As China entered the traditional "Golden September and Silver October" sales season, automakers intensified their efforts to boost deliveries.

Recently, major new energy vehicle manufacturers released their September performance results. Data shows that over 70 vehicle models launched domestically during the month, with SUVs accounting for more than 90%. From ZEEKR 9X to AITO M7, automakers are clustering around the family-oriented six-seat market segment, creating the most intense new vehicle launch wave in automotive history.

**Zero Run Breaks 60,000 Monthly Deliveries**

Under these conditions, new energy vehicle manufacturers including Zero Run, XPeng, and Xiaomi achieved significant delivery growth, while NIO's multi-brand strategy showed effective results.

Zero Run achieved its first monthly delivery breakthrough of 60,000 units, XPeng first surpassed 40,000 monthly deliveries, and Xiaomi delivered over 40,000 units. However, Li Auto, previously showing strong momentum, became one of the few new energy brands experiencing year-over-year decline.

Zero Run delivered approximately 66,700 vehicles, setting a new record and becoming the first new energy brand to exceed 60,000 monthly sales. During the month, Zero Run's one millionth vehicle rolled off the production line, making it the second new energy manufacturer to achieve this milestone after Li Auto.

In August, Zero Run raised its annual sales target to 580,000-650,000 units. Through September, Zero Run completed 395,600 deliveries, achieving 60%-68% of its annual KPI.

Zero Run's rapid growth stems from its comprehensive product lineup. The C10 has topped the mid-size SUV rankings among new energy brands for four consecutive months, while the C16 has led the sub-200,000 yuan large SUV segment for eight consecutive months with cumulative sales from January to August.

Reports indicate that Zero Run's flagship SUV D19, set for global debut on October 16, has a pre-sale price range of 250,000-300,000 yuan, approximately 100,000 yuan lower than competitors like Li Auto L9 and AITO M8, potentially further boosting monthly sales performance.

XPeng delivered 41,600 vehicles in September, a 95% year-over-year increase and its first time exceeding 40,000 monthly deliveries. Cumulative deliveries for the first nine months reached 312,000 units, with the MONA M03 model delivering over 10,000 units monthly, maintaining "10,000-unit level" deliveries for 13 consecutive months as core support.

Based on the annual target of 380,000 units, XPeng achieved an 82.37% completion rate.

Additionally, on September 15, XPeng officially announced significant European localization production plans, establishing deep cooperation with Magna's factory in Graz, Austria. Leveraging the facility's existing mature production lines, the company is accelerating localized electric vehicle production in Europe, with the first batch of XPeng G6 and G9 successfully rolling off production lines.

Xiaomi's September deliveries first exceeded 40,000 units. With accelerated deliveries of Xiaomi YU7 and SU7, delivery volumes are expected to increase further in the remaining three months.

NIO delivered approximately 34,700 new vehicles, a 64% year-over-year increase. This included approximately 13,700 NIO-brand vehicles, 15,200 ONVO-brand vehicles, and 5,775 Firefly-brand vehicles.

In the first nine months, NIO achieved cumulative sales of 201,200 units. Based on CEO William Li's annual target of 440,000 units, the completion rate reached 45.73% through September.

**Li Auto's Continued Weakness**

Li Auto delivered 34,000 vehicles in September, representing a 19% month-over-month increase from August but still showing decline compared to the same period in 2024. Third-quarter cumulative deliveries reached 93,200 units, down nearly 40% from 152,800 units in the same period last year.

Li Auto's weak sales performance primarily stems from underperforming pure electric products. Models like MEGA and L8 lack growth momentum. Although MEGA led sales in the third quarter's 500,000+ yuan pure electric MPV market, it failed to drive overall growth.

To address pressure, Li Auto launched the five-seat SUV L6 on September 26 and began deliveries. The company also revealed plans to accelerate L8 production capacity. In the first nine months, Li Auto accumulated 297,200 deliveries, achieving only 46.44% of its annual 640,000-unit delivery target.

The "second-generation" brands also achieved strong September sales.

ZEEKR recorded 18,300 deliveries for the month. At the end of September, ZEEKR's flagship model 9X officially launched, offering Max, Ultra, Hyper, and Obsidian versions with official retail prices starting at 465,900 yuan, 485,900 yuan, 559,900 yuan, and 599,900 yuan respectively. With super trade-in benefits, limited-time pricing was reduced by 10,000 yuan. The model broke 10,000 firm orders within 13 minutes of launch, continuing previous pre-sale momentum.

At the Chengdu Auto Show in late August, ZEEKR set a record with 42,667 pre-sale orders in one hour, several times AITO M9's concurrent pre-sale volume, with nearly half of users choosing the top-tier version.

During a group interview on launch night, ZEEKR Technology Vice President Lin Jie stated that 9X small orders had approached 80,000. He revealed that ZEEKR 9X's user base mainly comprises three categories: luxury brand veteran users, existing ZEEKR owners, and users upgrading from BBA and other fuel vehicles.

The exceptionally high order volume led Lin Jie to admit the company's production capacity preparation was somewhat conservative: "We estimated significant demand, but current situations show extraordinary demand." He disclosed that internal efforts are underway to boost capacity, but due to multiple first-launch technologies, quality must remain the priority. "Hyper version delivery is expected in late November." He stated that "if delivery occurs next year, ZEEKR will cover the differential caused by purchase tax policy withdrawal."

With this model's launch, ZEEKR is positioned for a strong fourth-quarter surge.

ARCFOX achieved another delivery peak in September with 16,100 units, setting a new brand record. The key driver for monthly sales growth was the launch of the new ARCFOX TI model.

VOYAH also reached record deliveries of 15,200 units. The company was active in September, with two major models - VOYAH Taishan and Chasing Light L - officially beginning pre-sales, enriching VOYAH's product matrix. Simultaneously, the company's reverse merger listing news has been confirmed, with VOYAH completing its name change and preparing to enter capital markets independently.

IM Motors achieved rapid September delivery growth, breaking the 10,000-unit monthly threshold for the first time with 11,100 units, setting a new brand record.

The IM LS6, officially launched on September 10 at 199,700 yuan, was key to this sales improvement.

**Geely Reaches New Heights**

Among traditional automakers, BYD showed year-over-year decline trends, while Great Wall and Geely's new energy segments both reached new highs in September.

According to production and sales data, BYD's September sales declined 5.52% year-over-year to 396,300 units, primarily due to significant plug-in hybrid vehicle sales decreases. BYD's plug-in hybrid sales totaled 188,000 units, down 25.58% year-over-year, while pure electric vehicle sales reached 205,100 units, up 24.31% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, BYD's overseas monthly sales have remained stagnant since reaching new highs in June 2025, with September overseas sales only exceeding the first two months of this year.

In contrast, Great Wall achieved 133,600 September sales, up 23.29% year-over-year, with both new energy and overseas sales reaching new highs. New energy sales reached 46,000 units, up 52.55% year-over-year, while overseas sales totaled 50,300 units, up 13.98% year-over-year.

Like Great Wall, Geely showed year-over-year monthly sales growth, reaching 273,100 units, up 35% year-over-year. New energy sales reached 165,200 units, up 81.27% year-over-year and 12.12% month-over-month.

Currently, Geely's new energy penetration rate continues rising, reaching 60.49% in September. Geely's Lynk & Co subsidiary achieved a record new energy penetration rate of 79.3% in September.