By Jiahui Huang

Chinese automakers' latest monthly sales show that demand for electric vehicles in the world's second-largest economy remains strong, with Tesla rivals such as XPeng posting robust April numbers.

Analysts had expected solid results for April as government subsidies boosted consumption and seasonally weak Lunar New Year period came to an end.

Thursday's delivery tallies showed that XPeng outperformed again, with vehicles deliveries nearly tripling from a year earlier.

XPeng delivered 35,045 units in April, surpassing 30,000 units for the sixth consecutive month.

Hybrid-vehicle specialist Li Auto said Thursday that sales rose 32% to 33,939 vehicles in April. The company has remained the top seller of SUVs priced above CNY200,000 for the past three consecutive quarters, it said.

Zeekr Group--a newly formed brand after the merger of Zeekr and Lynk&Co--reached total deliveries of 41,316 vehicles in April. That included 13,727 units under the Zeekr brand and 27,589 units under Lynk&Co.

New entrant joiner Xiaomi said via its Weibo account that it delivered more than 28,000 units in April.

The strong EV sales came as China's auto market remained buoyant in April, supported by government trade-in programs and promotions from automakers. Chinese carmakers also rolled out new models and upgrades at the Shanghai Auto Show, which began in late April.

However, competition may intensify in May as regulators recently restricted the marketing of "autonomous driving" features, shifting the focus back to price wars.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 01, 2025 02:20 ET (06:20 GMT)

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