New forces in the automotive industry "Golden September" battle: XPeng MONA "savior", ZEEKR breaks through 20,000 vehicles again

Although it was the National Day holiday, the new forces still submitted their September report on time.

September and October are traditionally the peak season for the automotive market. From the overall data of the new forces, this feature is still evident, with many car companies achieving record high monthly sales. Among the 14 new energy vehicle companies tracked by the Titanium Media App, only IM Motors and NIO showed a downward trend.

Li Auto, Aito, and Leapmotor continue to form the top three. Among them, Li Auto surged to 53,000 vehicles; Leapmotor not only continued to deliver over 30,000 vehicles in a month, but also maintained a high growth rate compared to the previous month.

Compared to last month, the most eye-catching aspect is the "20,000 Club": XPeng achieved its best performance in nearly two years with the MONA M03; Deep Blue Auto surpassed NIO and ranked fourth among the 14 new energy vehicle companies; ZEEKR, after June, once again broke the 20,000 vehicle mark in sales.

XPeng MONA "Savior"

In September, XPeng delivered a total of 21,352 new vehicles with the support of the MONA M03, a year-on-year increase of 39% and a month-on-month increase of 52%. Among them, XPeng MONA M03 deliveries exceeded ten thousand units.

On September 13th, a blogger revealed on Weibo that the daily new orders for XPeng MONA M03 exceeded 2,000. The popularity of XPeng MONA M03 has also led to various speculations. In response to speculation that ride-hailing companies may account for the majority of orders, XPeng MONA M03's head, Yang Guang, clearly stated that no ride-hailing company has purchased any.

The reason for such speculation is related to the origin of MONA M03. The MONA project originated from Didi's Da Vinci plan for car manufacturing, focusing on the 150,000 yuan market segment. In August 2023, XPeng announced the acquisition of relevant assets and R&D capabilities of Didi's smart electric vehicle project; at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, XPeng officially launched its new MONA series, with the first model named M03 in June.

On August 27th, XPeng MONA M03 was launched and listed, offering three versions with prices starting at 119,800 yuan. Within 48 hours of its listing, MONA M03's pre-orders exceeded 30,000 units. On September 14th, XPeng Chairman He Xiaopeng revealed on Weibo that the production capacity of XPeng MONA had been expanded twice within 10 days.

He Xiaopeng also stated in a video that the M03 is the fastest car in terms of production ramp-up since delivery for XPeng, with no other comparable, "I believe that this month we will break the record for the first month of delivery among new forces. We will work hard, even during the National Day holiday, to speed up production capacity and deliver the cars to everyone as soon as possible."

In addition to the MONA M03, XPeng officially launched the XPeng X9610 Long-Range Max version in September, with an official price of 379,800 yuan. As XPeng's first pure electric MPV model, the XPeng X9 has delivered over 15,000 new vehicles since its official launch on January 1st this year Among them, the proportion of the Max version reached 73%.

It is reported that XPeng's first AI car, the P7+, will debut on October 10th. The intelligent driving solution of XPeng P7+ is not limited by city, route, or road conditions, and has functions such as "door-to-door" and "parking space-to-parking space".

Regarding the development plan for AI cars, He Xiaopeng has proposed a goal of "end-to-end four steps". The first step is to achieve 100% map-free urban intelligent driving, end-to-end boarding; the second step is to double the data of large models, connect smart driving breakpoints such as ETC and park interiors, and achieve door-to-door intelligent driving; the third step is to increase the cloud-based large model parameter volume by 5 times for each version, achieving an L3 level intelligent driving experience; the fourth step is unmanned driving in some low-speed scenarios.

Not long ago, He Xiaopeng, Chairman of XPeng Motors, emphatically stated, "The next stage of competition is to produce and sell one million 'fully AI cars' annually." With the dual advantages of intelligence and cost-effectiveness, XPeng Motors may have the opportunity to re-enter the top tier of the new energy vehicle market.

Deep Blue Auto surpasses Nio

Following the breakthrough of selling 20,131 new cars in August for the first time, Deep Blue Auto's momentum continues to rise, with a total delivery of 22,709 vehicles in September, a year-on-year increase of 30.74%, surpassing Nio and ranking fourth.

The Deep Blue Auto brand's current models include the Deep Blue G318, Deep Blue S07, Deep Blue SL03, and Deep Blue S7.

On July 25, 2022, Deep Blue Auto's first strategic model, the SL03, was well received upon its launch. By December of the same year, the delivery volume of Changan Deep Blue SL03 reached 11,700 units. However, this momentum did not last long. In May 2023, the delivery volume of Deep Blue SL03 weakened, dropping from over ten thousand units to 7,021 units. To boost sales, Deep Blue immediately launched a second model in the same year - the mid-size SUV Deep Blue S7.

Since the beginning of this year, Deep Blue Auto has successively launched three products, namely the "Square Box" SUV Deep Blue G318 officially launched in June, the Deep Blue S07 launched in July, and the Deep Blue L07 launched on September 20.

Among them, the Deep Blue S07 is the successor model to the Deep Blue S7, but there have been some adjustments in terms of range and configuration, such as the addition of the Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving series.

The Deep Blue L07 is a sister model based on the Deep Blue SL03. However, the platform, power, intelligence, interior and exterior design of the Deep Blue L07 are all newly configured, especially like the Deep Blue S07, both are focused on Huawei intelligent driving.

With the delivery of these two models, Deep Blue Auto has entered the "20,000 Club" for two consecutive months. On September 25, Deep Blue Auto officially announced that the orders for the Deep Blue S07 reached 30,158 units within two months of its launch.

In addition to competing in intelligent driving, Deep Blue Auto is also bold in terms of pricing. Just one month after its launch in August, Deep Blue S07 announced a price adjustment, with the Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving ADS SE version appearing on the market with a starting price of 184,900 yuan Previously, Deep Blue Motors CEO Deng Chenghao had publicly announced the sales target plan, "In the fourth quarter of this year, Deep Blue's goal is 30,000 units. (S07, L07, S05) Several products will be launched in September and October, and it is entirely possible to achieve 30,000 units in November and December (per month)."

It is reported that another model of Deep Blue Motors, the compact SUV Deep Blue S05, will be launched in October. The Deep Blue S05 is positioned as an A+ level SUV, slightly smaller in size compared to the S07, and will be produced in two factories in Thailand and China, mainly targeting small families born in the 1990s.

By then, Deep Blue Motors will have four models on the market, including two sedans and two SUVs, and this combination may bring Deep Blue Motors closer to the goal of monthly sales of 30,000 units.

ZEEKR breaks through 20,000 units again

Although ZEEKR's ranking among 14 car companies remains unchanged, there has been a significant change in sales numbers compared to the previous month. After June, ZEEKR once again achieved a monthly delivery volume of over 20,000 units.

The main reason for this achievement is the increase in production of the new ZEEKR 001 and 007 models, as well as the sales growth brought by the ZEEKR 7X launched in September.

Although in August, ZEEKR caused controversy among old car owners after the release of the 2025 models ZEEKR 001 and ZEEKR 007, ZEEKR CEO An Conghui also promised at the subsequent performance meeting that, apart from changes in product colors and optional configurations, the ZEEKR 001, 007, and 009 models currently on sale have no plans for annual model updates within a year of their product release date.

In September, ZEEKR released a new model - ZEEKR 7X. As ZEEKR's first mainstream five-seater SUV, ZEEKR 7X is priced between 229,900 and 269,900 yuan, equipped with 800V charging technology as standard across the range, as well as features such as laser radar, air suspension with CDC, optional electrically adjustable rear seats, a car refrigerator in the front central armrest, hidden small table and entertainment screens in the rear.

Since its establishment, ZEEKR has always adhered to the luxury pure electric route. As the model for ZEEKR to enter the mainstream mass market, ZEEKR 7X also undertakes the task of being the main sales force. ZEEKR 7X officially started booking at the Chengdu Auto Show, and according to official figures, orders exceeded 58,000 within 20 days, with over 5,000 units delivered in just 10 days.

An Conghui emphasized that ZEEKR's sales target for this year is 230,000 units, "It is quite challenging, but we are still confident. We are also expected to be the first pure electric brand to be profitable after Tesla." However, he also admitted that the competition in the SUV market of over 200,000 units is the most intense.

Summary

The KPI of new forces in the automotive industry in the first half of the year generally did not meet expectations, facing considerable pressure to achieve annual sales as scheduled. In order to seize the opportunity to grab the "Golden Week" in advance, according to incomplete statistics from the Titanium Media App, nearly 50 new cars or facelifted models were launched in the car market in September. Only in the week from September 23rd to September 29th, 20 models were launched With the intense launch of new cars, the next fourth quarter will inevitably become a key sprint stage for annual sales. Who will emerge as a dark horse in the upcoming period? And who will fall behind by the end of the year?