China’s EV makers post electrifying sales before incentives are phased out next year

At least three Chinese electric vehicle (EV) assemblers rewrote their monthly sales records in November, as consumers rushed to dealers before tax breaks and cash subsidies are phased out from January 1.\nAnalysts and dealers, however, expect a sharp fall in deliveries at the beginning of the new year as buying interest dries up.\nStellantis-backed Leapmotor, one of the fastest-selling EV makers this year, delivered 70,327 vehicles in November, hitting an all-time high for the seventh consecutive month. The sales just about beat October’s tally of 70,289 units.\nVoyah, a unit of state-owned Dongfeng Motor, completed its fourth straight month of record deliveries, with sales increasing 16.2 per cent from a month earlier to 20,005 vehicles.\n\n\nZeekr, a premium marque owned by China’s second-largest automotive group Geely Auto, reported record deliveries for a second month, selling 63,902 vehicles in November, up 3.7 per cent from October.\nIts parent Geely, which makes both petrol and electric cars, delivered 310,428 vehicles, hitting a monthly record for the third consecutive month.\n“The sales results were within market expectations since more consumers were purchasing EVs to take advantage of the existing incentives,” said Zhao Zhen, a sales director at Shanghai dealer Wan Zhuo Auto. “Some carmakers are also offering bigger discounts to spur deliveries.”\nUntil the end of the year, Chinese buyers replacing existing cars with EVs are eligible for a trade-in subsidy of 20,000 yuan (US$2,827), while those buying petrol-powered cars are entitled to a 15,000 yuan rebate.\nThe central government is likely to announce soon whether the trade-in subsidies will be renewed in January.\nMeanwhile, EV buyers currently exempt from a 10 per cent purchase tax will incur a 5 per cent levy from January, which will rise to the original 10 per cent in 2028.\nXiaomi, a smartphone and EV maker, said its November deliveries broke the 40,000-unit mark for the third month, although it did not disclose the figure.\nIn mainland China, deliveries of 10,000 cars a month are seen as an important threshold for defining a powerful carmaker.\nNio and Xpeng, whose premium models compete with Tesla’s Shanghai-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, also posted substantial year-on-year increases in monthly sales.\nGuangzhou-based Xpeng delivered 36,728 cars, up 18.9 per cent from a year earlier, while Nio’s sales surged 76.3 per cent to 36,275 units.\nLeapmotor, which offers midsize intelligent EVs at half the price of Tesla’s models, has been widening its customer base in the world’s largest automotive and EV market with regular new model launches.\nLast week, the Hangzhou-based company announced its first hatchback model – Lafa 5 – would start at 92,800 yuan, down from the presale quotation of 105,800 yuan.\nThe Lafa 5 is fitted with Leapmotor’s preliminary self-driving system and its digital cockpit is powered by Qualcomm chips widely used in premium EVs. Its battery technology also supports fast charging, offering a driving range of more than 250km with less than 20 minutes of charging.\nMainland car sales are likely to drop in 2026, the first decline since 2020, if Beijing stops granting cash subsidies and tax incentives to buyers, according to a JPMorgan Chase forecast.\nNick Lai, head of car research for Asia-Pacific at JPMorgan, said in October that the overall market could shrink by 3 to 5 per cent next year.\nThe EV segment, a bright spot in the economy amid surging adoption by motorists, was expected to grow 15 per cent next year, down from a projected 27 per cent this year, Lai said.\n