(Yicai) June 2 -- Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology was once more the best-selling Chinese new energy vehicle startup in May, far ahead of its competitors, after setting a new sales record for the second consecutive month.

Leapmotor sold 81,569 NEVs in May, up 81 percent from a year earlier and 14 percent from April, surpassing the 80,000 threshold for the first time, the Hangzhou-based carmaker said yesterday.

Seven Chinese NEV startups -- Nio, Zeekr, Aito, Li Auto, Deepal, Xpeng Group, and Xiaomi -- reported sales of between 30,000 and 40,000 units in May. 

Nio, which ranked second after Leapmotor, sold 37,705 NEVs last month: 20,013 from its main Nio brand, 12,029 from the Onvo brand, and 5,663 from the Firefly brand. Thanks to the launch of the new L80 on May 15, Onvo’s sales surged 125 percent from April.

Against the backdrop of continuously rising raw material prices, automakers will face even more severe challenges if their monthly sales fail to surpass 30,000 units, which will place greater survival pressure on small- and medium-sized brands that lack core technologies and scale advantages, an industry insider told Yicai.

This is the case of some NEV brands under traditional carmakers, such as Dongfeng Motor’s Yipai and Voyah, BAIC Group’s Arcfox, and SAIC Motor’s IM Motors, which sold between 24,800 and 10,000 units each in May.

China’s passenger vehicle sales fell 24 percent to 989,000 units between May 1 and 24 from a year earlier, according to the latest data from the China Passenger Car Association. Of them, NEV sales totaled 619,000 units, down 11 percent in the period.

Amid the overall downward trend in auto sales, consumer hesitation remains strong, posing significant challenges for new automakers aiming to break the 40,000-unit milestone in monthly sales.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione