(Yicai) Nov. 3 -- Most major Chinese automakers recorded higher sales for last month, but as competition in the domestic market intensifies, overseas expansion is increasingly becoming a key growth driver.

SAIC Motor was the best-selling carmaker in October, up 12 percent from a year earlier to 454,000 units, with its own brands -- IM Motors, Maxus, MG, and Roewe -- jumping 22 percent to 306,000. Its new energy vehicle sales climbed 32 percent to 207,000.

SAIC exported 97,000 vehicles, bringing the total for the first 10 months of the year to about 862,000. Some 250,000 MG cars were sold in Europe, a 20 percent jump from the same period of last year.

BYD ranked second, reaching 441,706, up over 11 percent from September and setting a new monthly record for this year. Overseas sales accounted for 83,524, a 156 percent year-on-year gain.

Last month, BYD announced that its plant in Brazil had officially come on stream and unveiled the K-EV Racco, a pure EV tailored for the Japanese market, at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Geely Automobile sold 307,133 vehicles last month, up 35 percent from a year ago, with NEV sales surging 64 percent to 177,882 and accounting for 58 percent of the total. The Galaxy brand achieved its annual sales target of one million units last month, becoming a new growth engine for the company. Its exports rose 23 percent to 41,568.

FAW Group followed Geely Auto closely, with sales up 8.1 percent to 305,000.

Chery Automobile sold 281,161 cars, a 3.3 percent increase. Its exports jumped 13 percent to 126,434, staying over 100,000 for the sixth consecutive month. In January to October, the firm’s exports surpassed 1.06 million, setting a new record for China’s fastest-growing auto exports and putting it on track to become the country’s top vehicle exporter this year.

Sales of Changan Automobile and BAIC Group both rose 11 percent to 278,000 and 160,133, respectively. Great Wall Motor sold 143,078, with exports surging 23 percent. Its overseas sales climbed 29 percent to 50,269.

EV Startups, Brands

Leapmotor continued to rank first among Chinese EV startups by sales in October after selling 70,289 cars, an 84 percent increase from a year earlier.

Xpeng Motors and Nio saw their sales jump 76 percent and 93 percent to 42,013 and 40,397, respectively, both setting new monthly records. Xiaomi Auto also sold more than 40,000 last month, remaining at a stable level.

Huawei Technologies’ Harmony Intelligence Mobility Alliance, which is responsible for the Aito, Luxeed, Maextro, and Stelato brands, delivered a record 68,216 vehicles in the month, reaching the milestone of one million deliveries. HIMA’s average transaction price was CNY390,000 (USD54,800) last month.

Li Auto’s deliveries tumbled to 31,767, down 38 percent from a year earlier and 6.4 percent from September. It is the only Chinese EV startup with deliveries below 50 percent of its annual target as of Oct. 30. Moreover, its stock price has dropped to a yearly low.

Among EV brands of traditional automakers, Zeekr and Lynk & Co under Geely Auto reported combined sales of 61,636 last month, exceeding the 60,000 mark for the first time. BAIC BJEV, the EV unit of BAIC and maker of the Arcfox, Beijing, and Stelato brands, delivered over 30,000 cars.

Changan Auto’s Deepal sold nearly 37,000 units, with the combined sales of the three state-owned NEV brands -- Deepal, Voyah, and Avatr -- totaling 67,516, still lower than Leapmotor’s figure in the period.

With the gradual phase-out of NEV subsidies, automakers failing to achieve scale advantages this year will face an even tougher elimination race next year, according to industry insiders.

Editor: Futura Costaglione