(Yicai) Nov. 2 -- Most Chinese new energy vehicle startups saw sales increase last month, with Leapmotor Technology remaining the best seller. However, as the sales differentiation in the industry intensifies, some players faced hurdles, with all five brands co-developed by Huawei Technologies experiencing sales declines.

Leapmotor’s deliveries rose 51 percent to 106,127 vehicles in October from a year earlier, setting a new monthly sales record and delivering over 100,000 units for the fourth straight month. However, the year-on-year growth slowed from 59 percent in September.

In the first 10 months of the year, Leapmotor delivered about 772,600 NEVs, meaning that it should deliver an average of 113,700 units each in November and December, which is about 7 percent higher than its monthly record, to achieve the one million sales target set at the beginning of the year.

Xpeng Group and Xiaomi both delivered more than 50,000 vehicles last month for the first time ever. While Xiaomi did not disclose the exact figure, Xpeng said it sold a new monthly high of 50,237 units in October, up 22 percent from September and 20 percent from a year earlier.

Among traditional carmakers’ NEV brands, GAC Group’s Hyptec and Aion delivered 42,357 units last month, up 57 percent from a year ago and 19 percent from September, rising to fourth place in the monthly ranking.

Deliveries of Geely Automobile Holdings’ NEV brand Zeekr surged 52 percent to 32,483 vehicles last month from a year earlier, bringing the total for the first 10 months of the year to 320,887 units, achieving its annual sales target of 300,000 units two months in advance. Zeekr is the first Chinese NEV brand to hit its annual sales target ahead of schedule so far this year.

Huawei’s smart car alliance Harmony Intelligence Mobility Alliance saw deliveries from its five collaboration brands fall for the fourth consecutive month in October, down 51 percent to 33,537 units from a year ago. Aito, which HIMA co-develops with Seres Group, reported the highest delivery volume of 22,105 units among the five brands, down nearly 55 percent in the period.

Avatr Technology, the high-end intelligent electric vehicle brand under Changan Automobile, delivered only 7,056 vehicles in October, down about 14 percent from the previous month and around 48 percent from a year earlier, making it one of the few brands with both monthly and yearly declines.

China’s passenger car sales fell 29 percent to 1.6 million units in October from a year earlier, down 1.1 percent from the previous month, according to estimates from the China Passenger Car Association. Retail sales of NEVs decreased 17 percent to about 1.07 million units, with a market penetration rate of nearly 67 percent.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione