Stellantis-backed Leapmotor delivers more than 100,000 EVs for fourth-straight quarter as BYD sales fall

A Hong Kong-listed automaker is picking up steam, just as electric car giant BYD struggles in its home market.

Stellantis-backed Leapmotor said Wednesday it delivered 110,155 new energy vehicles in the first three months of the year, up nearly 26% from a year ago. That figure exceeds 100,000 units for a fourth-straight quarter.

BYD remained China's market leader by far, with 688,993 cars sold during the first quarter. But that marked a 30% drop from the year-ago period.

Amid fierce competition in China's slowing economy, BYD has not disclosed a domestic sales target, but has said it aims to sell well over 1 million cars overseas this year. The automaker's exports rose by more than 55% to 321,165 cars in the first quarter.

Leapmotor does not break out monthly overseas sales. The company said last month it plans to sell 1 million cars in China this year and has a far smaller export goal of 100,000 to 150,000 cars.

But at 50,029 deliveries last month, Leapmotor outranked most of its domestic rivals.

Chinese startup Li Auto reported 41,053 deliveries in March, and a total of 95,142 for the quarter — a 2.5% year-on-year rise, surpassing the company's target of 85,000 to 90,000 deliveries for the quarter.

Automaker Nio, which turned its first quarterly profit at the end of 2025, similarly met its quarterly target of 80,000 to 83,000 units, notching 35,486 deliveries in March and 83,465 for the quarter — nearly doubling from the year before. The total figures include cars from Nio's lower-priced brands Onvo and Firefly.

After unveiling an upgrade to its widely-popular SU7 electric sedan in the middle of the month, Xiaomi announced more than 20,000 EV deliveries in March, bringing its quarterly total to more than 79,000 deliveries, a 14.5% rise from the same period a year ago.

Geely's EV marque Zeekr reported 29,318 EV sales in March, amounting to 77,037 for the quarter — an 86% year-on-year increase.

Apart from BYD, Xpeng was the only other major EV automaker to see sales declines at the start of 2026. The Guangzhou-headquartered automaker logged 27,415 deliveries in March and 62,682 for the quarter — a 33.3% drawdown compared to the first quarter of 2025.

Leapmotor has also partnered with European automotive conglomerate Stellantis for the global market.

The Chinese company said it had more than 800 sales and service outlets in Europe as of the end of 2025, in addition to at least 30 in South America. Leapmotor has pressed further abroad, launching its first overseas innovation center in Munich, Germany on March 20.

Together with Stellantis, Leapmotor is also in talks to produce EVs in Canada, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. CNBC has reached out to Stellantis for comment.

Chinese EVs have made rapid inroads to Europe despite EU tariffs. In December, 9.3% of all new cars sold in the EU were made in China, while China-made automobiles accounted for 20.6% of all new car sales in the U.K., consulting firm Rhodium Group said in a report Wednesday.