Chinese NEV producers see sales growth in October

Multiple Chinese new-energy vehicle (NEV) makers saw sales increase in October, with BYD becoming the first Chinese automaker to exceed monthly sales of half a million vehicles, setting a new record.

Experts noted that supported by strong domestic demand as well as policies to boost consumption, China's NEV sector will continue to grow despite some Western countries' protectionist moves targeting China-made NEVs.

As of Sunday, several NEV companies had released sales and delivery reports for the previous month. BYD, one of China's leading NEV manufacturer, again won the championship in the monthly sales rankings.

According to the report, BYD's October sales of NEVs reached 502,700 units, a year-on-year increase of 66.5 percent. Overseas sales continued to grow, with 31,192 NEVs in the passenger sector sold overseas, including 28,012 exported units.

From January to October, BYD's cumulative sales of NEVs reached 3.2505 million units, a year-on-year increase of 36.49 percent.

Chinese carmaker Seres saw a year-on-year increase of 104.61 percent in its NEV sales in October, reaching 36,011 units. In the first 10 months, the company sold 352,724 NEVs, surging 310.99 percent compared with the same period last year.

The implementation of trade-in policies has greatly boosted sales of NEVs, said Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, noting that supported by strong domestic demand, China's NEV industry will continue to grow despite protectionist moves by some Western countries to suppress China's NEV sector.

Moreover, new car brands like Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto saw growths in delivery volumes. Nio delivered 21,000 vehicles in October, a 30.5 percent increase year-over-year, while Li Auto delivered 51,400 new vehicles in October, up 27.3 percent. XPeng delivered 23,900 new vehicles, setting a new monthly delivery record with a year-on-year increase of 20 percent.

Several Chinese car companies have reported impressive revenue growth for the third quarter. Li Auto said that its third-quarter revenue reached 42.9 billion yuan ($6.1 billion), a year-on-year increase of 23.6 percent.

BYD announced third-quarter revenue of 201.125 billion yuan, a 24 percent year-on-year increase. Notably, this was the first time that BYD's quarterly revenue surpassed that of Tesla, which reported third-quarter revenue of $25.18 billion.