XPeng (09868.HK) shares plunged 5.05% in Hong Kong trading on Tuesday, as the broader auto sector experienced a significant pullback. The electric vehicle (EV) maker's stock decline was part of a wider trend affecting major players in the industry, with several other prominent automakers also seeing their shares fall.

The downward movement wasn't isolated to XPeng, as other Chinese EV manufacturers and traditional automakers faced similar pressures. NIO led the decline with a 4% drop, while BYD Company matched XPeng's 3% fall. Li Auto and Geely Auto both saw their stocks retreat by 2%, while Great Wall Motor experienced a more modest 1% decrease.

While the exact reasons for the sector-wide pullback weren't immediately clear, it comes against a backdrop of mixed performance in China's EV market. Recent data on insurance registrations for the week ending May 11 showed varied results among major EV makers. XPeng, for instance, reported 6,870 insurance registrations for the week, marking a 23.78% increase from the previous week. This positive weekly data contrasts with the stock's performance, suggesting that broader market sentiment or other factors may be influencing investor behavior.