In August 2022, the top 5 Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startups faced different movement in their monthly deliveries with the rankings slightly changing from the previous month.

Compared to July, the top 2 startups—HOZON Auto and Leapmotor—remained unchanged, while NIO surpassed XPeng and Li Auto to the second runner-up place.

In terms of total deliveries for the first eight months, HOZON Auto outsold XPeng to become the champion, while Leapmotor transcended Li Auto to the No.3 spot.

HOZON Auto saw its monthly deliveries reach a new high of 16,017 units in August, representing a 142.2% hike year-over-year and a 14.1% rise month-over-month. In the first eight months of this year, the company recorded a monthly delivery volume of over 10,000 units for six months.

Among the top 5 Chinese startups, Leapmotor was the fastest-growing one in terms of both August and year-to-date (YTD) deliveries compared to the prior-year period. The company features a similar growth trajectory to that of HOZON Auto this year. It also faced a month-on-month decline in Feb. and Apr., and then maintained a stable rising impetus as of Aug.

The growth trend for NIO was not quite stable. The high-profile EV startup achieved its highest-ever monthly deliveries in June 2022, and then the volume dropped 22.4% from the previous month in July. Last month, NIO saw its deliveries slightly climb to 10,677 units.

NIO was still the lowest-ranking one among the top 5 startups in terms of year-to-date deliveries.

In August, XPeng's monthly deliveries failed to surpass 10,000 units, but they still reflected a growth year-over-year. The company's August deliveries consisted of 5,745 P7 sports sedans, 2,678 P5 family sedans, and 1,155 G3i and G3 compact SUVs.

Among the top 5 startups, Li Auto was the only one whose Aug. deliveries posted a downturn movement both year-on-year and month-on-month.

The aforesaid 5 startups all had new product updates in recent months. Thus, it is still hard to predict which one will gain the best-performing credit for the entire 2022.

NETA S; photo credit: NETA

HOZON Auto put its all-new flagship model, the NETA S, onto the market on the last day of July. The model is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of this year.

Leapmotor last month added two new variants to its C11 SUV lineup, the 2022 executive 610 version and the 2022 smart travel 510 version. The two new trim levels both target the business-to-business market.

NIO ES7; photo credit: NIO

In the past August, NIO started delivering the ES7, and the 2022 ES8, ES6, and EC6. The company's Aug. deliveries included 398 ES7s.

Moreover, NIO will lock preorder of the ET5 on Sept. 9 and plans to kick off the model’s delivery on Sept. 30.

XPeng G9; photo credit: XPeng

In August, XPeng began accepting reservations for its G9 SUV, which is expected for delivery in October.

Li Auto officially began the user delivery of the Li L9, its second production model, on August 30. The automaker revealed it will launch the Li L8 in early November with deliveries to commence in the same month.