In May 2024, sales of new forces rebounded, and Ideal delivered 35,000 vehicles, and Weilai and Zeekr set new records

China's auto market rebounded in May, in line with industry expectations. Recently, major new car manufacturers have released their latest results. Ideal Auto once again returned to the top of the sales list, with sales exceeding 35,000 vehicles, but AITO, which had previously been on par with Ideal, has not yet released sales information. It should be pointed out that this month, all new car manufacturers have achieved varying degrees of growth compared to last month, and the auto market has clearly rebounded. Among them, NIO and Zeekr have set new historical highs.

Ideal ranked first again, while NIO and Zeekr set new highs

Specifically, Ideal Auto delivered 35,000 new vehicles in May, a year-on-year increase of 23.85%. As of May 31, 2024, Ideal Auto has delivered a total of 774,600 vehicles.

Ideal Auto said that since the delivery of the new model Ideal L6 started on April 24, a total of more than 15,000 units have been delivered, setting a record for the fastest delivery of new models of Ideal Auto. Ideal is making every effort to ensure the supply and ramp up production of Ideal L6 so as to deliver it as soon as possible.

"Driven by the new product pricing system, the sales momentum of the 2024 Ideal L7, Ideal L8 and Ideal L9 is also steadily increasing. Our market share in the new energy vehicle market above 200,000 yuan has grown healthily year-on-year, with a cumulative market share of 13.5% from January to April, ranking first among Chinese auto brands. Of course, we also fully recognize the challenges we are facing. Ideal Auto will actively embrace change, constantly challenge the limits of growth, and continue to create better products and services for users." said Li Xiang, Chairman and CEO of Ideal Auto.

NIO's deliveries in May hit a record high of 20,500 vehicles, up 233.8% year-on-year and 31.5% month-on-month. From January to May this year, NIO delivered 66,200 new vehicles, up 51% year-on-year. So far, NIO has delivered a total of 515,800 new vehicles.

A relevant person in charge of NIO revealed that the delivery data this time was achieved when NIO models were in a period of smooth sales. The reasons for the recent good trend of NIO orders are: first, the 2024 models have high computing power, and the full-domain push of intelligent driving has allowed consumers to see the actual ability and potential of NIO's high computing power; second, consumers are increasingly recognizing the benefits of pure electric vehicle battery replacement, such as the convenience of energy replenishment and the lack of anxiety about battery degradation.

Zeekr's deliveries in May also hit a record high. Reaching 18,600 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 115% and a month-on-month increase of 16%. From January to May this year, Zeekr delivered a total of 67,800 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 112%. As of the end of May, Zeekr had delivered more than 260,000 vehicles in total.

Leapmotor followed closely behind, delivering 18,200 new vehicles in May, up 50.65% year-on-year and 21.06% month-on-month. Among them, Leapmotor CI1 and C10 delivered nearly 12,000 vehicles.

Xiaopeng and Nezha continue to stay at the end

Similar to the rankings in recent months, Xiaopeng and Nezha are still at the bottom. Although the gap is not huge, the gap with the top brands has widened.

In the first four months of this year, Xpeng Motors' delivery volume has not crossed the threshold of 10,000 vehicles. In May, Xpeng Motors finally cleared the haze and delivered 10,100 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 35% and a month-on-month increase of 8%. Among them, Xpeng X9 delivered 1,625 vehicles, and a total of 11,500 vehicles were delivered in five months after its launch. From January to May 2024, Xpeng Motors delivered a total of 41,300 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 26%.

Nezha Auto delivered 10,100 vehicles in May, slightly less than Xpeng Motors, and was the only brand in the statistics to experience a year-on-year decline. Nezha Auto said that the Nezha L pure electric version has started pre-sale and is expected to be delivered in July.

In addition, Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi Group, said at the Second Future Automotive Pioneer Conference that Xiaomi SU7 delivered 8,630 units in May. Xiaomi will start double-shift production in June to ensure the delivery of 10,000 units per month, guarantee the delivery of 100,000 units this year, and strive to deliver 120,000 units.

As of 22:00 on June 1, AITO or Hongmeng Zhixing, which have won the championship many times before, have not released relevant data. Yu Chengdong, executive director of Huawei, chairman of the terminal BG, and chairman of the intelligent automobile solution BU, said, "May is a product adjustment period. The replacement of the main sales products has led to a short-term decline in sales. It is expected that sales will return to rapid growth in June."

The industry expects the auto market to pick up in May, and the sales information released by new car manufacturers at the first time confirms this. The China Passenger Car Association previously stated that there are many favorable factors in May that are expected to promote the growth of the auto market. With the implementation of the national policy of replacing old cars with new ones, and the follow-up of corresponding policies and measures in various places, coupled with the gradual cooling of the price war in the auto market, auto market consumption will gradually be stimulated. The China Passenger Car Association analyzed that the subsidy for replacing old cars with new ones will bring an increase of millions of vehicles to the private new car consumption in the auto market, and can also bring an annual consumption increase of more than 100 billion yuan. The auto market is expected to achieve recovery growth in May after sweeping away the sluggish state.