(Yicai) April 2 -- Leapmotor became the best-selling Chinese new energy vehicle startup in March, after its sales exceeded those of rival Li Auto.

Leapmotor delivered 37,095 cars last month, up over 154 percent from a year earlier. In comparison, Li Auto delivered 36,674 units, an increase of nearly 27 percent in the period.

Xpeng Motor ranked third, with deliveries soaring 268 percent to 33,205 units. Xiaomi Auto followed suit, with more than 29,0000 cars delivered in March. The firm said it is confident about reaching its annual sales target of 350,000 units.

Nio's deliveries rose 27 percent to 15,039 units.

Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, Huawei Technologies' smart car alliance, has not yet released its sales figures for March.

Large Automakers

Meanwhile, most Chinese traditional carmakers and large automotive firms saw their NEV sales grow stably last month.

BYD, the world's largest NEV maker by sales last year, sold 377,420 cars in March, up 25 percent from a year earlier. Sales of Geely Automobile surged 54 percent to 232,177 units, with its premium new energy vehicle unit Zeekr Intelligent Technology Holding recording a 25 percent jump in sales to 40,715 units.

GAC Group's NEV unit GAC Aion sold 34,082 vehicles worldwide last month, up 4.8 percent from the same period last year. Deepal Automobile Technology, the electric vehicle unit of Chinese carmaker Changan Automobile, delivered 24,371 autos, up 87 percent in the period.

Sales of BAIC Group's NEV brand BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology soared 93 percent to 14,268 units. Changan Auto's other EV brand Avatr doubled its sales to 10,475 units.

SAIC Motor, China's largest automaker, sold 385,742 cars in March, up 1.1 percent from a year earlier. Its NEV brand IM Motors saw its sales climb 67 percent to 5,029 units.

Dongfeng Motor's EV marque Voyah sold 10,012 cars last month, up 64 percent from the same period last year.

GAC's joint venture with Japan's Toyota Motor jumped 19 percent to 66,066 units. FAW Toyota Motor, the Chinese JV between FAW Group and Toyota, sold 71,025 vehicles in March, an increase of 22 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, Great Wall Motor's March sales fell 2.3 percent to 97,991 units.

Future Competition Focus

After the first quarter of the year, competition among new automotive forces will continue to intensify, with intelligent driving, energy and battery technologies, and pricing remaining the core competitive areas.

The high-speed navigation on autopilot function is expected to cover more mid-to-low-end models soon, while hybrid and solid-state battery technologies will achieve new breakthroughs.

Xpeng's XNGP 4.0, Huawei's ADS 3.0 system, and BYD's God's Eye advanced driver-assistance systems are also attracting significant attention.

In terms of pricing, several auto brands have launched limited-time promotions, with Li Auto's L Series cutting prices by CNY38,000 (USD5,230), Nio offering discounts on its battery-as-a-service rental system, and Tesla introducing three-year zero-interest and five-year low-interest policies.

Moreover, overseas markets will likely become new growth points. For example, Leapmotor's technical cooperation with European automaker Stellantis paves the way for overseas expansion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione