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China Electric eMobility eV Li Auto Li Auto Stock Nio NIO Stock Research Note Tesla XPeng XPeng Stock

China EV industry sell-off creates opportunity, says Morgan Stanley

leads the pack with superior execution, but risk-reward increasingly favors and after a drastic sell-off this year, Morgan Stanley said.

Shares of major Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers have generally suffered a sell-off so far this year, as the sector's weak sales at the start of the year and recent widespread price wars have raised investor concerns.

However, in Morgan Stanley's view, the sales potential of China's EV companies in the second half of the year is underestimated at a time when costs are sliding.

"We think YTD stock corrections should have discounted competition risks but underrate the cost-driven upside to EV margin/volume in 2H, " Morgan Stanley analyst Tim Hsiao's team said in a research note sent to investors on March 19.

As of Monday's close, NIO's (NYSE: NIO) US-traded ADR was down 10 percent this year, XPeng was down 8 percent, and Li Auto was up about 12 percent.

Hsiao's team believes that significant margin pressure from price wars will fuel market concerns about industry profitability and cash flow, especially among new energy vehicle (NEV) heavyweights, namely and China, which can afford to initiate another round of price cuts in the second quarter.

That, combined with weak full-year sales following the stimulus withdrawal, could dampen sales volumes and margins for EV brands in the first half of 2023, the team said.

Still, the production potential of China's NEV industry in the second half of the year and beyond appears to be underestimated as the decline in prices of batteries and key components accelerates following aggressive capacity expansion in 2022, the team noted.

This could translate into potential margin relief for NEV makers and potentially increase NEV penetration in the second half of the year in a cost-effective manner, the team said.

Hsiao's team estimates a 20-25 percent drop in battery costs for major NEV makers, implying a 6-10 percentage point cost savings.

The price drop of lithium carbonate, a key raw material for batteries, has accelerated in recent days and saw its biggest one-day drop so far this year on March 20, according to a CnEVPost report yesterday.

The average price of both industrial-grade lithium carbonate and battery-grade lithium carbonate fell by RMB 12,500 per ton on March 20, with the latest average price at RMB 272,500 per ton and RMB 312,500 per ton, respectively.

NIO's management said in a call with analysts after the March 1 earnings announcement that they expect lithium carbonate prices to fall back to around RMB 200,000 per ton this year, boosting gross margins back up.

EV makers that can take full advantage of this will not only enjoy margin relief, but also have more flexibility to price their models to further boost NEV penetration in mass markets and lower-tier cities, Hsiao's team wrote in their report.

"That said, the tailwinds from falling input costs may take time to kick in as our checks with major OEMs suggest they are still in discussions with battery suppliers on new terms," the team added.

The team believes that a tougher operating environment will accelerate market reshuffling, with leading EV manufacturers weathering the downturn better than their peers, while the growth of smaller, lagging EV startups could be slowed by a depletion of liquidity in 2023.

Growing investments should also push up cash burn rates. As a result, the ability to optimize working capital and access to market funding will play a more important role in ongoing operations in 2023, the team added.

"Our analysis suggests EV trio (NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto) will still hold fast, backed by healthy balance sheet conditions and better connections to capital markets," Hsiao's team wrote.

The team said they're fully aware of investor worries about EV startups' cash burn that may rapidly deplete their liquidity.

But they believe the EV trio can remain self-funded for the next 18 months, even under the stress-test scenario of a prolonged price war.

"We believe continuous investment would further solidify their technology leadership and enable them to have a better chance of winning out in the next up-cycle," the team wrote.

The team believes that trough valuations mean the market has lowered expectations for EV startups' operational performance and financial resilience in an industry downturn, making any marginal improvement in their sales a meaningful stock catalyst.

Li Auto leads the pack with superior execution, but risk-reward increasingly favors XPeng and NIO after this year's sharp dip, the team said.

Lithium prices see biggest drop this year in China as decline accelerates

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China Electric eMobility eV Lawsuits Nio Tesla

Vlogger ordered to apologize and pay damages to NIO for spreading false info

The vlogger was ordered to publish an apology on his channel and pay financial damages of RMB 80,000 yuan ($11,640).  |  NIO US | NIO HK | NIO SG

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

NIO (NYSE: NIO) has won a lawsuit involving reputation infringement in China, in one of the company's rare tough moves.

Laotan Shuoche (literally, Mr. Tan talks about cars), a vlogger on the short-video platform Douyin, was ruled to have infringed on NIO's reputation and was required to publish an apology on his channel and pay financial damages of RMB 80,000 yuan ($11,640).

The vlogger had called NIO's vehicles uncontrolled "wild horses" on his channel and blamed an accident on the quality of NIO's vehicle, even though traffic police authorities had confirmed that the accident was caused by the driver's mishandling, several local media said, citing a verdict.

The vlogger spliced multiple unverified collision videos to cause damage to NIO's reputation by distorting the facts while gaining viewers, according to the verdict, which is final.

Last February, an NIO vehicle was rear-ended on a highway in Jinhua, Zhejiang province in eastern China, and eventually crashed into three other vehicles before coming to a stop after driving forward for about 2 kilometers.

Laotan has apologized to NIO by posting a video on his Douyin account, which showed that he posted the video on the accident on February 16, 2022.

In China, NIO has always been seen as showing caution and restraint in dealing with similar issues, rather than being as aggressive as .

A few years ago, a video by a blogger criticizing NIO gained high attention. However, his video was not seen as an infringement of NIO's reputation, and he himself became one of the earliest owners of the ET7.

On June 30, 2022, car blogger @一个菜两个菜, who has more than 1 million followers on Weibo, said he purchased an ET7, a model that only started to be delivered at the end of March last year.

The blogger claimed in a video posted on January 28, 2019, that there is no future for NIO and explained his view in detail.

He claimed in the video at the time that NIO was playing a game of quick money through the capital markets and was not capable of building cars.

($1= RMB 6.8707)

Blogger who said NIO had no future three years ago becomes one of the first ET7 owners

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China City NGP Electric eMobility eV OTA Tesla XPeng XPeng Software

XPeng to launch City NGP driver assistance feature in Shenzhen

previously said the City NGP feature will be implemented on multiple models in several cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, starting in March.

XPeng US | XPeng HK

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) is rolling out its FSD-like City Navigation Guided Pilot (City NGP) feature in more cities.

The XPeng P5 will receive its seventh vehicle OTA upgrade, which will make NGP functionality available in Shenzhen, according to information released today by the electric vehicle (EV) maker.

City NGP can be up to 90 percent as efficient as a human driver, easily handling dense traffic during peak commuting hours, as well as complex road conditions, XPeng said.

With access to the feature, XPeng vehicles can intelligently recognize traffic lights by lane and automatically start and stop, it said.

With the support of LiDARs, vehicles can actively avoid pedestrians and vehicles as well as roadblocks, making the smart driving experience safer, XPeng said.

On October 21, 2022, XPeng opened the City NGP feature to all P5 sedans in Guangzhou, where it is headquartered. The P5 is the first of the company's models to support the LiDAR option.

All P5 models equipped with LiDARs and featuring XPilot 3.5 software and upgrades will have access to City NGP functionality.

In cities where City NGP is available, P5 users can use NGP assisted driving on regular roads, in addition to using the feature on highways.

To better build trust in human-machine co-driving, XPeng has introduced the SR smart assisted driving environment simulation display. The City NGP has a richer center control and instrumentation SR simulation display than the highway NGP.

In announcing February delivery figures on March 1, XPeng said that the City NGP advanced driver assistance feature will be implemented in several models in several cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, starting in March.

The upcoming OTA upgrade for the XPeng P5 will see the Xmart OS version number upgraded to 3.4.0, which will bring more than 20 enhancements to the base experience in addition to making City NGP available in Shenzhen, the company said.

XPeng opens City NGP to all eligible P5 vehicles in Guangzhou

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China Deals Electric eMobility eV Ningbo Tuopu Nio NIO Suppliers Tesla

Tesla parts supplier Ningbo Tuopu signs cooperation deal with NIO

Ningbo Tuopu said its strategic partnership with uses an innovative T0.5 collaboration model that will provide the latter with better products and services.

NIO US | NIO HK | NIO SG

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Ningbo Tuopu Group, a parts supplier, has signed an agreement with NIO (NYSE: NIO) in which the two companies will adopt an innovative partnership model not commonly seen in the automotive industry.

Ningbo Tuopu and NIO signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement on March 16 to establish a strategic partnership for the development, manufacture and supply of new energy vehicle components, according to an exchange announcement today from the Shanghai-listed company.

One of the goals of the partnership is for Ningbo Tuopu to supply parts near NIO's plants in Hefei, according to the announcement.

The companies will also collaborate on the use of low-carbon materials, supply chain emissions reduction, digital supply chain and global business exploration.

For the current phase, Ningbo Tuopu will collaborate strategically with NIO on products including chassis systems, body lightweight, thermal management systems, interior and exterior systems and NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) damping systems.

The two companies will also explore all-round cooperation in the areas of intelligent cabin components, air suspension systems and intelligent driving systems, the announcement said.

The teams of both parties will establish regular communication mechanisms and provide adequate resource support to ensure the implementation of the strategic cooperation, according to the announcement.

Notably, Ningbo Tuopu said its strategic partnership with NIO is based on an innovative T0.5 supply chain cooperation model, which will provide the customer products and services with better QSTP (Quality, Service, Technology, Price).

Ningbo Tuopu did not explain more about the T0.5 partnership model, but it is a new model it has been working on for the past few years.

In the automotive industry, the typical relationship between parts suppliers and automakers is T1 (Tier 1), a supplier that signs a supply contract directly with the car company, and T2 (Tier 2), which has a contract with a T1 supplier.

In the T0.5 model implemented by Ningbo Tuopu, automakers are more involved in the development of components, thus shortening the development cycle and ensuring quality.

Ningbo Tuopu was founded in 1983 and is one of the largest parts suppliers in China. The company last came to the attention of the general public in China because of a recall of the Tesla Model Y.

In December 2021, Tesla announced a recall of 21,599 China-made Model Y electric vehicles because of the risk of warping or breaking the vehicle's steering knuckle, which was supplied by Ningbo Tuopu.

Following the announcement of the Tesla Model Y recall, Ningbo Tuopu's shares traded in Shanghai were at one point severely sold off.

The parts maker later issued a statement saying that the products involved in the recall were only for the Model Y and not for other Tesla models or other customers' models.

The company estimated that the recall was not material and would not have an impact on its annual operating results or on its business based on the number of recalls and defect ratios, it said in the statement at the time.

NIO won't get involved in price war, exec says

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Electric Green Green Culture Hybrid Tesla

EV Home Charging Study finds owner satisfaction down

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Electric Green Green Culture Hybrid Tesla

EV Home Charging Study finds owner satisfaction down

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China Electric eMobility eV Tesla Tesla Model S Tesla Model X

New batch of 867 new Tesla Model S and Model X imported to China

Six imported units of the new Model S and Model X arrived at Yangshan Port in Shanghai on February 28.

Tesla is sending more of the new Model S and Model X to China, as deliveries of the two more expensive models here get closer.

The latest shipment of 867 new Tesla Model S and Model X electric vehicles (EVs) arrived in Tianjin recently, according to a Weibo post by the Tianjin Port Group yesterday.

The vehicles came from San Francisco and arrived at the Tianjin Global Ro-Ro terminal on the ro-ro vessel Asia Beauty, according to the Weibo post.

The Weibo said these are the first imports of the new Tesla Model S and Model X into China, but it's worth noting that several of these Tesla models were already imported into China late last month.

On February 28, six imported Tesla pure electric vehicles, drove out of the containers at the Nangang terminal in Shanghai Yangshan Port to be inspected on site by customs officers, according to a previous report by Shanghai Securities News.

This is the first batch of the new Tesla Model S Plaid vehicles imported into China by sea since they were launched, according to the report by Shanghai Securities News.

Tesla unveiled the Model S Plaid in the US in September 2020 with three motors that can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in 1.99 seconds. The company's CEO Elon Musk called it the fastest production car ever built.

In early June 2021, Tesla began deliveries of the model in the US and eliminated the more capable Plaid + model.

Musk said in late 2021 that the Model S Plaid could come to China around March 2022. However, that didn't become a reality.

On January 6, Tesla announced the prices of the new Model S and Model X in China, which are not produced locally, while significantly lowering the prices of the Model 3 and Model Y produced in China.

The Model S is available in China in two versions, a regular version with dual motors and all-wheel drive, and a Plaid version with tri motors and all-wheel drive, starting at RMB 789,900 ($114,620) and RMB 1,009,900 respectively.

The Model X is also available in China in two versions, the regular version with two-motor all-wheel drive and the Plaid version with tri-motor all-wheel drive, starting at RMB 879,900 and RMB 1,039,900, respectively.

Currently, the official website of Tesla China shows the expected delivery date for all versions of Model S and Model X in China in the second quarter.

Tesla has a factory in Shanghai that produces the Model 3 and Model Y. It sold 74,402 China-made vehicles in February, including 40,479 vehicles exported and 33,923 vehicles delivered in China, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Tesla's deliveries in China in February included 25,526 Model Ys and 8,397 Model 3s, according to the CPCA.

($1 = RMB 6.8915)

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China Earnings Earnings Preview Electric eMobility eV Tesla XPeng

XPeng earnings preview: Q4 to be soft with promotions hitting margins

"We expect generally soft results and a weak 1Q23 outlook due to challenging demand and pricing dynamics," Edison Yu's team said.

US | XPeng HK

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) will report fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, and as usual, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team provided their preview.

"We expect generally soft results and a weak 1Q23 outlook due to challenging demand and pricing dynamics," the team said in a research report sent to investors yesterday.

Soft fourth-quarter

XPeng will report its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2022 on Friday, March 17, before the US markets open.

It delivered 22,204 vehicles in the fourth quarter, above the upper end of the guidance range of 20,000 to 21,000, but down 46.82 percent year-on-year and down 24.91 percent from the third quarter.

XPeng's previous revenue guidance for the fourth quarter was RMB 4.8 billion to RMB 5.1 billion, representing a year-on-year decrease of about 40.4 percent to 43.9 percent.

"We expect a soft quarter with deliveries already reported at 22,204, above management's guidance range (20,000-21,000), but with promotional activity hitting margins," Yu's team wrote.

The team expects XPeng to post revenue of RMB 5.4 billion yuan and a gross margin of 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

They expect XPeng's vehicle margin to be 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter, down 3.1 percentage points from the third quarter, and adjusted earnings per share of RMB -2.33.

The current analyst consensus in the Bloomberg survey is for revenue of RMB 5.7 billion, gross margin of 12.1 percent and adjusted EPS of RMB -2.25.

For the first quarter, Yu's team expects deliveries to be around 19,000-20,000 units and for gross margin to drop to single digits as price cuts take hold.

XPeng deliveries in January and February were 5,218 and 6,010 units respectively, for a cumulative total of 11,228 units. Insurance registration figures for the past two weeks suggest that the company did not see a significant improvement in deliveries in March.

Uncertainty in 2023

The key to XPeng's relevance going forward is to win back market share, and that could take several quarters to achieve, which has created significant uncertainty this year, Yu's team said.

Demand for the company's flagship SUV, the G9, has clearly been disappointing, despite mostly positive reviews, the team said, adding that they expect XPeng to potentially make pricing or SKU adjustments to the SUV in the coming months.

XPeng's new P7i sedan should help with order volume, but there won't be materially beneficial until the second quarter, the team said.

Most importantly, XPeng's upcoming Model Y competitor, the G6, needs to reach at least 5,000 units per month by the end of the year to be considered a success, the team said.

The team now expects XPeng to be on track to deliver 145,000 vehicles in 2023, a 10,000-unit downward revision from earlier, taking into account the decline in G9 sales.

How can capacity utilization be improved?

If XPeng's sales continue to be weak, its management may need to get creative to improve its capacity utilization, Yu's team said, adding that the easiest way to do that would be to sign some large fleet deals.

That may be hard in China, considering and GAC have stronger positions in the taxi and ride-sharing segment, but XPeng recently signed deals with some local car rental companies to buy its P7 sedan, the team noted.

XPeng entered into a strategic partnership with local car rental company eHi Car Services on July 19, 2022, and delivered the first few hundred cars to the latter.

On January 9 this year, XPeng signed agreements with car rental company China Auto Rental and 's travel service platform Xiaolinggou Travel Technology, and completed the delivery of the first XPeng P7 vehicles in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

In addition, XPeng has restarted its expansion efforts in Europe, where large fleet deals could make sense due to the region's high percentage of corporate fleets and low availability of cheap BEV options, Yu's team said.

"We note BYD has an agreement with SIXT for 100,000 EVs and XPeng's vehicles fall into a similar price point. BYD also just announced a 5,000 unit agreement with UK's Octopus EV," the team wrote.

Another option is to partner more deeply with traditional OEMs on EVs and robotaxis, which could come in the form of equity investments or strategic alliances, according to the team.

XPeng offering discounts to clear P7 inventory, facelift to launch next week, report says

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Autonomous Vehicles Driving Electric Government/Legal Safety Technology Tesla

Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says

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Autonomous Vehicles Driving Electric Government/Legal Safety Technology Tesla

Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says

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