October New Forces Diverge Sharply as AITO and Avatar Halve; Zeekr Hits Annual Target Early

Yicai reported on November 1 that China's new-force camp diverged sharply in October as the "Golden September, Silver October" peak proved lackluster, with CPCA estimating the month fell nearly 30%, an unexpectedly weak historical low. Leapmotor held above 100,000 for a fourth month, while Xpeng and Xiaomi crossed 50,000 for the first time and GAC Hyper/Aion ranked fourth. By contrast AITO and Avatar roughly halved year on year, Harmony Intelligent Mobility delivered about 33,537 units, also about halved, and Li Auto delivered 29,025, down 8.6%. Zeekr, with 32,483 October deliveries, became the only new-force brand to lock in its full-year 300,000 target early. With ten months done, most others will miss 2026 goals; CPCA expects full-year passenger retail down about 22% but sees the domestic market bottoming and recovering in 2027 with growth of 0%-5%.

Source: Yicai (China Business Network), Nov 1, 2026 | 2026-11-01