The market is warming up! March saw a surge in prices! NIO skyrocketed, and BYD sold over 300k units this month | New Energy Vehicle Sales Brief

China Passenger Car Association’s joint information subcommittee on the passenger vehicle market makes an initial estimate: in March, the retail market size for “narrow” passenger cars is about 1.7 million units, up 64.5% month over month, but down 12.4% year over year. Of this, the retailer sales volume for new energy vehicles is expected to be around 900k units, with a penetration rate of about 52.9%.

Multiple new-energy vehicle models will be launched and released one after another within the year. The heat in the new-energy market is expected to rebound, but from technology releases to pre-sales and then to deliveries, there is still a certain time lag; this incremental volume is difficult to reflect in March’s terminal market performance. However, based on the March sales data disclosed by automakers, the market is rebounding: NIO, Deepal, Zeekr, Li Auto, and others have all achieved year-over-year and month-over-month growth in sales.

BYD: Single-month sales exceed 300k units

In March, BYD sold 300,222 vehicles, earning the top spot in sales among Chinese automakers. Overseas sales of passenger cars and pickups were 119,591 units. Cumulative sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 15.8 million units. From March 2 to March 8, as BYD held a disruptive technology launch event titled “Flash Charging China, Changes the World,” it formally announced that new energy vehicles have entered the “flash charging era.” Weekly order volume surged to 44,660 units, and in Week 11 it further rose to 47,200 units.

Wuling: New-energy sales exceed 60k units

SAIC-GM-Wuling sold 134,030 units globally in March, including 60,487 units of new energy vehicles. In January to March, global sales totaled 316,516 units, of which new energy sales were 127,024 units, and overseas exports were 77,576 units/sets. As of March 31, 2026, cumulative new-energy sales exceeded 3.6 million units.

Leapmotor: Monthly deliveries 50k+

In March, Leapmotor delivered 50,029 units across its entire lineup, up 35% year over year. Leapmotor announced that it will bring the Lafa5 Ultra version at this year’s Beijing auto show in April. The release and delivery plan for Lafa5 Ultra is expected for the second quarter of 2026. The flagship model D19 will also hold its global launch event on April 16.

Li Auto: Deliveries in March 40k+

In March 2026, Li Auto delivered 41,053 new vehicles. As of March 31, 2026, Li Auto’s first-quarter delivery volume was 95,142 vehicles, with historical cumulative deliveries of 1,635,357 vehicles. Li Xiang, founder, chairman, and CEO of Li Auto, said that as production capacity bottlenecks were completely resolved after the Spring Festival, deliveries of the Li Auto i6 have continued to climb, exceeding 24k units in March. Orders for the Li Auto i8 have also grown steadily, with a month-over-month increase of more than 100% in March.

NIO: Its three brands drive together, with big gains both month over month and year over year

In March 2026, NIO delivered 35,486 new vehicles, up 136.0% year over year and up 70.6% month over month. Among them, deliveries of new vehicles for the NIO brand were 22,490, up 120.1% year over year and up 48.4% month over month; deliveries of new vehicles for the firefly brand—Lisdo—were 6,877, up 42.7% year over year and up 130.7% month over month; deliveries of new vehicles for the firefly brand were 6,119, up 130.3% month over month.

In the first quarter of 2026, NIO delivered 83,465 new vehicles in total, up 98.3% year over year. As of now, NIO has cumulatively delivered 1,081,057 new vehicles.

Deepal: Gains both year over year and month over month

In March, Deepal Auto sold 31,742 units globally, up 87.8% month over month and up 30% year over year. Among them, March sales of Deepal L06 increased 170% month over month; March global sales of Deepal S05 were 17,586 units, with cumulative global sales exceeding 190k units; global sales of Deepal S07 exceeded 300k, with March sales up 157% month over month. In addition, Deepal S07 and S05 won Thailand’s 2026 annual auto awards.

Zeekr brand: March surges 90% year over year

Zeekr’s March deliveries were released: 29,318 new vehicles delivered, up 90% year over year and up 23% month over month; cumulative deliveries in the first quarter were 77,037 units, up 86% year over year. On March 31, Zeekr announced two major new product actions: the refreshed 7 Series formed by Zeekr 007GT and Zeekr 007 is about to begin pre-sales, and the Zeekr 001 5th anniversary edition will also be released in limited quantities.

Xpeng: X9 deliveries double

In March 2026, Xpeng delivered 27,415 new vehicles, up 80% month over month. Among them, Xpeng X9 delivered 3,075 units, up 134% year over year, with cumulative global deliveries exceeding 55,000 units. The 2026 Xpeng MONA M03 will be launched on April 2. Xpeng also announced the launch of an expansion into the Latin American market, planning to introduce pure-electric and extended-range models next year.

Xiaomi Auto: Deliveries stay stable above 20k units

In March 2026, Xiaomi Auto delivered more than 20,000 vehicles. The new-generation SU7 was officially launched on March 19. Within only 34 minutes of going on sale, the order lock-in volume exceeded 15k units. Since deliveries began on March 23, cumulative deliveries have already exceeded 7,000 units. Xiaomi Auto added two new stores in March, and plans to add five more stores in April. As of March 31, there were 274 service outlets nationwide, covering 160 cities.

Lantu: Impressive performance in the first month after launch

In March 2026, Lantu Auto delivered 15,019 vehicles, up 50% year over year and up 80% month over month. From January to March, cumulative deliveries were 33,892 vehicles, up 30% year over year, maintaining steady high-quality growth. On March 19, Lantu was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the “first high-end new energy auto stock of central and state-owned enterprises.” On March 30, the controlling shareholder, one of the parties acting in concert, Dongfeng Asset Management Co., Ltd., announced the launch of a plan to increase its holdings of Lantu’s H shares. The plan lasts 12 months; the first tranche’s increase in holdings will not exceed 250 million yuan, showing strong confidence in Lantu’s future development.

IM: Big year-over-year jump in the first quarter

In March, IM Auto sold 7,187 vehicles, up 97% year over year in the first quarter. The IM LS8 began pre-sales on March 26. The new car launched four models in total, with pre-sale price rights of 259.8k–309.8k yuan, and it will be officially launched on April 16.

Jishi: Sales continue to rise

In March 2026, Jishi Auto delivered 1,480 vehicles, with sales up 40.2% year over year. In the first three months of this year, Jishi’s delivery volume has continued to climb—1月 delivered 1,028 vehicles (nearly double year over year), February reached 1,298 vehicles, and March set a new high again. The company said that global orders are growing steadily, providing support for future deliveries.

By: Chen Meng Editor: Xue Yapei Layout: Liu Xiaoye

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