Key Takeaways
- February saw Chinese EV deliveries plummet, with BYD falling 41% and XPeng declining 50% compared to the previous year.
- The combined monthly sales for NIO, Li Auto, and XPeng hit their lowest point since January 2023.
- Tesla delivered approximately 631,000 vehicles in China during 2025, representing a 4% decrease—marking the company’s first yearly decline in that market.
- Over the past twelve months, Tesla shares have climbed 37%, powered by enthusiasm around artificial intelligence initiatives.
- The NHTSA requires Tesla to provide crash data for its autonomous taxi program by March 9.
The start of 2026 brought challenging conditions for the Chinese electric vehicle market, with February delivery figures revealing widespread weakness across major manufacturers.
BYD delivered 187,782 passenger vehicles during February, representing a 41% decrease from the comparable period last year. The company’s fully electric vehicle segment declined 36% to reach 79,539 units.
XPeng recorded 15,256 deliveries, falling 50% on a year-over-year basis. Li Auto achieved 26,421 deliveries, showing a 5% decline. NIO stood out with positive momentum, delivering 20,797 vehicles—a 57% increase from the prior year.
Across the three companies—NIO, Li Auto, and XPeng—total deliveries reached 62,474 vehicles, declining 10.6% year-over-year. This figure represents the weakest combined monthly result since January 2023.
BYD experienced its sharpest year-over-year delivery contraction since data tracking commenced in 2021.
Tesla maintains substantial exposure to this market. The Chinese market contributed 22% of Tesla’s total revenue during 2025. The automaker delivered approximately 631,000 vehicles there last year—declining roughly 4% from 2024 levels, representing its first annual contraction in the region.
On a worldwide basis, Tesla delivered around 1.6 million vehicles throughout 2025, falling nearly 9% compared to the previous year. This marks the company’s second consecutive year of declining deliveries.
Artificial Intelligence Powers Stock Performance
Despite contracting vehicle sales, Tesla stock began Monday trading up approximately 37% compared to twelve months earlier. The market continues to value the company’s artificial intelligence roadmap ahead of its automotive operations.
Tesla introduced an autonomous robotaxi service without human supervision in Austin, Texas during June 2025. The company aims to broaden this service to additional metropolitan areas during the first half of 2026 and plans to reveal the third generation of its Optimus humanoid robot platform early this year.
These artificial intelligence developments carry greater weight with investors currently than traditional delivery metrics. Vehicle sales remain essential, however—they produce the majority of Tesla’s operating cash flow, which finances its AI development programs.
NHTSA Safety Data Submission Due March 9
Investors are monitoring another significant date: March 9.
Tesla faces a deadline to provide crash data concerning possible FSD traffic violations to the NHTSA on or before that date. The submission relates to an ongoing NHTSA inquiry.
Tesla has documented 14 incidents connected to its Austin robotaxi operations since the service began in June 2025. When the NHTSA initiated its investigation, the agency identified 58 incidents, with Tesla subsequently reviewing more than 8,300 records.
Among the 14 reported collisions, many took place at extremely low speeds or while stationary. Multiple reports indicate the robotaxi had come to a complete stop prior to impact. The incident reports do assign responsibility.
Published safety statistics from Tesla indicate that major crashes with supervised FSD occur once every 5.3 million miles, while the average U.S. driver experiences such crashes every 660,000 miles.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s Chinese competitors face their own market challenges. NIO shares have gained 5% over the trailing twelve months. Li Auto has declined 43%, XPeng has fallen 18%, and BYD has dropped 23%.
