As the proportion of multi – child families in China rises, the demand for interior space and comfort in vehicles has increased significantly. This has also driven the rapid growth of C/C+-segment new energy SUVs. It is expected that the annual sales volume will reach 1.61 million units in 2025 and 1.725 million units in 2026.

In the new energy SUV market at the C/C+ segment over the years, the top five best-selling brands have always accounted for 70% of the sales; with a large market scale and high growth potential, and relatively less intense competition compared to other market segments, this has attracted brands such as Geely Galaxy, Onvo, and Zeekr to enter this field one after another.

Models such as the Li Auto I8, XPeng G01, and LeDao L80 are scheduled for market launch in the second half of this year, while models like the Volkswagen ID.ERA and BYD Dynasty-D will also enter this segment next year. With the continuous influx of new participants, the market is poised to undergo a profound restructuring.

While ICE vehicles maintained an 8.6% growth, the sales growth of Toyota’s BEVs became the primary driver of overall sales growth in the Chinese market.
Among them, the newly launched bZ3X remained the main model driving this growth.

The biggest highlight of the Toyota bZ3X is its adoption of the Momenta 5.0 intelligent driving system, equipped with sensing hardware such as LiDAR, enabling intelligent driving functions on highways and in urban areas. In comparison, its competitors generally lag behind the bZ3X in intelligent driving capabilities; additionally, the bZ3X’s pricing is highly competitive, which is why it has achieved success so far.

Toyota bZ3X focuses on the mainstream market through high – intelligent driving technologies (LiDAR + Orin X chip) and precise pricing (ranging from 109,800 to 159,800 yuan). Relying on the Chinese team to lead the entire development process, it achieves breakthroughs with the strategy of “joint – venture quality + intelligent equal rights”.

Compared with the situation where the service life of ICEs mainly concentrates on more than 6 years, NEVs are updated and replaced more frequently, resulting in a general service life of within 2 years, and the proportion of those with a service life of over 4 years has decreased significantly. This also brings huge room for the used NEV market.

Compared with ICEs, the transaction prices of used NEVs have dropped sharply. In 2025 Q1, the average transaction price of used NEVs was 129.6k yuan, a decrease of 6.8% compared to 2024, while ICEs saw a decrease of 2.9% compared to 2024. Among the major market segments, B-SEDAN and A-SEDAN have seen a decline of more than 10%, while B-SUV and A-SUV have decreased by 8.6% and 6.4% respectively.

The trading volume of used NEVs has rapidly increased in various provinces and cities. Among regions with over 10% share in national used NEV transactions, Shanghai accounts for nearly 20%, Henan accounts for more than 15%, and Tianjin and Hainan reach 13.9% and 13.4% respectively. In addition, Hebei, Beijing, etc. also exceed 10%.

The selling prices of SUV models in the C/D segment market mainly concentrate within the range of 250k to 350k (>70%).
Among them, EREV models represented by Li Auto and AITO account for more than 50% of the market share, while models account for 18% of the share.

In the main target market of the L90, the AITO M9 EREV and Li L9 EREV hold an absolute dominant position. Among pure electric models, the ES8, NIO’s current flagship SUV, has a starting price as high as 500k RMB, lagging significantly in sales compared to the AITO M9 EV and Xpeng X9 EV. For the L90 to enter this market, the pricing of its products will be crucial.

Based on the fact that EREV dominates this niche market and the preliminary simulation of the competitive relationship between ONVO L90 and its competitors, the reasonable pricing range for L90 is 299,800 – 349,800 RMB.
Its annual sales volume benchmark is expected to be 30,000 – 35,000 units, and optimistically, it will reach 40,000 – 50,000 units.

In the >500k RMB segment, compared to 2020 when all top 10 brands were foreign, the market landscape shifted in 2024 as Chinese new car-making brands like AITO and NIO entered the rankings.
Notably, AITO topped the list with 151k units sold annually, breaking the monopoly of BBA in this premium segment.

However, in the segment above 500k RMB, the market share of sedans dropped from 52.4% in 2022 to 17.7% in the first two months of 2025. Executive models such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Porsche Panamera have experienced significant declines in sales.
This shift presents both opportunities and challenges for Chinese brands.

Despite their exceptional performance in comprehensive evaluations, the NIO ET9 and Yangwang U7 face challenges in surpassing the historical legacy of traditional luxury brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. Considering market dynamics in the luxury segment, their projected 2025 annual sales are estimated at 3k–4k units for the ET9 and 5k–7k units for the U7, balancing their technological strengths against established brand loyalty and market acceptance barriers.

In the BEV market, vehicles using BYD’s 125-140Wh/kg battery packs accounted for approximately 125k units, while those with 140-160Wh/kg packs reached 77k units, with the PHEV/EREV market dominated by <125Wh/kg battery packs at around 256k units.

Compared to the same period last year, BYD’s internal battery usage share decreased to 78.7% in the first two months of 2025, while its supply to other manufacturers reached 21.3%. Among these external customers, XPeng and Onvo ranked top two in terms of battery usage.

In the top ten rankings of model battery usage, XPeng’s MONA m03 ranks first with a usage of 1.8 GWh, accounting for a high proportion of 11.5%. Onvo’s L60 ranks sixth with a usage of 0.7 GWh, accounting for 4.4%. The remaining models in the list are all under BYD.

Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi’s market share in this segment has dropped from 56.1% in 2021 to 42.9% today—a decline of 13.2%.

Mercedes-Benz’s share of sales for models priced 300k+ yuan dropped from 74.4% in 2022 to 58.1% in 2025—a decline of 16.3%. BMW’s share fell from 70.7% to 40.8%, a decrease of 29.9%, while Audi’s share dropped from 50% to 27.6%, representing a 22.4%decline.

Chinese new Car-making brands represented by Li Auto, AITO, and others have established a strong presence in the 300k+ Yuan segment. As this trend continues to shift, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi face significant challenges in this market.

In the 100k-150k RMB BEV sedan segment, the XPeng M03 currently dominates the market with robust sales, followed by the BYD Qin+ EV. With the arrival of the BYD Qin L EV, the segment is poised for another shift.

Based on a comprehensive evaluation of product strength, brand influence, and dealer network coverage, the BYD Qin L EV is projected to achieve a monthly sales volume of 13,050 units in 2025. Driven by this impact, XPeng MONA M03’s monthly sales are projected to decline to 10,710 units, representing a 17.6% drop.

The <100K RMB price range dominates A0 segment sales. In the 100K-150K RMB range where NIO Firefly competes, its market share dropped from 47.8% (2022) to 19.9% (Jan-Feb 2025). Meanwhile, the >150K RMB range saw its share fall to 4.3%, with the top two models (smart#1 and mini EV) selling fewer than 3,000 units combined in the first two months of 2025.

NIO Firefly currently has a pre-sale price of 148,800 yuan, but its performance in the A0 segment has not been particularly strong. The majority of sales in this segment are concentrated below 100,000 yuan, represented by models like the BYD Dolphin and Geely Xingyuan. However, compared to key competitors such as the Smart #1 and Mini EV, the Firefly offers a competitive price advantage.

Based on the competitive environment, transaction prices, and sales volume in this segment over the past year, sensitivity analysis simulations show that if NIO Firefly is officially priced at 148,800 yuan, its average monthly sales volume is projected to be approximately 916 units. At a price of 128,800 yuan, monthly sales would rise to 1,388 units, and at 108,800 yuan, the average monthly volume would reach 2,386 units.

Since H2 2024, NIO’s channel has expanded purchase incentives for ES6/EC6—meanwhile, Onvo’s separate channel added L60 incentives in January 2025. However, the sub-brand’s promotions failed to generate any cross-channel spillover for NIO’s lineup, which is also a disadvantage of the dual-channel strategy.

While NIO and its sub-brand Onvo operate separate channel networks (589 vs. 300 stores), their monthly average sales per store—14.5 units for NIO and 16.6 units for Onvo—trail far behind competitors like Li Auto and XPeng. This dual-channel structure makes cross-brand channel integration NIO’s urgent priority.