GreenergyDaily

Mar. 2, 2026

Chinese automakers broadly recorded a sharp drop in sales in February as demand in the world's largest auto industry waned during the Lunar New Year month.

BYD, now the world's biggest EV seller, overtaking Tesla, sold a total of 190,190 vehicles in February, down 41% from a year earlier. The fall last month was the biggest since February 2020.

XPeng, known for its autonomous-driving technology, fared worse, with deliveries falling 50% to 15,256 units.

Geely Automobile, China's second-largest EV maker, saw its monthly sales fall 11% to 154,834 units, while Great Wall Motor reported a 6.8% decline in sales to 72,594 units.

Hybrid-vehicle specialist Li Auto sold 26,421 units, 158 more than the same period last year, while Xiaomi, a relatively new entrant, said it sold more than 20,000 EVs in February.

NIO, known for its battery-swapping tech, was among the month's standout performers, posting a 58% jump in sales to 20,797 units. Hangzhou-based Leapmotor continued to gain market share, selling 28,067 units last month, up 11% from a year ago.

February sales were affected by the timing of the Lunar New Year, according to Vincent Sun, senior equity analyst at Morningstar. The holiday fell in mid-February this year, but in late-January last year.

Despite the holiday-induced distortion, first-quarter sales will likely be soft, given the rush-buying last year amid concerns that subsidies for EV purchases wouldn't be extended, Sun said.

Shares of Chinese carmakers were largely lower in Hong Kong on Monday.

Xiaomi closed down 5%, while Xpeng was down 1.6% and shed 2.4%. NIO's shares were 2.5% lower and Li Auto lost 1.1%.

BYD bucked the declines, rising 4.4%. Its Shenzhen-listed stock rose 8.4%.