(Yicai) April 2 -- Sales at China's major new energy vehicle manufacturers soared last month because of the intense price war in the domestic automobile market.

Seres Group's sales of Aito-branded electric vehicle models co-developed with Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies skyrocketed 775 percent to 31,727 units in March from a year earlier, claiming the title of China's top-selling emerging NEV brand.

BYD sold 302,500 vehicles last month, up 46 percent from the same period last year, with overseas sales up 189 percent to 38,434 units. On Feb. 19, the Shenzhen-based auto giant lowered the entry-level prices of several popular car models.

Li Auto's deliveries soared 39 percent to 28,984 vehicles in the period. Those of Leapmotor and Zeekr jumped 136 percent and 95 percent to 14,567 units and 13,012 units, respectively.

Nio delivered 11,866 cars in March, up 14 percent from a year earlier, while Xpeng Motors' deliveries rose 29 percent to 9,026 units. Dongfeng Motor's NEV brand Voyah delivered 6,122 vehicles, up 102 percent in the period.

However, given the fierce market competition, many Chinese NEV brands saw their sales and deliveries decline last month. GAC Aion sold 32,530 cars in March, down 19 percent from a year earlier. BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology sold 7,389 vehicles, down 28 percent in the period. Deliveries of Neta, the EV brand under Hozon Auto, fell 18 percent to 8,317 units.

Xiaomi Automobile released its first EV model, the SU7, on March 28. On sale at a starting price of CNY215,900 (USD29,850), CNY30,000 (USD4,150) cheaper than Tesla's Model 3, the SU7 reignited the price war in the Chinese automobile market, as many EV brands rushed to cut their prices.

Editor: Futura Costaglione