BYD Co. (BYDDF), the world’s largest EV seller, just hit a speed bump. July deliveries came in at 344,296 unitsbasically flat from a year ago and down 10% month-on-monthmarking the company’s first monthly decline of 2025. While summer slowdowns aren’t new in China’s auto market, the timing couldn’t be worse. With only 2.49 million vehicles sold year-to-date, BYD now needs to average 602,000 units per month to hit its 5.5 million goal. That’s a steep climb, especially considering its all-time monthly high is still under 515,000. To make matters tougher, Beijing is cracking down on discount-driven price wars, tightening the screws on the entire sector.
Meanwhile, the competition is heating up fast. Geely just posted its strongest month since last November with 237,717 units. Xpeng and Leapmotor both notched record-breaking deliveries36,717 and 50,129 vehicles, respectivelywhile Xiaomi broke through the 30,000-unit mark for the first time. Even Nio, despite logging its weakest month since March, saw its stock jump 8.6% after the launch of its aggressively priced Onvo L90, which some analysts view as a strong product-market fit. Li Auto, on the other hand, took a hitdown 40% year-on-year to just over 30,000 units.
Zooming out, retail passenger vehicle sales in China were estimated to grow 7.6% year-over-year in July but fell 11% versus June, reflecting broader seasonal softness. Still, the narrative around BYD could be shifting. It’s not just about volume anymoreit’s about defending market share in a field that’s suddenly full of fast-moving challengers. With delivery targets slipping out of reach and new rivals scaling up at speed, the race for EV dominance in China is looking a lot more competitive.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
