Geely, Xiaomi overtake Tesla in China EV race

Amid higher oil prices, battery electric vehicles took nine of the 10 top-selling car model spots in China in April, up from five in March, according to Dongchedi, a Chinese automotive data platform.

Geely’s Xingyuan led April sales with 34,727 units, up 12% from March, while Xiaomi’s SU7 climbed to second with 26,826 units after deliveries began in late March.

Tesla’s Model Y fell from first to third as April sales dropped 42% month on month to 22,990 units.

Geely’s petrol-powered Binyue was the only non-electric model in the top 10, ranking eighth with 14,923 units sold.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Electric vehicle strength masks a wider Chinese auto slump

Battery electric vehicle models filled much of the top 10 even as China’s wider car market lost ground 1.
In the first 26 days of April, retail car sales in China dropped 24% from a year earlier 1.
April became the seventh straight month of year-on-year declines in China’s passenger car sales, based on China Passenger Car Association data 2.
New energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales also slipped 11% year-on-year in the same April 1 to 26 period, a sign of a fierce fight for share in a smaller market 3.

Xiaomi’s climb suggests a consumer tech brand can carry into EV sales

Xiaomi’s SU7 reached second place, which points to a sales approach that differs from many rivals 4.
Using its large consumer electronics customer base and familiar brand, Xiaomi kept customer acquisition costs low. That gave it an edge over many pure-play EV startups, or companies focused only on electric vehicles 4.
That approach helped Xiaomi’s EV unit reach profitability in about 19 months. Tesla reached its first quarterly profit in 2013, a little more than five years after deliveries of the original Roadster began in 2008 4.
That early momentum still faces pressure. Xiaomi executives said the EV business’s gross margin is expected to narrow in 2026 as an EV tax break is reduced and competition grows 4.