(Yicai) July 2 -- Xpeng Motors was the only Chinese electric vehicle startup to achieve the midpoint of its annual sales targets in the first half of the year, with the increasing competition in the domestic auto market leading to most carmakers underperforming.

Xpeng delivered 197,189 vehicles in the six months ended June 30, achieving 52 percent of its goal for 2025, the Guangzhou-based firm announced late yesterday. Its deliveries surged 224 percent to 34,611 units last month from a year earlier.

Leapmotor delivered 221,664 units in the first half to rank as China's best-selling EV startup, but the Hangzhou-based company is less than 45 percent of the way to its annual target of 500,000 to 600,000 units. Its deliveries jumped 138 percent to 48,006 autos last month.

The performance of Li Auto and Nio, two automakers aiming at higher-end customers, unlike Xpeng and Leapmotor, which target the mainstream market, was worse than expected over the first six months of this year.

Li Auto has achieved only 29 percent of its annual goal after delivering just 203,938 units, with sales falling 24 percent to 36,279 units last month from a year ago. Despite Nio's deliveries rising 18 percent to 24,925 units in June, its first-half figure ended at 114,150 units, or just 26 percent of its annual target, the lowest among major EV startups.

One of the leading reasons EV startups face declining sales is that more players, such as Xiaomi, have entered the market. The electronics giant launched its first EV model, the SU7, last year, delivering around 150,000 cars in the first half and raising its annual target to 350,000 units from 300,000 units, said founder and Chairman Lei Jun.

On June 26, Xiaomi launched its second model, the YU7, a pure electric five-seat sport utility vehicle, receiving 289,000 pre-orders in the first hour after launching. However, due to production constraints, the delivery time for the new auto has reached 56 weeks, or just over a year.

Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, the smart car alliance under Huawei Technologies that includes Aito with Seres Group, Luxeed with Chery Auto, Stelato with BAIC BluePark Energy Technology, and Maextro with JAC Motors, reported record-high deliveries of 52,747 units last month, with Aito models accounting for 44,685 units.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev