How Zeekr and Neta inflated EV sales using insurance loophole
The companies arranged for cars to be insured before they were sold to buyers, the documents show, enabling them under Chinese industry car registration practices to book sales early so they could hit monthly and quarterly targets, the dealers and buyers said.
Neta booked early sales of at least 64,719 cars through the method from January 2023 to March 2024, according to copies of records it sent to dealers and seen by Reuters. That was more than half the sales of 117,000 vehicles it reported over the 15 months. Neta's effort to book sales early has not been previously reported.
Zeekr, a premium EV brand owned by Geely, used the same method to book early sales in late 2024 in the southern city of Xiamen through its main dealer there, state-owned Xiamen C&D Automobile, according to dealers, buyers and sales receipts seen by Reuters.
Analysts and investors tracking China's auto industry gauge performance and estimated inventory levels with two sets of sales data. Wholesale numbers reported by carmakers to the industry association show sales from carmakers to dealers, while retail data compiled from registration records of mandatory traffic insurance show the sales to users.
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