BEIJING, November 2 (TMTPost)— A host of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) companies  set their monthly delivery records in October as the seven-day National Day holiday in beginning of the month fueled consumers’ appetite.

Credit：Visual China

BYD Co. Ltd’s monthly sales first exceeded 300,000 vehicles. The EV company said it sold 301,833 new energy vehicles (NEVs) including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in October, shattering its sales record for six months in row.Recent sales represent a 38.6% year-over-year (YoY) increase and around 5% more than the previous record BYD made in September.

Aion sold 41,503 vehicles in October, ranking the a brand owned by the state-owned manufacturer Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC) the third in new energy vehicle (NEV) sector and the second in full-electric vehicle market by sales in China. The sales represent a YoY increase of 38%, cooling from the previous month, when Aion for the first time sold more than 50,000 vehicles in a month. While sales dropped about 19.6% from the monthly record Aion set in September, the brand maintained lead in emerging Chinese EV brands in terms of sales volume. Aion’s sales from January to October totaled 392,489 units, with a 85% YoY growth. It is well on the track to meet its target of 500,000 units this year given sales of ten months accounting for nearly 80% of the annual target.

Li Auto Inc. extended its record-breaking streak this year with a delivery of 40,422 vehicles in October. This is the Beijing-based company first deliver more than 40,000 units in a month, and its monthly delivery just topped the 30,000-unit milestone for the first time in June. Sales in October accelerated with a 302.1% YoY surge, versus an increase of 212.7% a month earlier. The cumulative deliveries in 2023 reached 284,647 as of the end of October. Li Auto is the first Chinese emerging new energy automaker to reach the 40,000-unit delivery benchmark, and has led the sales chart of SUVs priced above RMB300,000 for six straight months, becoming the best-selling premium brand among SUVs in China, said the chairman and CEO Li Xiang.

Xpeng Inc said its delivery in October reached a record high of 20,002 units, first exceeding the 20,000-unit delivery mark. The YoY delivery growth of 292% was much stronger compared with the increase of 81% in previous month. The company posted a 31% month-over-month (MoM) increase, more than doubling the sequential growth in September. The results suggested Xpeng's robust growth momentum for the ninth consecutive month. The automaker said the significant ramp-up of production enabled the single-month delivery of the EV SUV G6 reached 8,741 units, making it a best-seller battery electric SUV in the RMB200,000-250,000 price segment.

AITO, a brand jointly developed by Huawei and Chongqing Sokon's brand Seres, announced delivery of 12,700 vehicles in October, and about 83% of it, or 10,547 vehicles were shipped to buyers of updated M7. With more than 10,000 units of delivery, the new version of M7 broke AITO’s monthly record for a single model. AITO has accumulated over 80,000 preorders in the first 50 days following the launch of M7. These preorders come from customers who have strong interest in purchase and are very likely to convert into sales as any shopper has to pay a non-refundable deposit of RMB5,000 to place the order.

Zeekr, an electric vehicle (EV) brand owned by Geely, and Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Ltd, which just settled a investment agreement with European auto giant Stellantis NV last week, also refreshed their delivery records. Zeekr increased shipment 29.2% YoY to 13,077 units, and Leapmotor shipped 18,202 vehicles, with a 159% YoY growth. Stellantis agreed to spend 1.5 billion euros (US$1.58 billion) to acquire a stake of about 20% in Leapmotor. The two companies are going to set up a joint venture, in which Stellantis will own a 51% stake and have the exclusive rights for the export, sale and production of Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China. Leapmotor said it has achieved positive gross margin ahead of schedulein the third quarter, and it will make C10, its first global model, its domestic debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show after it reached strategic partnership with Stellantis.

Nio Inc’s delivery in October rose 59.8% YoY to 16,074 vehicles, climbing about 2.8% from the previous month. That is the first positive MoM growth for the Shanghai-based EV maker since shattered monthly record in July with the volume of 20,500 units. At an earnings call late August, Nio CEO Li Bin, or William Li, predicted the delivery in August and September would slow down to normal as the company started to end free battery swapping services to new buyers in June.  With an aim to keep monthly delivery more than 20,000, Nio is preparing for a sales capacity of 30,000 units per month, and will have that initial capability of sales ready by the end of September, then the real effect will kick in from October through its effort of building sales team, Li said.