Category: Tesla

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

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 15, 2023

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

XPeng 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 Tesla 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 BYD 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 Geely'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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Tags BYD, Geely, Tesla, XPeng

Autonomous Vehicles Driving Electric Government/Legal Safety Technology Tesla

Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says

Post author By Stephen Williams
Post date March 14, 2023

Filed under: Government/Legal,Tesla,Driving,Safety,Technology,Autonomous Vehicles,Electric

Continue reading Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says

Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags Autonomous Vehicles, Driving, Electric, Government/Legal, Safety, Technology, Tesla

Autonomous Vehicles Driving Electric Government/Legal Safety Technology Tesla

Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says

Post author By Stephen Williams
Post date March 14, 2023

Filed under: Government/Legal,Tesla,Driving,Safety,Technology,Autonomous Vehicles,Electric

Continue reading Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says

Tesla Autopilot name defies common sense, Buttigieg says originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags Autonomous Vehicles, Driving, Electric, Government/Legal, Safety, Technology, Tesla

China Electric Electric cars eMobility eV Lawsuit Report Tesla

Tesla wins defamation lawsuit against popular Chinese car reviewer

Post author By Jiri Opletal
Post date March 14, 2023

Boss Cai is a car celebrity in China with 5 million followers on TikTok.

The post Tesla wins defamation lawsuit against popular Chinese car reviewer appeared first on CarNewsChina.com.

BYD China Deliveries Electric eMobility eV EV Data Insurance Registrations Li Auto Neta Nio Tesla Weekly Data XPeng

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Mar 12: BYD 37,141, Tesla 17,032, NIO 2,170

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 14, 2023

This article is being updated, please refresh later for more content.

Tesla's insurance registrations last week in China were higher than the previous week's 13,266, while NIO's were lower than the previous week's 3,345.

BYD's new energy vehicles (NEVs) saw 37,141 insurance registrations in China for the week ending March 12, lower than the previous week's 38,932, according to numbers shared today by auto blogger @一路向北BYD.

Tesla vehicles saw 17,032 insurance registrations in China last week, higher than the previous week's 13,266.

NIO was 2,170 last week, down from 3,345 the week before.

Li Auto registered 4,243 units last week, up from 3,222 units the previous week.

XPeng was 1,635 units last week, up from 1,421 units the week before.

BYD's premium brand Denza vehicles saw 1,853 insurance registrations last week, up from 1,808 the week before.

Zeekr was 1,043 units last week, down from 1,814 units the week before.

BMW's NEVs registered 1,486 insurance units in China last week, down from 1,663 units the week before.

The past week has seen a rare price war in China's auto industry involving not only NEV makers, but traditional internal combustion engine automakers as well.

Rumors surfaced last week that BMW dealers were offering a massive subsidy for the all-electric BMW i3 in China, and that consumers who pay full price for the car can even get the model for RMB 120,000 to 180,000, less than half the retail price.

BMW insiders denied this, but sources at BMW dealers said they are indeed offering discounts, and that these measures were only introduced this month, local media Cailian reported last week.

For the BMW i3 eDrive35 L, which currently has a guide price of RMB 353,900, the price after discounts is RMB 248,000, the report said, citing BMW dealership sources.

Consumers will also receive an additional RMB 6,000 subsidy if they trade in their vehicles, the source said.

The increasing number of car companies joining the price war has led to increased consumer wait-and-see sentiment to avoid seeing price reductions shortly after purchasing a car.

Li Auto has introduced a consumer purchase price protection benefit that covers all of the company's currently available models -- Li L7, Li L8, Li L9.

For consumers who purchase these models, if the prices drops within 90 days of their order, then Li Auto will refund the difference.

The policy, which is available to consumers when they purchase the Li L7, Li L8, and Li L9, is primarily intended to make clear to them that Li Auto will not drop the prices, local media outlet The Paper said earlier today, citing salespeople from the company.

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Mar 5: BYD 38,932, Tesla 13,266, NIO 3,345

Weekly NEV insurance registrations in China in 2023

Wk	BYD	Tesla	NIO	XPeng	Li Auto	BMW	Zeekr	Neta	Leapmotor	NEV	NEV+ICE
03/06-03/12	37,141	17,032	2,170	1,635	4,243	1,486	1,043	988
02/27-03/05	38,932	13,266	3,345	1,421	3,222	1,663	1,814	4,109	515	116,238	345,340
02/20-02/26	39,473	10,705	3,357	1,685	5,387	1,792	1,855	2,152	401	111,983	331,238
02/13-02/19	37,026	5,913	3,174	1,463	4,238	2,271	1,443	1,038	329	100,408	303,101
02/06-02/12	31,417	6,963	3,045	1,396	4,062	682	547	1,170	NA	85,572	280,741
01/30-02/05	24,280	8,643	1,948	975	2,240	593	554	3,964	114	69,692	267,843
01/23-01/29	5,280	3,356	427	210	990	NA	89	NA	NA	17,945	92,600
01/16-01/22	24,708	7,496	3,008	1,068	4,903	NA	657	NA	NA	67,500	330,400
01/09-01/15	40,420	12,654	2,963	1,817	4,527	2,687	1,359	420	237	99,041	438,000
01/02-01/08	35,924	2,110	2,818	1,551	3,704	2,103	1,511	238	80	77,000	290,000

The post China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Mar 12: BYD 37,141, Tesla 17,032, NIO 2,170 appeared first on CnEVPost.

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Tags BYD, Leapmotor, Li Auto, Neta, NIO, Tesla, XPeng, Zeekr

Blade battery BYD BYD Battery China Deals Electric eMobility eV Tesla

BYD says report that Tesla won’t extend battery supply partnership with it untrue

Post author By Phate Zhang/CnEVPost
Post date March 14, 2023

A BYD spokesperson, responding to CnEVPost's request for comment, said the information was untrue and did not correspond to reality.

BYDDY.US | BYD HK | TSLA.US

(File photo shows BYD's blade battery. Credit: BYD)

Tesla will not continue to use BYD's batteries after its contract with the latter expires, according to a report in a South Korean media outlet yesterday. BYD denied it today.

Tesla has decided not to use BYD's batteries due to quality issues arising from a series of fire accidents with the latter's LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries, South Korea's Korea Economic Daily said in a report yesterday.

Tesla first used BYD's 10 GWh batteries last year for its low-end models in Europe, according to the report.

Earlier this year, Tesla did not request the additional supply of BYD batteries for the standard, low-cost trim version of the Model 3 after its contract to supply them expired, the report said, citing industry sources.

Fires in electric vehicles where BYD applied its own batteries have occurred several times in China, triggered by quality problems, the report said.

Contrary to BYD's explanation, there is no reason for Tesla to use BYD batteries as accidents become more frequent, a source from the battery industry said. That seems to be the reason for it, he said.

Tesla's reliance on LG Energy Solution, which is accelerating the development of LFP batteries for electric vehicles at Tesla's request, is expected to grow, according to the report.

Tesla uses LG Energy Solution and CATL in Europe and Panasonic products in North America. Existing companies will most likely fill BYD's vacancy, the report noted.

A BYD spokesperson, responding to CnEVPost's request for comment, said the information was untrue and did not correspond to reality.

In February 2022, rumors surfaced that Tesla had officially placed an order with BYD's battery manufacturing division, FinDreams Battery, for blade batteries for 204,000 vehicles per year.

In early June 2022, BYD executive vice president Lian Yubo said in an interview with state-owned media outlet CGTN host Kui Yingchun that BYD would soon be supplying batteries to Tesla.

Lian provided no further details at the time, and a video of that interview posted on Weibo was subsequently deleted.

On August 10, 2022, Sina Tech cited multiple sources familiar with the matter as saying that BYD's blade battery supplies to Tesla had already begun to be delivered to the latter's plant in Berlin, Germany, the first Tesla Gigafactory to use BYD batteries.

Tesla's competitive relationship with BYD is also one of the reasons it will not extend its contract in Europe, according to Korea Economic Daily. Tesla asked LG Energy Solution to develop LFP batteries to keep its electric vehicle rival in check, the report said.

In October 2022, Steve Westly, a former Tesla board member and founder of Westly, said the only one that can truly compete with the US electric vehicle giant on a global scale is BYD.

"For the first time, I think there is a real challenger and that challenger's name is BYD," Westly said in a CNBC interview that aired on October 20 of last year.

"BYD will likely hit one million EV units produced and sold this year. That's something that should keep your eye on," he said, adding, "In contrast, it is good to compare, Ford, probably has 60,000 units and GM struggling to hit 50,000 units. They are barely 4 to 5 percent of Tesla."

So right now, it looks like it's Tesla and the Chinese battle, Westly said.

BYD sold 1,863,494 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in 2022, including 946,239 plug-in hybrid passenger cars, 911,140 pure electric passenger cars, and 6,115 commercial vehicles, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

For comparison, Tesla delivered 1,313,851 vehicles worldwide in 2022, with 439,770 delivered to Chinese consumers.

Charlie Munger, a renowned US investor, said on February 15 that Tesla pales in comparison to BYD in China.

"Tesla last year reduced its prices in China twice. BYD increased its prices. We are direct competitors. BYD is so much ahead of Tesla in China, it's almost ridiculous," Munger said.

In addition to being an NEV giant, BYD is also one of the world's largest power battery manufacturers.

BYD installed 5.8 GWh of power batteries globally in January, up 78.8 percent from 3.3 GWh in the same month last year, according to a report released by South Korean market research firm SNE Research on March 6.

BYD ranked second globally with a 17.6 percent market share, up from the 11.6 percent share in the same period last year.

CATL installed 11.2 GWh of batteries globally in January, continuing to rank first with a 33.9 percent market share, but lower than the 37.6 percent share in the same month last year.

LG Energy Solution installed 4.3 GWh of power batteries in January, ranking third with a 13.0 percent market share, up from 10.1 percent in the same month last year.