D sales increased again in June as exports reached a record

D reported its second consecutive monthly sales increase on an annual basis in June; Total sales rose 5.5% to 403,472 units, continuing a modest recovery that began with a 0.3% increase in May after an eight-month long streak of declines. The China Passenger Car Association’s recovery was based almost entirely on exports, which continue to strengthen, rather than any domestic turnaround. The overall first half picture confirms almost the same pattern: Cumulative new energy vehicle sales in the first six months fell by around 16% year-on-year to 1.81 million units; This marked D’s first half-year decline in six years, while cumulative overseas sales increased more than 70% to nearly 792,000. This recovery also comes after a difficult transition between D’s Blade Battery generations; This extended delivery times for several key models by several weeks. Now production line improvements are coming to an end and capacity bottlenecks are easing, helping to support strong deliveries in June. Compared to its Chinese peers, D’s growth percentage does not seem very remarkable. Indeed, Leapmotor’s June deliveries rose 95% to a record 93,376 units, while Zeekr rose 111% to 35,169 and the wider Geely group of brands saw exports rise 157% to 100,000 units for the first time, with total sales rising just 2%. Meanwhile, international sales of Great Wall, which has historically had difficulty penetrating European markets, increased by 50% while domestic sales fell by almost a third. D benefited significantly from increased overseas sales while domestic performance remained weak. A similar trend can be observed in the rest of the China group, although not all fares were as smooth as D. Nio and Xpeng each posted their strongest deliveries of the year so far, but Nio’s second-quarter total missed its own guidance and Xpeng’s recovery relied heavily on the newly launched GX SUV, which also doubles as a robotaxi. Despite strong sales, the latter is struggling with long wait times for premium hardware due to an unexpected concentration of demand for these high-end offerings. Meanwhile, Li Auto and Huawei’s HIMA recorded year-on-year declines; This served as a reminder that export strength was largely buffering rather than displacing a troubled domestic market. Investors reacted positively to D’s sales reversal: the automaker’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose nearly 9% following June figures that had previously fallen to multi-year lows, alongside declines in Xiaomi, Li Auto and Leapmotor. Chairman Wang Chuanfu reiterated D’s goal of becoming the world’s largest automaker within five years, pointing to export growth and ongoing battery and fast charging developments as key drivers of growth. This export momentum, of course, now feeds directly into D’s production plans, which are rapidly gaining a global scope. The automaker’s plant in Hungary is moving towards mass production later this year and is nearing a decision on a second European plant; Spain and France are leading candidates for brownfield acquisitions, possibly from Stellantis. Yet the biggest test lies at home. China’s passenger car market (the world’s largest) is expected to shrink 11% this year; This represents a sharp decline from the previous 1% forecast as reduced subsidies, a prolonged real estate slump and rising dealer inventories weigh on demand, leaving D’s export and localization strategy to carry the bulk of its growth through the rest of 2026.

Information: This content was prepared and published using AutomobileMagazine’s artificial intelligence-supported publishing system, in line with the information shared by international automotive manufacturers and reliable press sources.