BYD's wholesale sales reached 70,432 units in September, ahead of Tesla China's 56,006 units, the CPCA data showed.

BYD shares traded in Shenzhen surged in early trading after the latest figures showed it continued to be the top-selling new energy vehicle (NEV) brand in China.

By press time, BYD was up 5.18 percent to RMB 270.33, giving it a market capitalization of 773 billion yuan.

BYD's wholesale sales reached 70,432 units in September, higher than Tesla China's 56,006 units, according to data released Tuesday by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Other companies with more than 10,000 wholesale sales in September included SAIC-GM-Wuling with 38,850 units, SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle with 21,552 units, GAC Aion with 13,572 units, Great Wall Motor with 12,770 units, Nio with 10,628 units and Xpeng Motors with 10,412 units, according to the CPCA.

Earlier this month, BYD released figures showing it sold 71,099 NEVs in September, up 258 percent from a year ago and up about 16 percent from August.

That includes 70,022 passenger cars, and 1,077 commercial vehicles.

Among new energy passenger vehicles, BYD sold 36,306 pure electric vehicles in September, up 197 percent from 12,212 units a year earlier. Its plug-in hybrid vehicles sold 33,716 units in September, up 428 percent from 6,391 units in the same month last year.

From January to September, BYD's new energy vehicle sales were 337,579 units, up 204 percent from a year ago.

BYD's strong sales performance comes at a time when the adoption of NEVs in China is accelerating.

Data released by the CAAM on Tuesday showed China's NEV sales have come to about 20 percent of all vehicle sales.

This indicates that the NEV adoption curve in China continues to accelerate, said Edison Yu, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, in a research note sent to investors on Tuesday.

Yu raised his estimate for BEV (battery electric vehicle) sales in China to 2.5 million units this year from 2.2 million, and expects sales of all NEVs in China, including PHEVs (plugin hybrid), to reach 3 million units this year.