BEIJING, March 1  (TMTPOST)— Tesla’s Chinese rivals posted robust recovery in delivery from the massive slowdown in the start of the year.

Source: Visual China

BYD Co., the largest EV manufacturer in China as well as the world by sales in 2022, sold 193,700 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in February, jumping 119.37% from a year earlier. The giant resumed its triple-digit monthly growth through the year 2022 after it recorded a 62.44% year-over-year (YoY) increase in January. The sales in the past month were near the company’s record. As of last December, BYD set new monthly sales record for the tenth straight month and managed to sell more than 200,000 units for four months in a row. In the first two months of this year, BYD has sold 345,000 NEVs in total, representing a 90% YoY growth. Noteworthy, BYD sold 15,000 vehicles in markets outside China, shattering its monthly record of overseas sales set in last November with 12,300 units.

Aion, a brand owned by the state-owned manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC), maintained leadership among emerging Chinese electric vhicle (EV) startups in February. Its sales surged 253% YoY to 30,086 vehicles with a month-over-month (MoM) increase of 195%, compared with a YoY decrease of more than 36% in January. With annual sales of 271,000 units, Aion became the champion among China’s homegrown emerging EV makers in 2022 and set its annual growth record of 126%.

Other three EV companies each had more than 10,000 vehicles of shipment in February.

Li Auto delivered 16,620 vehicles with YoY growth of 97.5% and MoM growth of 9.7%. Li Auto is one of the few EV manufacturers which posted a significant growth compared with a year ago. The company shipped 15,141 vehicles with a 23% YoY increase while the volume still fell by 29% from December, when it broke monthly record with delivery of 21,233 units and a 50.7% YoY growth. The firm still needs to deliver at least 20,000 units in March if it wants to meet its guidance for the first quarter of the year.

Delivery of NIO Inc rose to 12,157 vehicles in February, up 98.3% YoY and 42.9% MoM. January saw the automaker’s delivery decreased 23% YoY and the volume was 46% less than the previous month, when the EV maker shattered monthly record with 15,815 units and 50.8% of yearly growth. Auto’s brand Nezha shipped 10,073 vehicles with a YoY growth of 41.5% and a MoM growth of 67.4%. The brand first sold more than 10,000 units in recent three months.

Not all the Chinese EV makers shrugged off weakness. Xpeng Inc failed to turn positive YoY growth. It recorded monthly delivery of 6,010 units, slightly more than 5,219 units it delivered in January. The volume suggests the company had a YoY decline of 3.4% in February, compared with the drop of 60% a month ago.

The rebound among most of the auto industry is in line with the market expectation. Sales were fueled by automakers’ big promotion including price cuts, as well as economic simulative measures unveiled by local governments, China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) analyzed. The auto industry body cautioned that it still has to take some time for consumers to change their wait-and-see sentiment due to uncertainties of macroeconomic policies and vehicle pricing.