Chinese EV Intelligence — 3 September 2026: Leapmotor Surpasses Tesla China for Third Month Running

In August 2026, BYD delivered 433,384 passenger cars — up 16.7% year-on-year — while its export line continued to grow, with 189,466 vehicles leaving China during the month. Year to date, BYD has now sold 2,668,015 vehicles globally. SAIC, the group behind MG, saw its NEV sales jump 44.1% year-on-year to 187,037 in August — a significant acceleration for a brand whose UK arm has been quietly expanding its model lineup. Chery, parent of the Jaecoo and Omoda brands, posted 1,914,481 total sales for January to August, with exports accounting for 1,343,334 of that figure — 70% of its August volumes going overseas. Chery separately noted that Jaecoo 7, Jaecoo 5 and Omoda 5 each appeared among the UK's ten best-selling models in 2026 to date: a notable confirmation of how quickly Chery brands have established a UK foothold. GWM's August total sales fell 1.87% year-on-year, with domestic China contracting for the tenth consecutive month; the brand now depends on overseas markets for more than 55% of its volumes.

Leapmotor delivered 103,129 vehicles globally in August 2026, making it the third consecutive month the Chinese brand has exceeded Tesla China's wholesale figures. Tesla's Shanghai factory shipped 86,166 vehicles in August — including exports — which was up 3.57% year-on-year but down 7.92% month-on-month from its July record of 93,500. Leapmotor's year-to-date total now stands at 560,883. Context matters here: Leapmotor's volumes include non-Chinese markets handled through its Stellantis joint venture, and the comparison with Tesla China is a wholesale figure, not a retail delivery count. Even so, crossing 100,000 in a single month places Leapmotor firmly in the second tier of Chinese EV producers. For UK buyers already shortlisting a B05, B10 or C10, this volume matters: it signals a brand operating at the scale needed to sustain long-term parts supply chains, software development resources, and after-sales infrastructure. The Stellantis partnership, which handles Leapmotor's manufacturing and sales outside China, provides a structural European anchor that most Chinese-origin brands lack.

BYD launched the Sealion 08 in China this week, its largest-battery Sealion variant to date. The car is offered in two powertrains: a plug-in hybrid starting at 229,900 yuan and a fully electric version starting at 239,900 yuan, with eight variants reaching up to 279,900 yuan. The BEV uses a second-generation Blade Battery of 115.072 kWh — the largest Blade Battery fitted to a Sealion — with a claimed CLTC range of 900 km for the rear-drive variant and 800 km for the all-wheel-drive version. Note: CLTC figures cannot be compared directly with WLTP; real-world UK figures would be materially lower. The PHEV offers 400 km of CLTC-rated battery range for the rear-drive variant. Flash charging on the BEV takes the pack from 10% to 70% in five minutes and from 10% to 97% in nine minutes. ADAS is handled by BYD's God's Eye B system — part of its God's Eye 5.0 solution — supporting urban navigation-assisted driving and multi-lane functions. The Sealion series sold 48,559 vehicles across all variants in August 2026, down 8.86% year-on-year; the Sealion 08 launch is likely to revive series momentum. No UK pricing, timing or specification has been announced.

BYD's semiconductor subsidiary disclosed this week that it has begun mass production of an in-house 4D millimetre-wave radar chip manufactured on a 28nm process node. The chip is rated to detect objects at distances beyond 400 metres with 0.1° angular resolution. This is a meaningful supply-chain development: it moves BYD closer to producing its own core ADAS sensing hardware rather than sourcing from Continental, Bosch or Mobileye, and it implies a technology roadmap that is structurally independent of Western component suppliers. For existing and prospective UK buyers of BYD models, in-house sensing hardware may translate over time into faster OTA updates and lower exposure to component shortages. Separately, US technology media reported in late August that a second fatality linked to Tesla's FSD driver-assistance system was confirmed during the month — a Model 3 stopping unexpectedly on a motorway, with a follow-up investigation suggesting Tesla may hold additional unreported incident data. These developments are relevant context as ADAS performance and transparency become decision criteria for premium EV buyers in the UK and internationally, even though the incidents occurred in the United States under US Federal conditions.

Three practical signals emerge from the August figures for UK buyers currently shortlisting a Chinese EV. The first is brand survival confidence: BYD, Chery and Leapmotor are all operating at volumes — hundreds of thousands of deliveries per month — that provide the cash flow and supplier relationships needed to sustain long-term parts availability and software support in export markets like the UK. Geely, whose brands include Leapmotor partner Stellantis and the Smart #5, posted exports of 690,985 vehicles for January to August, up 170% year-on-year, with exports now accounting for 41% of its August total. GWM's position is more nuanced: with domestic China sales contracting for a tenth consecutive month, the brand's UK strategy for the Ora 03 is now effectively funded by export profits. That creates an ongoing dependency on European sales volumes that did not exist two years ago — worth bearing in mind if long-term UK dealer support is a buying priority. The second signal is Chery's UK market assertion: the brand's own claim that Jaecoo 7, Jaecoo 5 and Omoda 5 appeared in the UK top ten signals internal prioritisation of this market. Third: the Sealion 08's China launch confirms the standard pattern — UK buyers of the current Sealion 7 are purchasing a specification one development cycle behind the China-market state of the art. That is not unique to BYD, but it is worth factoring into ownership expectations.