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electric vehicles10 MIN

XPeng vs. NIO vs. Li Auto: How Their EV Businesses Compare in 2025 and 2026

XPENG led reported 2025 deliveries, Li Auto followed with an EREV-centered business, and NIO’s total covered three brands. Here is how their scale, strategy and margins differ—and why the latest periods are not fully synchronized.

By CarCody Team

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XPENG had the highest reported 2025 deliveries at 429,445 vehicles, Li Auto followed with 406,343, and NIO delivered 326,028 across three brands. Those totals describe similar scale, but not identical businesses: XPENG presents itself as a smart-EV technology company, NIO combines premium NIO, family-oriented ONVO and small-car FIREFLY, while Li Auto has built its business around extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs).

The financial comparison also requires care. XPENG and NIO report both company-wide gross margin and vehicle margin, which measure different layers of profitability; neither is net income. The latest periods are uneven: the figures for NIO and Li Auto below are for full-year 2025, while the latest XPENG material also includes the first half of 2026 and deliveries through August 2026.

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At a glance: the three businesses on a common 2025 basis

Full-year 2025 is the clearest shared period in the company reports. The figures in this table are company-reported; NIO described its 2025 results as unaudited. They are not an independent, third-party ranking.

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Company Reported 2025 deliveries 2025 total revenue 2025 gross margin 2025 vehicle margin Core business description
XPENG 429,445 vehicles RMB76.72 billion 18.9% 12.8% Smart-EV and technology company, in the company’s description
NIO 326,028 vehicles across NIO, ONVO and FIREFLY RMB87.49 billion 13.6% 14.6% Three-brand portfolio: premium NIO, family-oriented ONVO and small-car FIREFLY, according to the company
Li Auto 406,343 vehicles Not stated in Li Auto’s 2025 annual report Not stated in Li Auto’s 2025 annual report Not stated in Li Auto’s 2025 annual report EREV-focused business; the company describes itself as a pioneer in commercializing EREVs in China

On deliveries alone, XPENG was first among the three in 2025, with Li Auto close behind. NIO’s total cannot be read as the output of one model family because it aggregates three brands with different intended customers. Li Auto’s total represents a business whose identity is tied to EREVs rather than a conventional battery-electric-only range.

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What the delivery totals do—and do not—tell you

XPENG led the reported 2025 volume comparison

XPENG reported 429,445 deliveries for the full year 2025. That is the largest of the three company-reported totals for the same calendar year. The figure is a scale measure, not proof that XPENG had the highest profit, the strongest balance sheet or the best vehicle economics.

Li Auto was close in volume, but its powertrain mix is different

Li Auto reported 406,343 deliveries in 2025, only modestly below XPENG’s total. Comparing the counts without considering powertrain strategy can mislead: Li Auto’s business is built around extended-range electric vehicles. In an EREV, an electric motor drives the wheels while an onboard engine-generator can supply electricity when the battery needs replenishment. That architecture gives the company a different product proposition from a battery-electric lineup, even when annual delivery scale looks similar.

NIO’s total combines three brands

NIO reported 326,028 deliveries across its three brands in 2025. The company’s structure is material to any comparison: premium NIO, family-oriented ONVO and small-car FIREFLY are aimed at different segments. A single NIO delivery number therefore blends products with potentially different prices, equipment levels, customer profiles and margins. It is useful for measuring the group’s total output, but it is not a like-for-like proxy for one brand’s market position.

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Deliveries are a lagging, imperfect business metric

A delivery is a vehicle handed to a customer, not a measure of order intake, revenue recognition timing, cash generation or lifetime service economics. The three companies may also differ in how their reports present brands, markets and vehicle categories. Use deliveries to establish scale first, then read the product and margin data before drawing conclusions about business quality.

XPENG: technology-led smart-EV positioning

How XPENG describes its business

XPENG describes itself as a smart-EV and technology company. That positioning puts software, intelligent driving features, electronic architecture and connected experiences at the center of the corporate story, rather than treating the company solely as a manufacturer of electric cars. The wording is company positioning, not an independent assessment of technical leadership.

2025 financial and delivery snapshot

For full-year 2025, XPENG reported RMB76.72 billion in total revenue, an 18.9% company-wide gross margin and a 12.8% vehicle margin, alongside 429,445 deliveries. Revenue and gross margin cover the company as a whole; vehicle margin isolates vehicle sales economics. Neither percentage represents net income or operating cash flow.

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What the margin split suggests

XPENG’s company-wide gross margin being higher than its vehicle margin indicates that gross profit from non-vehicle activities and accounting scope matters when reading the headline gross-margin figure. The two percentages should not be treated as competing versions of the same metric. Vehicle margin answers, broadly, how much gross profit remains from vehicle sales after the costs included in that measure. Gross margin applies to the company’s total revenue base as defined in its report.

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The latest XPENG period is newer, but not directly comparable

XPENG’s interim material for the six months ended June 30, 2026 reported RMB32.78 billion in revenue and a 12.1% vehicle margin. The same material included 243,111 year-to-date deliveries through August 2026. These are half-year or year-to-date figures, not a replacement for the full-year 2025 comparison. A partial-year delivery count cannot establish that XPENG is currently ahead of NIO or Li Auto when synchronized 2026 figures for all three companies are not provided here.

NIO: a three-brand portfolio rather than a single badge

Three customer propositions under one group

NIO operates the premium NIO brand, family-oriented ONVO and small-car FIREFLY, according to its 2025 results communication. That architecture is the defining feature of its business comparison with XPENG and Li Auto. Instead of relying on one broad brand identity, NIO is trying to cover multiple price points and use cases through distinct names.

2025 scale and reported financials

NIO reported 326,028 total deliveries across the three brands for full-year 2025 and RMB87.49 billion in total revenue. It reported a 13.6% company-wide gross margin and a 14.6% vehicle margin for the same period. The 2025 financial results release described these figures as unaudited.

Why brand mix changes the interpretation

Because NIO’s delivery figure aggregates premium, family-oriented and small-car products, its average selling price and margin profile cannot be inferred from the group total alone. A shift in the mix toward one brand could raise or lower revenue per vehicle without any change in total deliveries. The same applies to vehicle margin: a group-level percentage can move as products with different prices, costs and launch stages become a larger share of sales.

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Management’s description of growth

In NIO’s March 10, 2026 results release, founder, chairman and chief executive William Bin Li said: “For the full year of 2025, total deliveries across the three brands reached 326,028 units, up 46.9% year over year, reflecting our accelerating growth trajectory.” “Accelerating growth trajectory” is management’s characterization. The independently usable fact in that statement is the company-reported delivery total and year-over-year change; the interpretation should be attributed to management rather than presented as an outside conclusion.

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Li Auto: an EREV-centered model

EREVs are the strategic foundation

Li Auto describes itself as a pioneer in commercializing extended-range electric vehicles in China. Its current L-series is the company’s EREV line. This focus distinguishes Li Auto from a comparison that treats every vehicle labeled “electric” as having the same drivetrain and customer proposition.

2025 deliveries and cumulative installed base

Li Auto reported 406,343 deliveries for full-year 2025. Its 2025 annual report also said cumulative EREV deliveries had exceeded 1.4 million as of that report. The cumulative figure is a historical installed-base measure, while the 406,343 figure is one year’s deliveries; they should not be added or used as interchangeable measures.

Why the EREV model matters for business analysis

An EREV business can appeal to buyers who want electric driving characteristics while retaining an onboard generator for longer trips or charging constraints. It also exposes the company to a cost and supply structure that differs from a battery-electric-only manufacturer. Battery costs, fuel-system components, generator calibration, energy-management software and the availability of charging infrastructure can all affect the economics of the proposition. Li Auto’s reported materials establish its EREV focus, but they do not provide a directly comparable 2025 gross margin or vehicle margin in the figures used here.

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Gross margin versus vehicle margin: read the definitions first

Vehicle margin is narrower

Vehicle margin is the vehicle-sales gross profit divided by vehicle-sales revenue, using the company’s reporting definition. It focuses on the economics of selling vehicles and excludes or treats other activities differently from the company-wide measure. It is useful when asking how much gross profit the cars themselves generated, but it is not a measure of total corporate profitability.

Gross margin covers the reported company revenue base

Company-wide gross margin is gross profit divided by total revenue under the company’s accounting presentation. Total revenue may include services or other activities in addition to vehicle sales. A company can therefore report a gross margin above or below its vehicle margin without the figures being inconsistent.

Neither metric is net income

Gross margin and vehicle margin are both before operating expenses such as research and development, sales and marketing, general administration, interest and taxes, subject to each company’s reporting definitions. They do not tell you whether the company made a net profit. The figures stated here do not provide a synchronized net-income comparison, so no profitability ranking should be inferred from these percentages.

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Metric Question it helps answer What it cannot answer by itself
Deliveries How many vehicles the company reported handing to customers in the stated period Whether each vehicle was profitable, how much cash was collected or how much demand remains in the order book
Total revenue How much revenue the company reported across its business for the stated period How much came from vehicles, services or other activities without a segment breakdown
Gross margin Gross profit as a share of the company’s reported total revenue Operating profit, net income or cash flow
Vehicle margin Gross profit as a share of vehicle-sales revenue under the company’s definition Group-wide profitability or returns from non-vehicle activities
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Comparing the strategies rather than just the logos

Technology emphasis versus portfolio breadth

XPENG’s stated identity centers on smart-EV technology. NIO’s structure emphasizes portfolio breadth through three brands. These approaches create different execution questions: XPENG must turn technology investment into products customers will buy at sustainable margins, while NIO must coordinate several brands without allowing complexity to dilute pricing, production efficiency or customer clarity.

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Battery-electric and extended-range propositions

The company descriptions present XPENG and NIO as smart-EV businesses, while Li Auto’s identity is anchored in EREVs. This is not merely a technical distinction. Powertrain strategy affects the parts suppliers a company needs, the way customers evaluate range and refueling, the software required for energy management and the regulatory context in each market.

One group number can conceal different mixes

NIO’s three-brand total is the clearest example of why volume should be paired with mix. Li Auto’s EREV concentration is another: its delivery scale is not directly equivalent to the output of a battery-electric-only portfolio. XPENG’s technology-led description similarly signals that software and intelligent features are part of the intended value proposition, even though the reported figures do not independently score those features.

How to use the 2025 comparison without overstating it

  1. Start with the same calendar year. Use the 2025 delivery totals as the common scale reference: XPENG 429,445, Li Auto 406,343 and NIO 326,028 across three brands.
  2. Identify what is being aggregated. Treat NIO as a multi-brand group and Li Auto as an EREV-focused manufacturer, not as interchangeable single-brand battery-EV companies.
  3. Separate vehicle economics from corporate economics. Compare XPENG’s 12.8% vehicle margin with NIO’s 14.6% only as vehicle-margin figures for 2025, and keep each company’s gross margin in a separate column or discussion.
  4. Check the reporting period beside every number. XPENG’s 2026 interim revenue, vehicle margin and August year-to-date deliveries are newer but partial; NIO and Li Auto figures in this comparison remain full-year 2025.
  5. Attribute positioning language. “Smart-EV and technology company,” “pioneer,” “premium,” “family-oriented” and “small-car” are company descriptions. They explain strategy, not independently verified market rankings.
  6. Do not turn scale into an investment conclusion. The available material does not compare valuation, share performance, capital structure or forward estimates.

Which company is the closest fit for a particular question?

If the question is “Who delivered the most in 2025?”

XPENG, based on the company-reported full-year 2025 totals in this comparison. Li Auto was close behind, while NIO’s lower group total covered three separate brands.

If the question is “Who has the clearest EREV identity?”

Li Auto. Its stated business identity and current L-series are centered on extended-range electric vehicles, and its 2025 annual report records more than 1.4 million cumulative EREV deliveries.

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If the question is “Who has the broadest brand architecture?”

NIO, because the group operates NIO, ONVO and FIREFLY. The breadth may help it address different customer segments, but it also means group-level averages need to be read alongside brand mix.

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If the question is “Who is positioned around smart-EV technology?”

XPENG uses that description for itself. It is a statement of corporate positioning, not an independent verdict on which company has the best software or driver-assistance system.

If the question is “Who has the highest margin?”

There is no single answer without specifying the metric. For 2025, XPENG reported the higher company-wide gross margin of the two companies with figures supplied here, while NIO reported the higher vehicle margin. Li Auto’s comparable 2025 margin figures are not stated in Li Auto’s reported material, so it should not be placed in a margin ranking.

Why the latest-period comparison is uneven

The periods reported by the companies are not synchronized. XPENG’s latest reported material extends through the first half of 2026 and includes delivery updates through August 2026. The NIO and Li Auto figures supporting this comparison are full-year 2025 results. That asymmetry matters: a newer partial-period number can show what XPENG reported most recently, but it cannot establish a current three-way lead or lag.

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For a genuinely current ranking, all three companies would need comparable reporting windows, consistent delivery definitions and equivalent financial periods. Until then, the most defensible baseline is the full-year 2025 table, with XPENG’s 2026 update treated as additional context rather than a replacement benchmark.

Bottom line

XPENG, NIO and Li Auto are similar enough in reported 2025 scale to invite a direct comparison, but strategically different enough that a delivery league table is incomplete. XPENG led the 2025 reported totals and emphasizes smart-EV technology. Li Auto was nearly as large by deliveries while building around EREVs. NIO delivered fewer vehicles as a group, but those vehicles came through three brands serving different intended segments.

The most reliable reading combines the common 2025 delivery baseline with business-model context and metric discipline. Keep company-wide gross margin separate from vehicle margin, treat all figures as company-reported, and do not use XPENG’s newer partial 2026 data to make an unsynchronized claim about which company currently leads.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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electric vehiclesEREVEV business analysisLi AutoNIOXPENG

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