China reaches a new sales record for electrified vehicles in October

The electrified vehicle market set another record in China last October. According to data published by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), last month 1.7 million vehicles in the NEV category, or new energy vehicles, were sold in this Asian country. This category includes pure electric, plug-in hybrid, extended-range electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

This figure exceeds the previous September peak by 111 thousand units, representing a monthly increase of 6.9 percent and 20 percent compared with the same month last year.

Fully electric vehicles were the most important contributors to sales. Last October, 1.1 million vehicles of this type were delivered, a new all-time record after surpassing the one-million mark for the first time in September. Growth was 31.7 percent, well above the average for the NEV segment.

Plug-in hybrids stagnate

The situation was very different for plug-in hybrid vehicles, including extended-range electric vehicles, which grew just 3 percent to reach 605 thousand units. Even so, this was the highest figure of the year for this type of vehicle, although only marginally above October 2024.

In total, 3.3 million vehicles produced in Chinese plants were sold, placing the NEV market share at 51.4 percent, surpassing 50 percent for the first time after 49 percent in September and 46.8 percent in the same month last year.

Among the successful manufacturers, BYD continues to stand out with 441,706 units, its best result of 2025, though still well short of the half-million it reached monthly in 2024. Pure electric BYD models grew, but its plug-in hybrids fell 31.1 percent and have now remained below their 2024 levels for six consecutive months.

Leapmotor outsells Tesla

Tesla, meanwhile, fell from 90,812 units in September to 61,497 in October, affected by weaker demand for the six-seat Model Y. Leapmotor again outsold the American manufacturer with 70,289 vehicles, marking six consecutive monthly records.

Xiaomi maintained its impressive momentum with 48,654 units of its only two available models, the SU7 and the YU7, exceeding 40 thousand units for two consecutive months and expecting to reach 50 thousand units this November. Meanwhile, XPENG with 42,013 units and NIO with 40,397 units also surpassed the 40 thousand barrier.

Finally, within the Geely group, the Galaxy brand was the most successful, doubling its sales to 127,476 units. Meanwhile, Zeekr delivered a total of 61,636 vehicles. Arcfox (BAIC-Huawei) more than doubled its figures to 23,387 units, and Voyah (Dongfeng) set another record with 17,218. Li Auto, by contrast, continues to decline and closed October with 31,767 units, 38 percent fewer than a year earlier.