Benzinga - Chinese electric vehicle startups Nio, Inc. (NYSE: NIO), XPeng, Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto, Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) weathered a tough COVID-19 wave fairly well and reported strong December as well as fourth-quarter deliveries.
The Numbers: Beijing-based Li Auto took the top honors for the most vehicles delivered in December among the trio. Li Auto’s December deliveries came in at 21,233 vehicles, marking a record monthly performance. In the fourth quarter, the company sold 46,319 cars.
Nio, which recently warned of a shortfall, had a final tally of 15,815 vehicles, a monthly record for December, and 40,052 units for the quarter. Last Tuesday, the Shanghai-based EV marker lowered its quarterly deliveries guidance from 43,000-48,000 units to 38,500-39,500 units, citing production and delivery challenges along with supply chain constraints due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in many major Chinese cities.
XPeng sold 11,292 units for the month and 22,204 units for the quarter. Guidance issued in late November called for deliveries of 20,000-21,000 units for the quarter.
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How Growth Compares: Li Auto’s December sales represented a 50.7% year-over-year increase and 41.2% quarter-over-quarter increase. Nio’s year-over-year and quarterly growth stood at 50.8% and 11.6%, respectively.
XPeng reported a 29.4% year-over-year decline in December deliveries, but sales jumped 94% quarter-over-quarter, thanks to an easier comparison. The company reported anemic deliveries of 5,811 units in November due to COVID-19 disruptions.
Model-wise Tally: Li Auto said deliveries of its Li L9 and Li L8 both exceeded 10,000 units, solidifying its market position in the 300,000 yuan – 500,000 yuan ($43,492-$72,486) price segment.
“We set another monthly record in December with 21,233 deliveries and became the fastest emerging new energy automaker in China to surpass the 20,000 monthly delivery mark,” the company said in a statement.
Nio’s December sales included 6,842 SUVs and 8,973 sedans. The ES7 accounted for the bulk of the SUV sales, and in the sedan category, the company sold 1,379 ET7 premium sedans and 7,594 ET5 budget sedans.
XPeng, meanwhile, sold 4,020 flagship G9 SUVs.
Nio, XPeng and Li Auto shares ended 2022 down 69.22%, 80.25% and 36.45%, respectively. The stocks closed Friday’s session at $9.75, $9.94 and $20.40, respectively, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Friday, Li Auto shares rallied 4.67% in reaction to the company’s statement at a media briefing that it anticipated December deliveries to exceed 20,000 units.
U.S. EV giant Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA (NASDAQ:TSLA)) is likely to report its fourth-quarter global deliveries Monday. Given that China represents a bulk of the company’s global tally, the tidings from the smaller upstarts bode well for the company. These companies have withstood the COVID-19 impact and reported stellar numbers, suggesting Tesla may have had a bumper quarter in terms of China deliveries.
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