China's Electric Vehicle Market Heats Up: XPeng Soars 229% in July 2025 Deliveries!

July 2025 proved to be another dynamic month for China's fiercely competitive electric vehicle market. Major players released their sales figures on August 1st, showcasing significant growth for some automakers and strategic shifts for others. The data highlights the continued consumer shift towards new energy car options, with battery-powered models leading the charge. This intense competition drives constant innovation within the automobile sector.

Standout Performers Lead the Charge

Leading the impressive growth charge was XPeng Motors. The electric vehicle maker reported record July deliveries of 36,717 car units, marking a staggering 229% year-over-year increase. This wasn't a one-off success; it represented their ninth consecutive month exceeding the 30,000-unit threshold. XPeng's cumulative deliveries have now impressively surpassed the 800,000-unit milestone globally. Their aggressive international push, now spanning 46 countries including new markets like the UK, Italy, and Ireland, fueled by the European launch of the 2025 G6 and G9 (with the P7+ coming soon), is clearly paying dividends. This kind of momentum solidifies XPeng's position as a major force in the global new energy car arena.

Rivals Navigate Varied Paths

Other domestic EV challengers experienced mixed results last month. Leapmotor demonstrated strong performance, delivering 50,129 battery car units in July – a robust increase exceeding 126% compared to the same period last year. Xiaomi Auto, still relatively new to the automobile manufacturing scene, also made a significant splash with over 30,000 units delivered in its early stages. However, Li Auto faced headwinds. Their July deliveries of 30,731 electric vehicle units represented a 40% decrease year-over-year. Despite this dip, Li Auto continues to invest heavily in its service network (535 retail centers, 527 service centers) and charging infrastructure (over 3,028 supercharging stations). Crucially, they are rolling out a major tech upgrade: the VLA (Vehicle Learning Autonomy) driver model is being deployed to all AD Max users, enhancing assisted driving capabilities across both older Orin X and newer Thor platform vehicles.

Traditional Giants and NIO's Steady Progress

Among the established automobile giants, BYD maintained its overall volume leadership but saw a slight sequential dip. They sold 344,296 new energy car units in July, an 8.8% decrease from June. Similarly, Geely and Great Wall Motors reported July deliveries of 150,800 and 91,300 units respectively, both experiencing declines compared to the prior month. NIO, meanwhile, delivered a solid 21,017 vehicles in July. This contributed to their cumulative total exceeding 806,700 units. The company continues its multi-brand strategy: NIO brand delivered 12,675 units, the newer Ledao brand contributed 5,976 units, and the Firefly brand added 2,366 units. Anticipation is building for their upcoming flagship launch – the all-new ES8 is slated for unveiling in late August, with deliveries beginning immediately after its official launch at NIO Day 2025 in late September. This new electric vehicle is expected to be a significant driver for the second half of the year.