Tesla climbs to 4th in China's September NEV retail as NIO misses top 10 by 259

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 64,837 new energy vehicles (NEVs) at retail in China in September 2026, up 29.6% from August, and climbed from sixth to fourth in the China Passenger Car Association's (CPCA) maker ranking. Its share of the country's NEV retail market rose to 6.0% from 5.0%. Final figures the association published on October 12, 2026 put total passenger NEV retail at 1.084 million, up 7.8% from August but down 16.7% from a year earlier.

The bottom of the table moved more than the top. NIO (NYSE: NIO) grew its retail volume 4.4% to 37,231 from 35,655 in August and still slipped from 10th to 11th, finishing 259 units behind Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA), which took the last spot with 37,490. Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) fell harder, dropping 15.6% to 31,817 from 37,679 and sliding from ninth to 13th, behind Great Wall Motor's 32,048.

Two makers that sat outside August's top 10 took those places. SAIC Passenger Vehicle jumped 45.6% to 40,280 units, rising from 14th to eighth, while Xiaomi (HKG: 1810) climbed 32.7% to 40,015, up from 13th to ninth. CPCA singled out SAIC Passenger Vehicle among the makers posting strong NEV growth, and the unit also shipped 29,552 NEVs abroad in September.

New models did much of the lifting. Xiaomi senior vice president Zeng Xuezhong said on Weibo that deliveries passed 40,000 in September, with the new SkyNomad extended-range SUVs adding more than 10,000 in their first month, roughly the size of Xiaomi's 9,862-unit gain over August. SAIC Motor (SHA: 600104) said its MG4 family delivered more than 16,000 vehicles in September and the MG 07 more than 14,000, while SAIC Passenger Vehicle's NEV sales for the first nine months rose 170.1% to 415,000.

The SkyNomad N70, shown here, and the larger N90 went on sale on September 7, 2026 (Xiaomi)

Tesla's climb came from the domestic side of its Shanghai output. CPCA counted 95,366 Tesla China wholesale shipments in September, of which 30,529 were exports, down from 36,119 in August. Model Y shipments reached 62,948 and Model 3 shipments 32,418, counts that include export units. Its retail volume had rebounded 83.7% in August.

Discounts ran through the month. On September 7, 2026, Tesla China offered 5,000 CNY (c. $743) off Model 3 inventory cars and 10,000 CNY (c. $1,486) off Model Y inventory cars ordered and delivered by September 30. A second round that started September 25 cuts 7,000 CNY (c. $1,040) from most Model Y versions and 5,000 CNY from every Model 3 through October 31. Even after the September jump, Tesla's China retail volume was still 9.4% lower than a year earlier, a smaller decline than the 16.7% fall in the overall NEV market.

Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) held third with 78,202 units but lost ground, with retail down 7.9% from August and its share falling to 7.2% from 8.4%. Its NEV exports rose to 27,454 from 18,255 in August. Leapmotor and SAIC Passenger Vehicle were the only top-10 makers to grow year over year, at 30.8% and 86.6% respectively.

The two largest makers held their places. BYD (HKG: 1211) stayed first with 246,816 retail sales, up 5.5% from 233,943 in August, though its share eased to 22.8% from 23.3%. Geely Automobile (HKG: 0175) was second at 119,682, up 8.3%, with its share unchanged at 11.0%. Changan and SAIC-GM-Wuling each slipped one place, to fifth and sixth, as Tesla passed them, while Chery held seventh with 46,860.

Tesla's gain also showed up in the wider market. Across all passenger cars, including fuel-powered models, Tesla China ranked seventh in September with a 4.0% share of retail, on a list where Leapmotor placed fifth. Total passenger car retail came to 1.618 million, up 5.0% from August and down 28.0% year over year. NEVs took a record 67.0% of that total as retail sales of conventional fuel cars fell 43% to about 530,000.

The NIO ES8 Special Edition (NIO)

Startups as a group gave up share. CPCA said emerging carmakers took 23.6% of NEV retail in September, down from 26.0% in August, though still 3.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier. NIO Inc. delivered 37,408 vehicles in September across its three brands: 21,318 under NIO, 8,763 under ONVO and 7,327 under firefly. Over the first nine months, its retail total of 299,376 still ranks eighth, just ahead of Li Auto's 293,436.

Li Auto's September deliveries matched its retail count at 31,817. The company said it delivered more than 10,000 units of the new Li L6 and launched the Li MEGA Home and Li i9 Home during the month, and that the new Li i6 will launch in October. XPeng (NYSE: XPEV), which delivered 41,256 vehicles in September, ranked 14th in domestic NEV retail with 30,599 while exporting 10,055 NEVs.

HIMA's volume fell 11.0% from August's 42,101 during a month of change at its biggest brand. On September 15, 2026, AITO said Seres (SHA: 601127) would lead product definition, design, marketing, retail and service for the brand, with Huawei's device unit moving to a supporting role, and Seres and Huawei signed a new five-year cooperation agreement on September 30. Separately, CPCA said surging memory and chip prices driven by AI demand had slowed the pace of new NEV launches.

Only 259 units separated 10th from 11th, and Xiaomi finished just 2,784 units ahead of NIO. CPCA expects more effective selling time in October because the Mid-Autumn holiday fell in September. Whether Li Auto's new i6 and NIO's three-brand lineup can win back places from Xiaomi and SAIC's MG models, and whether Tesla's discounts through October 31 keep it ahead of Changan, will decide how the next ranking reshuffles.

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.7298 CNY as of October 13, 2026.