The first-half-year report cards of new car-making forces are out: Only XPeng has passed the mark, and some brands have achieved less than 20% of their targets.

The progress bar of 2025 has passed halfway. Just as the second half of the year began, car companies started to announce their latest sales data.

Dianchetong has sorted out the data of new - energy vehicle startups that have announced their sales figures and found an obvious fact: Although most new - energy vehicle startups saw a significant year - on - year increase in their first - half sales, XPeng was the only one whose sales completion rate reached 50%. The target completion rates of most new - energy vehicle startups were below 40%.

Compiled by: Dianchetong

Different from sales data, the target completion rate is just a self - challenge without the meaning of comparison. However, when putting these data together, Dianchetong can also see the situations of various new - energy vehicle startups.

Selling 200,000 vehicles in half a year makes a strong player

In terms of sales performance, four new - energy vehicle startups, XPeng, Leapmotor, Li Auto, and Hongmeng Zhixing, all sold around 200,000 vehicles in the first half of the year, ranking among the top in the domestic new - energy vehicle market. However, their target completion rates vary greatly, and the fundamental reason is naturally the different sales targets set at the beginning of the year.

As the only new - energy vehicle startup with a target completion rate exceeding 50%, XPeng's sales target for 2025 seems relatively low, only 380,000 vehicles. Last year, XPeng set an annual sales target of 280,000 vehicles but only sold 190,068 vehicles, with a completion rate of only 67.88%.

The sales target of 380,000 vehicles is 100,000 vehicles higher than last year's, which is not a low target. With the two popular models, XPeng MONA M03 and XPeng P7+, XPeng's sales in the first half of this year have already exceeded last year's annual sales.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

If the sales of XPeng MONA M03 and XPeng P7+ can maintain their current growth rate, Dianchetong believes that XPeng may raise its annual sales target later. However, these two models mainly focus on the pure - electric sedan market. To further boost sales, XPeng needs to explore more possibilities in the pure - electric SUV market. It remains to be seen whether the upcoming XPeng G7 can continue the growth momentum of the two popular models.

Leapmotor ranked first in the new - energy vehicle sales list in the first half of the year. The popularity of its C - series models proves that Leapmotor has achieved a relatively large - scale effect through sales. Although its brand image is relatively fixed and it may be difficult to target the high - end market in the future, it is also a viable option to focus on the cost - effective family car market.

According to the plan, Leapmotor will launch the pure - electric sedan Leapmotor B01 in the second half of the year to seize the market share of XPeng MONA M03. Interestingly, Leapmotor plans to launch its D - series products in the 300,000 - yuan price range next year. To make the high - end D - series the main sales force, it may need to change its marketing strategy this year to change consumers' stereotypes.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

All four models of Hongmeng Zhixing have been launched, bringing relatively impressive sales data to the alliance. However, to be fair, the annual sales target of one million vehicles is indeed a bit high.

The higher the target set at the beginning of the year, the more it may reflect the confidence in the products. However, an overly high sales target can bring anxiety and unease. Seres' sales target for this year is 550,000 - 600,000 vehicles, and based on the current sales data of AITO, it has a good chance of achieving this goal.

Currently, Hongmeng Zhixing relies heavily on AITO. The sales of the other three models are steadily increasing, and it is not yet known how much growth potential the upcoming Shangjie has. To reach the annual sales target of one million vehicles, it needs to sell more than 130,000 vehicles per month in the second half of the year, which is obviously unrealistic for Hongmeng Zhixing, which currently sells 40,000 - 50,000 vehicles per month.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

In the view of Dianchetong, it's not a big deal if the self - set sales target is not achieved. Sales data is the real voice of power. However, setting a more rational sales target is obviously more convincing in the market.

It's worth mentioning that although Xiaomi Auto's sales are still some distance from the 200,000 - vehicle level, it achieved nearly 50% of its target completion rate in the first half of this year with only the Xiaomi SU7 and its first - phase factory, which is enough to make other competitors envious. With the newly launched Xiaomi YU7 and the second - phase factory starting production, Xiaomi Auto has a good chance of achieving its annual sales target of 350,000 vehicles in the second half of the year.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

Why do these car companies have a completion rate of less than 40%?

For new - energy vehicle brands in the table whose monthly sales are below 200,000 vehicles and whose completion rates are below 40%, some are affected by overly high targets, while others have underperformed products in the market.

Let's first look at Shenlan and NIO, whose first - half sales exceeded 100,000 vehicles. Shenlan set an annual sales target of 280,000 vehicles last year but only sold 243,894 vehicles, with a completion rate of 87.11%. Perhaps due to high confidence in its products, it set a sales target of 400,000 vehicles this year.

Currently, only the Shenlan S05 and S07 models of Shenlan are relatively competitive. The two sedans, L07 and SL03, and the hardcore off - road SUV Shenlan G318 are still far from becoming popular models.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

The newly launched Shenlan S09 has relatively strong comprehensive capabilities. The official even dares to compare its configuration with the Li L9, which costs four or five hundred thousand yuan. It received 21,168 large - scale orders on the night of its launch, helping Shenlan get out of the embarrassing situation of not having a popular model.

NIO's sales target of 440,000 vehicles seems even more exaggerated than last year's 230,000 vehicles. However, according to the official statement, NIO can only achieve profitability in the fourth quarter if it reaches this sales target, which shows a more desperate attitude.

In terms of sales data, NIO's cumulative sales in the first half of the year increased by more than 30% year - on - year. Unfortunately, the growth rate of NIO's sales cannot keep up with the increase in its sales target. If last year's 230,000 vehicles were set as the target, NIO's target completion rate would reach 49.63%.

LeDao is a sub - brand focused on high - volume sales. Its LeDao L60 ranked third in the sales list of 200,000 - 300,000 - yuan pure - electric SUVs in May. Although it ranks high in the sales list, it is still difficult to pose a threat to the Tesla Model Y and has no obvious advantage over other domestic competitors.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

The sales burden of LeDao actually falls on the higher - positioned LeDao L90. However, Dianchetong is not very optimistic about the market prospects of LeDao L90:

On the one hand, the brand influence of LeDao has not been fully established, and its current popularity mainly depends on NIO. On the other hand, users who want NIO's products may choose the 350,000 - yuan NIO ES6 or NIO EC6. In this case, the main selling point of LeDao L90 may be its space.

As for VOYAH and IM Motors, their set sales targets are not very high, but their current sales completion rates are still low. The main reason is the influence of product positioning, brand awareness, and other factors, making it difficult for their products to become popular models.

However, Dianchetong noticed that VOYAH, which has deeply cooperated with Huawei, has started to change. Its VOYAH Dreamer sold nearly 30,000 vehicles in the first five months of this year. Huawei's technological support and its own strong strength have attracted many family users and business people who have requirements for travel quality.

In addition, VOYAH is about to launch the VOYAH FREE+, which has a stronger "Huawei flavor" and more potential to compete with mainstream new - energy SUVs. If the VOYAH FREE+ becomes a popular model, VOYAH can get rid of the label of "poor sales" and have better sales in the second half of the year. However, with the entry of the Xiaomi YU7, it's still uncertain whether the VOYAH FREE+ can seize this opportunity.

Image source: Shot by Dianchetong

Conclusion

After analysis, it's not difficult to find that different car companies have different attitudes towards their sales targets:

For example, Hongmeng Zhixing has relatively good sales data and even became the "sales champion" among new - energy vehicle startups in June. However, its annual sales target of one million vehicles is a bit "excessive".

For example, NIO's sales data has increased. However, to achieve profitability in the fourth quarter, it set a rather outrageous sales target, which has magnified the brand's anxiety and unease.

Looking at IM Motors, its sales target in 2024 was 120,000 - 130,000 vehicles, and this year's sales target has even dropped to 100,000 vehicles. This obviously shows that the brand has recognized the reality and reduced sales pressure to create a more dynamic corporate system.

Of course, this is just the "mid - term exam" for car companies. Before the end of 2025, any car company has a chance to achieve its set target. In addition, most new - energy vehicle startups have a relatively positive attitude towards their future, and their sales targets are higher than previous years' sales data.

There is still a chance to turn the situation around in the second half of the year. What car companies need to do now is to summarize the experience of the first half of the year in a timely manner and find out whether the problem lies in the products or the marketing. Only in this way can they get closer to the target set at the beginning of the year. Even if the target is not achieved in the end, at least it won't be too embarrassing.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Dianchetong", author: Dianchetong. Republished with permission from 36Kr.