XPeng Deliveries Soar but China’s EV Makers Hit By U.S. Trade Fears. What It Means for Tesla.

All-electric car sales remain strong in China. Sales for BYD, XPeng, Li Auto, and NIO, combined, rose about 44% year over year in the second quarter. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

Some Chinese electric-vehicle makers posted growth in July, but their delivery numbers weren’t enough to stop shares dropping on a day when investors were also fretting about President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.

NIO delivered 21,017 cars in July, up from 20,498 in July 2024. U.S.-listed shares of the auto maker slipped 0.9%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7% and 1.5%, respectively.

XPeng delivered 36,717 cars in July, up from 11,145 delivered in July 2024. XPeng stock was down 1.1%.

Li Auto delivered 30,731 cars last month, down from 51,003 delivered in July 2024. American depositary receipts of Li Auto dropped 3.1% in early trading.

Coming into Friday trading, Li stock was up about 9% so far this year and up about 7% over the past three months. NIO shares were up about 12% year to date and up 20% over the past three months. XPeng has posted the strongest growth in 2025. Its shares were up about 54% so far this year, but down about 2% over the past three months.

BYD, the largest EV maker in China, offering both all-electric cars and hybrids, sold 341,030 passenger vehicles, including 177,887 all-electric vehicles. A year ago, BYD delivered 340,799 passenger vehicles, including 130,000 all-electric cars.

BYD stock was up 0.7% in overseas trading.

Tesla doesn’t report monthly or regional sales, leaving investors to look to industry data providers for numbers. The American EV maker’s Chinese retail sales amounted to roughly 129,000 cars in the second quarter, down about 12% year over year. Sales might have been affected by escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which some Wall Street analysts believed was leading Chinese shoppers to avoid American products.

Combined all-electric second-quarter sales for BYD, NIO, Li, and XPeng were roughly 893,000 cars, up 44% year over year.

Tesla stock was down 2.6% in early trading Friday at $300.38. Coming into Friday trading, shares were down about 24% year to date and up about 9% over the past three months.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com