Land Rover Global Model Deliveries : 2025-26 Q1

Q1 2026 deliveries were well up on Q4 2025. However, they were down 11% when compared with Q1 2025. Sales are rebounding after a series of negative situations impacting on the company. Quoting JLR, "...Volumes impacted by US tariffs, China market challenges....in addition to production stoppages following the cyber incident". 

All models were down but not by as much as they could have been. I assume that as production recovers, shipments to more distant countries are still trying to sate latent demand.

The next quarter may confirm that, with the regional data below seemingly doing just so. Of course, there could be still more disruptive problems to affect the movement of goods and distort data.   

Data & photo source: JLR. (Velar & RR Sport).

If we go regional and include Jaguar's rapidly reducing contribution, then deliveries were down 14%. China and MENA (Middle East & North Africa) suffered the most. The two regions that did best (UK and Europe) in terms of limiting the sales fall are the two closest to the manufacturing plants. 

Jaguar Global Model Deliveries : 2025-26 Q1

Jaguar stopped making cars in December 2024, although some were still made in China after that date. In addition, some importers built up stock so they could sell through much of 2025. 

I for one thought that by now the sales volume would sufficiently emaciated to not be worth the bother of publishing. Yet here we are with sales having enough substance to still have a story to tell  in Q1 2026. 

What did surprise was the XF actually going up 145% over the corresponding period of 2025. Of the 1,946 cars delivered, 1,681 were in China and 265 elsewhere. All the other models had decreases, the F-Type only down by 21%. 166 lucky owners. 

I would like to break it down by region but that isn't supplied by JLR anymore. Jaguar by region is now combined with Land Rover. 

Data & photo source: JLR (XF & F-Pace). 

NZ Passenger Car EV Sales : 2025-26 Q1.

                                                               Dongfeng

With petrol prices going up, some car buyers suddenly go for EVs. Prices will fall again so a short term fossil fuel hike gets consumers in a tizz. If they did the maths, surely there isn't justification to do so costwise.

Passenger car EV registrations in New Zealand are up 114% YOY, compared to 12% for the total. EV market share has gone from 7.2% to 13.9%. I doubt that percentage will hold for the full year. 

BYD leads the way with 784 sales, gradually pulling away from Tesla. Dongfeng has recently arrived and is already third. 

It's interesting to note that Polestar, BMW, M-B, Lexus and Porsche have all taken substantial hits. Chinese brands are certainly making their mark.

With stock levels of EVs reduced with a buying splurge, stock levels will be affected. How long it takes for a Chinese car firm to get vehicles down here will determine if a dip in EV sales will result in April due to limited availability. 

Data Source: NZTA. 

Lynk & Co / Zeekr Deliveries : 2024-25 (Q1)

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co has many brands within its sphere of operation. Data is not its strong point but I've scraped together some data that seems kosher. We will look at two of the brands here.

First up, Lynk & Co. 2025 deliveries came to 350,000 units. up 23% in 2024. Then in Q1 2026 they increased 12% and exceeded 81,000.

The models are the 01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 08, and 09. They are all in the passenger car, crossover, SUV area ans surprisingly similar for such a large range of models. 

Then on to Zeekr which had 224,000 deliveries in 2025., up 1%. This year up to Q1, it has had 77,000, up 86%.

The models are the  001, X, 7X, Luxury sedan and 009. They too have passenger car, crossover, SUV options but also a luxury MPV. Again apart from the MPV, all rather similar but if they are selling well, it can't be bad. 

Data source: Geely. Models shown are the Lynk & Co 01 top. Below are rear seats of the Zeekr 009 MPV. Quite posh aren't they? 

SAIC Global Sales (China Production) : 2009-26 (Q1)

SAIC is a state owned car company with its headquarters in Shanghai. It was founded in 1955 and found much success in joint ventures with foreign car companies VW (since 1984) and GM (1988). 

It also eventually acquired MG Rover technology without the Rover name. They instead created their own similar sounding brand, Roewe (photo above). It still runs the SAIC Motor UK Technical Centre. 

So what is covered by SAIC Motor here? Roewe (commenced 2006), MG (2007) and Rising Auto (2020 - briefly as the R brand / photo below). Sales were 90,396 in 2009 and they rose substantially up to 230,020 in 2013. Then it was up and down but overall going up. 

The peak was 2023 at just under a million but then hit a speed bump the following year, down to 707,015. 2025 was another solid increase. 2026 is for Q1 and deliveries are already up 41% YOY.

MG would fill the value for money base brand, Roewe is considered upper mainstream and Rising Auto as a more premium electric subbrand of Roewe. 

UK PC/LCV Sales : 2026 (Jan-Mar)

The chart shows market share for a full 2025. The Share +/- column shows movement in market share, not sales volume. 

This is a first for me, combining passenger car and light commercial registrations for the UK. It puts Ford on top thanks to its strong LCV presence. 

Volkswagen has closed the gap, but only by virtue of falling less. 

Kia has entered the UK's LCV market in 2026 and is doing very well with that. Vauxhall has done well all round and moved up four places but BMW has been unable to emulate Mercedes-Benz' success. 

Despite production issues, Land Rover has done well to increase its market share by 19%. It's LCV division is up 37% YOY and exceeded 2,600 registrations. 

Chinese brands are making their presence felt at the expense of legacy brands. The Jaecoo 7 was the best selling model in March. The way the EU bullied the UK in recent times, I have no sympathy if their car makers are finding the going tough. 

Data source: SMMT. 

Photo sources : Ford (Transit Custom), JLR (Discovery & Defender LCVs)

Leapmotor Deliveries : 2026 (Q1)

Leapmotor deliveries were up 26% YOY to 110,155. It is pushing hard on exports which no doubt is compensating for poor conditions in the home market.

The brand has only exceeded 100,000 in a quarter five times. The first was in Q4 2024, then from Q2 2025, four consecutive times. 

Leapmotor achieved its first net profit in 2025 with 2026 surely its second year in the black. The company is backed by Stellantis and seems to be one of the few things going well for them at present. 

Data & photo source: Leapmotor (C10 & B10).

Nio & Sub Brand Deliveries : 2026 (Q1)

While many Chinese car companies are hitting headwinds, Nio is having no such problem. The 83,465 units delivered was up 98% YOY. That figure includes, the Nio, ONVO and Firefly brands.

Deliveries grow substantially as the year progresses and with refreshed models being released, Nio will be expecting that to continue.

For Q1, the Nio brand achieved 58,543 deliveries which was up 114% and 70% of the overall Nio company volume. The less successful ONVO subbrand made 13.349 sales, down 10%. Finally new brand Firefly deliveries were 11,583.

Data & photo source: Nio (Nio ET9 & ONVO L90)

Xpeng Deliveries : 2026 (Q1)

Deliveries were up 126% in 2025 but it was slowing as the year progressed and Q1 2026 showed the effect of a muted domestic market. 

It was down 33% and that will surely trigger a shift toward export markets. They do already sell in many markets but will no doubt prioritise that more. They certainly need to. 

Data & photo source : Xpeng (X9 & P7).

Rivian Deliveries & Production : 2026 (Q1)

Rivian produced and delivered just over 10,000 vehicles in Q1 2026. Deliveries were up 20% and production down 30%. The latter was due to moving production forward in Q1 2025 to accommodate a drop in Q2. 

The 2026 estimate of around 65,000 deliveries is doable provided growth is achieved as the year progresses. The upcoming R2 model will increase the chance of the target being met. Rivian estimates it will deliver around 20,000 units by the end of the year. 

So the current line up is the R1S large SUV, R1T Pick up and now the R2 medium sized SUV is coming soon this year. In 2027, when the small R3 SUV arrives, the range will be filling out nicely. 

Data & photo source : Rivian (R2 & R1T)

Li Auto Deliveries : 2026 (Q1)

After January and February experienced subdued deliveries, March sprung into life with over 41,000 units sold. Li Auto said they had now resolved a production bottleneck, which may explain what happened. 

So 95,000 vehicles were delivered in Q1 2026, a 2% increase. All things considered, a positive result I would have thought. The next three quarters will reveal more. 

The i6 model accounted for 24,000 deliveries in March, which is nearly 60% of the total. Li Auto is officially entering markets in the Middle East and Central Asia while exploring opportunities elsewhere, possibly Europe. 

Data & photo source: Li Auto (Li6 & Li9).

Lucid Deliveries : 2026 (Q1)

Lucid had a tepid start to 2026 with 3,093 vehicles delivered. Considering the fall in electric vehicle sales, it could have been worse but definitely could have been better. A quality issue with a supplier was cited as the reason for the disappointing delivery number.

If that was the case, why were 5,500 units made? Did they make the vehicles and will retro fit the second row seats, which were the problem? If so, then the difference is understandable. Production was up 149% compared to a low Q1 2025 figure. 

Lucid is predicting production for 2026 to be in the 25-27,000 area. One would assume deliveries will come close to that and right there is the challenge ahead. 

Data and photos : Lucid (Gravity model).

BYD Passenger Car Deliveries : 2026 (Q1)

BYD has recently been flying high. Massive increases in deliveries have been so large that it was hard to comprehend the scale of it all. It always had to hit a ceiling sometime but when?

Q4 2025 gave a hint of what might have been coming, but sometimes quarterly figures can be aberrations rather than solid trends. A slow down of car sales and aggressive competition in China suggested the latter. Q1 2026 seems to confirm that Q4 '25 wasn't going to be an exception. 

Deliveries of electric cars were down 25% when comparing quarters. Q2 2020 was the last time a drop percentagewise was greater. When adding hybrid cars, a similar drop (-29%) was recorded. 

With domestic deliveries suffering, overseas markets are being pursued. They are now reaching 40% of the total, which is the highest it has been. 1.5 million units for overseas deliveries is the target BYD has set for 2026.    

Data source: BYD. Picture source: BYD (BYD Dolphin & Denza B8).

Tesla Delivery & Production Figures : 2026 (Q1)

Tesla Q1 deliveries were up 6% to 358,000 and production increased 13% to 408,400. That puts production 14% higher than deliveries. So just over 50,000 units were made than were sold. That's an inventory build up that needs to be sorted and maybe that is soon to be addressed. 

So it is good that volumes are up on 2025, although 2023 and 2024 both exceeded Q1 2026 totals. Future quarters will tell us more as one quarter in isolation could be misleading. 

Data & photo source: Tesla.