February deliveries among China’s electric-vehicle upstarts showed a market in transition rather than collapse. Leapmotor (零跑) retained the top spot among the six leading new-energy start-ups with 28,067 deliveries, closely followed by Li Auto (理想) at 26,421; the gap between first and second was under 2,000 units. NIO’s three brands combined for 20,797 deliveries, with the new ES8 shouldering most of that volume, while Xiaomi cleared just over 20,000 units and Xpeng sank to 15,256 as product refresh cycles and seasonal weakness bit.
Traditional incumbents still dwarf the new entrants in absolute scale: Geely delivered roughly 206,200 vehicles in January–February (including Zeekr at 23,867), BYD about 190,200 (including new sub-brands such as Fangchengbao and Denza), and Great Wall around 72,600. Smaller, premium plays like Lantu and IM had mixed results: Lantu showed year-on-year growth to 18,873 units in January–February while IM managed only 2,017 deliveries.
The February dip is partly seasonal — the Spring Festival typically suppresses sales — and partly structural. Many firms are between product cycles: first-generation models are being wound down while next-generation cars are queued for March and the second quarter. At the retail end, what began as bespoke promotions has become an industry-wide baseline: seven-year low-interest financing is now widespread and in some cases morphing into purchase-tax guarantees.
That finance-driven stimulus will only buy time. What will determine medium-term positions are the new cars hitting showrooms this spring. Leapmotor’s A10 and D19, Li Auto’s refreshed L9 and broader L-series updates, NIO’s ES9 and Legado/Ledao models, Xiaomi’s next-generation SU7, Xpeng’s plug-in and extended-range variants and AITO’s M6 are slated for March or the second quarter. Consumers in China have shown a consistent bias for new over old, meaning these launches will largely decide share dynamics for the rest of 2026.
Leapmotor’s February resilience owes to scale in the 100,000–200,000 yuan bracket where its B and C series sell. The company has pursued aggressive vertical integration and self-developed platforms that Huachuang Securities estimates give it roughly a 10% vehicle-cost edge, enabling features like lidar and Snapdragon 8295 chips to trickle down into mass-market price bands. Leapmotor’s target of one million units this year, however, assumes sustained volume from A- and D-series rollouts and stronger export traction.
Li Auto’s minor month-on-month decline (down just 4.5%) disguises a bruising defensive effort. The firm has been cutting prices on its L-series to clear inventory ahead of major facelifts; door-dealer accounts describe deep, stackable discounts on L8 stock of up to 70,000 yuan in some cases. Meanwhile Li is leaning into an “AI-tech” narrative with the high-priced L9 Livis — a halo product meant to lift brand perception more than immediate volume.
NIO’s growth remains concentrated in a single big ticket model. The ES8 — a premium SUV priced above 400,000 yuan — accounted for the lion’s share of the brand’s deliveries in February and helped drive a strong year-on-year increase. That concentration amplifies risk: if demand for the ES8 softens, the group’s momentum could falter. NIO has responded by signing a broad partnership with Bosch to stabilise supply, shore up costs and provide technical credibility for its sub-brands Legado and Firefly.
Younger challengers face tougher transitions. Xiaomi’s deliveries suffered as the first-generation SU7 exited production; the group is pinning hopes on a new SU7 variant due in April that carries a higher starting price but richer equipment. Xpeng’s problem is product continuity: flagship models like the MPV X9 are too small in volume to offset older ranges, so the firm is adding extended-range variants and consolidating R&D functions into a single intelligent-vehicle centre to accelerate autonomy and cockpit convergence.
Huawei-backed AITO (问界) and its parent Seres have doubled down on mid-to-high-end positioning. Seres has spun off lower-margin “BluePower” lines to concentrate resources on AITO, betting the M6 — positioned between popular M5 and M7 models — can win in the largest volume segment. The marketing calculus stretches beyond urban affluence: a sustained Spring Festival media push signals that brand trust in lower-tier cities remains a potent asset for conversion.
The wider industry backdrop matters: China’s association of automobile manufacturers forecasts new-energy growth slowing to about 15.2% in 2026. Growth is still positive but moderating, which converts a rising-tide market into one where rivals increasingly fight over replacements and brand switchers rather than pure new demand. That intensifies the importance of autonomous-driving capability, energy-supply strategies (range extenders vs. fast charging vs. battery swapping) and—crucially—cost control.
In short, February was a breathing space. Companies are cleaning inventories, leaning on financing incentives and preparing new models. March and the following quarters are likely to be far more revealing: winners will be those that can sell new cars at scale while protecting margin and cash flow, and whose technology or cost advantages are real enough to survive price wars.
Investors and competitors should watch three measures simultaneously: monthly delivery momentum for the new launches, gross margins as cost pressures and material-price inflation bite, and cash-burn trajectories. The market is entering a consolidation phase in which execution — not marketing spin — will separate the viable from the vulnerable.