retirement and renewal are projected to decrease by 20% based on the 2025 structure, with the maximum decline under the trade-in program estimated at 30%. The growth effect in commercial vehicles is expected to outperform that of passenger vehicles in 2026.The passenger vehicle market in 2026 is forecast to follow a "U-shaped" trend—high at the beginning, low in the middle, and high again toward the end. Overall vehicle sales are projected to be flat compared with domestic retail sales in 2025. Exports are expected to maintain medium-to-high growth of over 10%, but domestic inventory pressure remains high. As a result, total wholesale sales by passenger vehicle producers are predicted to grow by 1%.

In addition, the CAAM indicated that in 2026, China’s economic work will adhere to the principles of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and improving quality and efficiency, with a focus on domestic demand. Relevant national ministries and commissions are concentrating on key tasks outlined at the Central Economic Work Conference, seizing the time window and taking proactive measures. The program of large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins was released by the end of 2025, ensuring a smooth and orderly policy transition. Recently, nine departments including the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "Notice on Implementing the Green Consumption Promotion Initiative" to accelerate the green transformation of development models and consumption patterns, and to foster new growth points in green consumption during the "16th Five-Year Plan" period.With the implementation of these policies, confidence in development will be strengthened, market expectations stabilized, and automotive consumption boosted. In 2026, China’s automotive industry will continue to advance high-quality development, with the overall market maintaining steady operation.

In recent years, the "price war" in the automotive sector has intensified. Amid the government’s efforts to curb "involution-style" competition, the State Administration for Market Regulation held a press conference on January 9 to present the top ten institutional achievements in comprehensive regulation of "involution-style" competition in 2025. Zhu Meina, Deputy Director of the Standards and Technology Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, stated at the conference that the administration will further accelerate the development of national standards related to NEVs, lithium batteries, and the PV industry. It will also collaborate with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to conduct on-site standard promotion sessions, helping the industry accurately grasp standard content, implement and apply standards in a timely manner, and facilitate the rapid and effective adoption of standards, thereby driving high-quality development of PV, lithium-ion battery and NEV through standardization.

Previously, on December 12, 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation solicited public comments on the "Automotive Industry Price Behavior Compliance Guidelines (Draft for Comments)" (referred to as the "Guidelines"). Subsequently, 11 companies, including BYD, BAIC Group, XPeng Motors, Chery, Great Wall, Changan, Leap Motor, and Seres, successively responded, stating they would optimize price management and compliance systems, eliminate price fraud and unfair competition, and play an exemplary role in the industry.

On the afternoon of January 13, the 2026 Annual Work Conference of the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference on the Development of Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Industries was held in Beijing. The conference convener, Li Lecheng, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, presided over the meeting and delivered a speech. The meeting thoroughly studied and implemented the important instructions and directives of General Secretary Xi Jinping, carried out the arrangements of the Central Economic Work Conference, summarized the work in 2025 and during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, discussed the "Intelligent and Connected New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan for the '15th Five-Year Plan'" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), and deployed key tasks for 2026.

The meeting pointed out that developing new energy vehicles is a major strategic decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and an important part of China's efforts to build a modern industrial system. Over the past year, member units resolutely implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on promoting the high-quality development of the automotive industry, worked together and closely coordinated to drive the industry toward innovation and excellence. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the entire industry faced challenges head-on and strived hard, exceeding expectations to accomplish all tasks set for the "14th Five-Year Plan." China's NEV market size increased 3.6-fold, vehicle exports rose to rank first globally, power battery cell costs decreased by 30%, lifespan improved by 40%, and charging rates increased more than threefold, further enhancing international competitiveness. Additionally, the meeting emphasized the need to further expand automobile consumption, advance vehicle trade-in programs, promote the large-scale application of new energy heavy-duty trucks, deepen NEV insurance reforms, and stimulate diverse consumption potential.