(Yicai) March 4 -- Xpeng Motors delivered the most cars of any Chinese electric vehicle startup for the second month in a row, after the number it handed over surged 570 percent in February from a year earlier.

Xpeng shipped 30,500 vehicles in February, exceeding 30,000 for the fourth consecutive month, the Guangzhou-based firm said recently. Li Auto and Leapmotor Technology delivered 26,263 and 25,000, respectively, representing increases of 30 percent and 285 percent.

Xiaomi Auto, the carmaking unit of the consumer electronics giant, continued to see its monthly deliveries top 20,000. After the launch of its latest model, the SU7 Ultra, the automaker is poised to enter the top three.

February is the off-season for car sales and was also affected by the Chinese New Year holiday, a planner at one carmaker told Yicai. The best-selling models, including those by Xpeng and Xiaomi, had many pending orders boosting deliveries, the person added.

Xpeng’s deliveries are limited by its production capacity, with the company struggling to complete many orders.

Li Auto's deliveries failed to top 30,000 in the first two months of this year. The Beijing-based firm recently launched its second pure electric model, the i8, expecting it to boost the numbers.

Leapmotor will launch its new B10 sport utility vehicle with universal end-to-end intelligent driving assistance functions this month, targeting the under CNY150,000 (USD20,595) market.

Xiaomi Auto delivered more than 20,000 vehicles in February, exceeding that level for five straight months. With higher production capacity and newly built factories, its monthly deliveries will likely keep growing. 

Deliveries of Huawei Technologies' Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, which is partnered with Chinese automakers on EV brands such as Aito, Luxeed, Stelato, and Maextro, topped 22,000 shipments in February.

Shanghai-based Nio delivered 13,192 cars last month, up 62 percent from a year earlier. Some 9,143 were under its Nio brand, with the rest under Onvo, its family-orientated second brand, which has failed to meet the firm's high expectations since the start of this year.

Editor: Martin Kadiev