BYD had a significant fall in December compared to the previous year, marking the end of a turbulent year for China’s electric vehicle market due to a price war and low domestic demand.

According to a document released on Friday, the company registered 414,784 deliveries in December, down from 474,921 in November.

The latest number puts BYD on track to meet its 2025 sales target, which it cut by 16% to 4.6 million due to weaker domestic demand.

The EV juggernaut retained the undisputed market leader, delivering more than 4.54 million passenger vehicles in 2025, a 6.94% increase over 2024 deliveries.

Affordable models offer edge

EV startups had rapid growth in 2025, as mass-market models and aggressive pricing outpaced premium-focused strategies.

Leapmotor emerged as one of the fastest-growing brands, with 596,555 deliveries in 2025, exceeding its target for the year. The company, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last year, nearly doubled its sales volume from 2024 and plans to deliver one million EVs by 2026.

Xpeng’s sales increased by 126% from 2024 to 429,445 for the year, according to the company’s announcement on Thursday. The automaker’s deliveries peaked in September and October, following the debut of the Mona series in September.

In 2025, Nio delivered 326,028 cars, a 46.9% increase from the previous year, according to a company release on Thursday. Nio’s premium namesake brand accounted for roughly half of its total deliveries. In the release, the business also stated that its flagship SUV, the ES8, had set a Chinese record for the fastest delivery among EVs priced above 400,000 yuan ($57,172).

Xiaomi set a new sales record of over 50,000 in December, while not providing annual delivery data. According to its monthly stats, the smartphone manufacturer delivered around 380,000 cars in 2025.

Li Auto bucks the trend.

By contrast, Li Auto delivered 406,343 automobiles in 2025, a significant decrease from its record performance in 2024.

In December, the business delivered 44,246 vehicles, the first monthly total of more over 40,000 since May. The most recent reading represents a comeback in growth after its sales were hampered by a marketing blunder in September, surrounding the release of its competitively priced Li i8.

Meanwhile, Huawei-backed Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, which comprises brands such as Aito, Chery, and Maextro, reported tremendous growth, with around 589,107 vehicles delivered in 2025, a 32% increase year on year.

The company reported 89,611 deliveries in December, reaching the third consecutive month of monthly delivery records.

The corporation did not provide Aito’s delivery data.