Charts of the Day: Huawei Partners’ EV Sales Lead China Upstarts

1. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.’s auto alliance led in sales among China’s electric vehicle (EV) upstarts in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring the growing clout of the tech giant’s carmaking ecosystem. [para. 1] Huawei co-developed five brands under its Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), which delivered about 112,700 vehicles in the January-March period, a 41.9% year-on-year jump, edging out leading individual upstart Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. Ltd.’s 110,155 vehicles. [para. 2]

2. The figures highlight a growing divide in China’s crowded EV sector, where companies able to differentiate through software capabilities, overseas expansion, or distinct business models are gaining market share, while others risk falling behind in a prolonged price war with sluggish consumer demand. [para. 3] Huawei has positioned itself as an indispensable provider of intelligent driving and in-vehicle software, building partnership models that give it varying degrees of influence over development, technology, and marketing of partners’ vehicles. [para. 4] HIMA includes Seres Group Co. Ltd.’s Aito, Chery Automobile Co. Ltd.’s Luxeed, SAIC Motor Corp. Ltd.’s Shangjie, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co. Ltd.’s Maextro, and BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co. Ltd.’s Stelato, extending beyond supplying components to involvement in product definition, R&D, and marketing. [para. 5]

3. Much of the alliance’s first-quarter growth was driven by Aito vehicles produced by Seres, whose sales rose 55.6% on the year to more than 70,200. [para. 6] Leapmotor remained one of the quarter’s strongest performers, boosted by strong demand for new models and expanding overseas sales; overseas sales hit a new high of 40,901 vehicles, accounting for over one-third of total sales. [para. 7] Its newly launched A10 SUV received more than 10,000 orders within 48 hours, setting a record for the shortest time to exceed that mark across the entire product lineup. [para. 8]

4. Nio Inc. nearly doubled quarterly deliveries from a year earlier as it broadened its lineup beyond its premium Nio brand, adding the mass-market Onvo brand and compact-car brand Firefly to capture a wider range of consumers amid a brutal price war. [para. 9] By contrast, demand weakened for Xiaomi Corp.’s cars during a model transition; while deliveries rose 6.6% year-on-year to more than 80,800 in the first quarter, they fell 44.3% from the previous quarter, missing market expectations. [para. 10] Xiaomi attributed the decline to the suspension of sales of its first-generation SU7 sedan in February ahead of the launch of upgraded models, but reiterated its ambitious target of delivering 550,000 vehicles this year, implying a steep acceleration in coming quarters. [para. 11]

5. XPeng Inc. was the weakest among China’s major EV upstarts, with deliveries falling one-third from a year earlier to more than 62,000 in the first quarter. [para. 12]