In April 2025, BYD retained its position as China’s leading new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturer, capturing a 29.7 percent market share with retail sales of 268,778 units. This marks a modest increase from March’s 29.3 percent share but remains below April 2024’s 37.5 percent level. Data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) show BYD’s NEV deliveries rose 5.8 percent year-on-year from 254,131 units.
Second place in April went to Geely, which saw retail NEV sales of 118,813 units, representing a 13.1 percent share—up sharply from 6.0 percent a year earlier, reflecting a 141.7 percent annual increase. Changan Automobile held third place, followed by GAC and SAIC, rounding out the top five.
Tesla, which produces only battery electric vehicles (BEVs), recorded 28,731 retail sales in April, an 8.6 percent decline from 31,421 units in April 2024. Its market share fell to 3.2 percent, down from 7.5 percent in March, causing Tesla to drop from third to eighth place in the monthly rankings.
Other notable rankings included Li Auto at sixth with 33,939 units (3.8 percent share), Xpeng at seventh with 31,343 units (3.5 percent), Xiaomi EV at ninth with 28,585 units (3.2 percent), and Leapmotor in tenth with 28,317 units (3.1 percent). Li Auto’s portfolio comprises extended-range EVs and BEVs, while Xpeng and Xiaomi currently offer only BEVs, with Xpeng planning to introduce extended-range models later this year.
For the January–April period, BYD led the NEV market with 964,940 units (29.0 percent share), followed by Geely at 440,592 units (13.3 percent) and Changan Automobile at 217,182 units (6.5 percent). Tesla ranked fifth over the same period with 163,338 units sold (4.9 percent share).
In the overall passenger car market, which includes vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, BYD also topped retail sales in April with a 15.3 percent share, while Geely and FAW-Volkswagen held second and third positions, respectively.
Source: CNEV Post
