NIO was 2,000 units last week. Its sales from June 1 to June 18 were 4,800 units.
In the week of June 12 to June 18, Li Auto sold 7,800 units, continuing to lead among China's new car makers, the company said today on Weibo.
As of June 18, Li Auto had sold 19,800 units this month, and the company will aim to achieve a monthly sales target of more than 30,000 this month, it said.
Li Auto didn't explain what that weekly sales tally was based on, but apparently they were insurance registrations. The company had suspended sharing those numbers in May, but has since resumed sharing them.
Li Auto delivered 28,277 vehicles in May, up 145.97 percent year-on-year and up 10.11 percent from April, the third consecutive month to exceed the 20,000-unit mark.
Li Auto's current least expensive model, the five-seat Li L7, achieved its second consecutive month of more than 10,000 deliveries in May, the company said on June 1.
On Li Auto's Family Tech Day event on June 17, the Li L7 sold more than 1,000 units in a single day for the first time, the company's founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on June 18.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 14,500 units in the week of June 12 to June 18, lower than the 16,400 units sold in the previous week, according to figures shared by Li Auto.
From June 1 to June 18, Tesla sold 40,600 units in China, the highest number of vehicles, including internal combustion engine vehicles, for premium brands.
NIO (NYSE: NIO) was 2,000 units last week, up from 1,500 units the week before.
Between June 1 and June 18, NIO sold 4,800 units.
NIO officially launched the new ES6 on May 24 and rolled out the ET5 Touring on June 15.
The company had produced some of the vehicles in the designer-recommended configuration combinations for quick delivery prior to the launch of both models.
Deliveries of the new ES6 began on the night of the May 24 launch, and deliveries of the ET5 Touring began on June 16.
XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) was at 1,600 units last week and 3,800 units from June 1 to June 18.
NIO's about-face highlights the plight now facing China's EV makers, as they try to navigate an unexpected turn in the road that analysts say could stretch on for some time to come.
This article by Trevor Mo was first published in The Bamboo Works, which provides news on Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong and the United States, with a strong focus on mid-cap and also pre-IPO companies.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Key Takeaways:
NIO cut its prices last week, reversing its previous position, in response to slowing sales growth over the past two months after many of its rivals made similar reductions.
Smaller firms could be the most vulnerable if the current EV price war drags on, due to their thinner margins compared to larger peers.
Used to being praised for its cutting-edge electric vehicles (EVs), NIO Inc. (NIO.US; 9866.HK) found itself in unfamiliar terrain last week when it became the target of online sarcasm after announcing it would slash prices for all of its electric vehicles (EVs) by 30,000 yuan ($4,209).
Just two months earlier, CEO William Li had proclaimed he would never join the price war now throttling his sector, saying such blind cuts would only lead to "unhealthy competition".
NIO's about-face highlights the plight now facing China's EV makers, as they try to navigate an unexpected turn in the road that analysts say could stretch on for some time to come. Smaller firms are in the most difficult bind since further cuts will further erode their already thin margins. But refusing to stay in the cutting game risks losing sales to industry heavyweights such as BYD (1211.HK; 002594.SZ) and Tesla (TSLA.US).
We'll look shortly at how the recent price war is affecting China's smaller homegrown EV makers, which also include Li Auto (LI.US; 2015.HK), Leapmotor (9863.HK) and XPeng (XPEV.US; 9868.HK), as well as non-listed peers like WM Motor. But first, we'll shift into reverse to see how the ongoing months-long price war has evolved.
Things began last October when Tesla cut prices for its Model 3 and Model Y by as much as 9 percent, then further slashed prices as much as another 13.5 percent in January.
Those cuts prompted others to follow suit, with XPeng announcing reductions in January for its G3i SUV and P5 and P7 sedans by as much as 13 percent. BYD joined the following month by cutting the price of its 2021 Han EV model by 20,000 yuan in Beijing, and the 2021 Qin EV by 15,000 yuan.
Other brands, from domestic heavyweights like GAIC, SAIC, and FAW, to foreign names like Ford, Volkswagen, BMW, and Toyota, also joined the bloodbath. The cuts followed Beijing's retirement of one of the main government incentive programs for EV purchases at the end of last year, which previously helped to double the sector's sales in 2022.
The price war later spilled into the fossil fuel vehicle sector as well, with automakers rushing to clear inventory before a new set of stringent emissions standards takes effect in July.
As of late March, more than 40 carmakers had gotten sucked into the Chinese price war by offering discounts on electric and gas-powered vehicles, according to local media outlet Yicai, which cited data from third-party consultancy Positioning Pioneers.
As the cutting gained traction, about 20 percent of passenger cars being sold in China came with discounts of 10,000 yuan or more, according to PingWest, another local news outlet, citing data compiled by research group China Auto Market.
Driving consolidation
The price war is already showing signs of driving consolidation in a crowded sector whose growth was fueled in no small part by strong government incentives that are now being rapidly phased out.
As the war drags on, bigger players are increasingly cementing their leading positions, while smaller ones face sluggish sales. In the first four months of this year, three companies – BYD, Tesla and GAC Aion – held a combined 50.1 percent share of the pure-battery EV market, up from 42.7 percent in the same period a year ago, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). BYD led the trio with 24.9 percent of the market, up 7.4 percentage points year-on-year.
As the big names gained share, many smaller brands moved in the opposite direction. XPeng reflected that group, symbolically dropping off the list of the top 10 EV makers in the first four months of this year.
NIO managed to increase its share by 0.3 percentage points, but its 27.1 percent growth rate in vehicle deliveries during the period was far behind BYD and Tesla, which each recorded more than 60 percent year-on-year growth.
Facing such slowing growth, it comes as little surprise that NIO has finally joined the price war. But it also remains to be seen whether the move will significantly boost its sales.
XPeng's experience suggests otherwise. Its massive price cuts in January failed to lift sales, and the company's total vehicle deliveries actually plunged by 47.3 percent in the first three months of this year.
Another smaller EV startup, Leapmotor, announced similarly dismal results after rolling out its own massive price cuts. The company's vehicle deliveries tumbled by 51.3 percent in the first quarter to 10,509, according to its latest quarterly report.
Not all smaller players have suffered. Li Auto – the last holdout in the intensifying price war – delivered 52,584 vehicles during the first quarter, up 65.8 percent year-on-year. The company also recorded a 933.8 million yuan net profit for the period, making it one of the few EV makers that has been able to operate profitably. Both BYD and Tesla recorded profits during the period, while NIO, XPeng, and Leapmotor all lost money.
The smaller companies' dismal bottom-line performance is reflected in their profit margins that sharply trail their larger peers. NIO, XPeng, and Leapmotor all recorded gross profit margins of less than 2 percent during the first quarter, well behind BYD's 17.9 percent and Tesla's even higher 19.3 percent for its EV business.
That brings us back to the dilemma now confronting smaller firms that will find it increasingly difficult to wage a prolonged price war that sucks up their dwindling cash hordes, with skeptical investors unlikely to provide fresh funds.
NIO's cash fell to 37.8 billion yuan by the end of March from 45.5 billion three months earlier, while XPeng's fell to 34 billion yuan from 38 billion yuan over the same period. Those declines are likely to continue, or even accelerate if the price war continues.
The war has already left a number of the smallest major EV makers teetering on the brink of insolvency. One of those is WM Motor, a former highflyer that is currently facing a financial crunch that saw it reportedly slash salaries and implement mass layoffs late last year and into 2023. Data from the CPCA showed that WM Motor sold just 457 vehicles in the first two months of 2023, down 92.4 percent from the year-ago period.
Overall, the ES6 is a very accomplished car. I cannot even pick an obvious problem apart from that lack of storage on the back of the front seat.
This is a guest post by Haoran Zhou, previously a member of NIO's PR team in China. The review was originally published as a video on the YouTube channel Telescope望远镜.
Hello and welcome to the Telescope. Every week we bring you fresh insight from the biggest car market in the world today.
We're on the launch of the NIO ES6. With over 127k units sold, the ES6 was, is, and by the looks of today, always will be NIO's biggest seller.
I know I said that with the ET5, but some people are not happy with some of the compromises NIO made on the ET5. Because of the battery swap system, for example, the seat height. They think the ride is a bit too harsh. They don't like there's not enough room in the back.
None of those problems exist on the ES6. This finally is the complete package.
The color we have here today is the stratospheric blue. This is the only standard color that's not black, white, and gray. So, this is going to be a very popular color.
We are on the optional twenty-inch wheels. I think this is only €600 extra. And this is on the low rolling resistance Goodyear tire.
In a moment you will see some of the performance footage we did on the airfield. This low rolling resistance tire when you are deliberately trying to extract performance figures out of it there is a difference between this and the Pirelli. But most of the time, I recommend people just buy this.
Several features on the exterior. First is this much bigger air curtain to send some airflow to seal off all of the turbulence and the wake of the front wheels. The second feature is only noticeable at certain angles, but once you notice that you cannot unseen it. This fully flush side window. The B-pillar, C-pillar and D-pillar no longer sticks out. It is fully flush with the side window.
This feature is pioneered by the Porsche Panamera. It's also present on the latest Range Rover. This is a design feature but it also has an aerodynamic benefit. Because once you hide all of these pillars away, the airflow from A-Pillar onwards will stay attached all the way to the rear of the car. That cuts drag.
All of these contribute to the 0.25 drag coefficient for this relatively boxy SUV. This is not a coupe SUV. You will find a coupe SUV that has a lower drag coefficient than this. But you will not find another traditional upright SUV that is as slippery as this.
The ES6 of course has all the cameras and a lidar that is standard on all of the NT 2.0 platform NIO models. This will have all the capabilities we showed you earlier in the ET7 NOP+ video. This of course being a NIO can battery swap.
We did a quick swap on the way here. So this car as big and as wide and as heavy as it is, is actually the most potent long-distance electric SUV on the market today. It's irrelevant about its range. It's so strong on long-distance driving purely because of that battery swap.
The new ES6 is about fifty millimeters lower in height compared to the previous generation, which is actually quite significant. You really see it on the rear of the car. They put more shape into this rear body.
This crease here is actually an aerodynamic feature called "the departure curve" being integrated as a design element. This basically sends the airflow away from the car. This deliberately separates the airflow from following the body all the way around, creating more drag.
This boot is competitive in its class in terms of capacity. This is about 580 liters. So it's right in between the coupe version of the Porsche Cayenne and the regular Porsche Cayenne. You also have over 100 liters of underfloor storage. So practicality wise this is competitive in its class.
I know we already did a static review of the ES6. But at that time that was before the press conference. We were not allowed to sit in the only ES6 available at the time. Now sitting in the car one thing i can tell this windscreen is much smaller in terms of opening area than the previous generation ES6.
I think this is where the lowered fifty-millimeter height comes in. To give an example the previous ES6 feels like it has a windscreen that is as big as a Range Rover Sport. This is more of a BMW X3 size windscreen. You probably don't know what I'm talking about. But
If you have sat in the previous generation ES6, now sitting here, this is the biggest difference in terms of overall visibility that you can tell. The rest of the cabin is 95 percent NIO ES7, which means I think is too good for the intended role of the ES6. The only area you can tell that this car is trying to cut some cost is the lower half of the door. It's using the same recycled plastic fiber seen on the ET5.
In the rear cabin, it's surprisingly spacious. The wheelbase has grown by 15mm. The headroom is actually better than the previous ES6 because they drop the floor by as much as, I think, 9-10cm. That is a huge amount in terms of packaging.
They expanded the panoramic glass, so you get a little bit more room by having the glass extended all the way to the top of your head.
Another important area is the seats. Because the slimmer the seat, especially the seatback, the more room you're going to get for the rear passenger. This seat looks significantly slimmer than the previous generation ES6. That has very bulky, sporty-looking seats. Looks cool but it takes up a lot of space.
This is an in-house developed seat system and it does look much slimmer. But one area I still don't understand is why there is still no storage space on the back of the front seats. I mean this may eat away 2cm of knee room. You have more than two centimeters of knee room available. I'm five foot eleven. This is easily doable if you want to add a storage compartment.
We are on an airstrip to demonstrate the performance, but I don't think there's going to be any doubt about this. All NIO models up until this point have an excessive amount of performance. This is no exception. 490ps, 4.5s to a hundred kph claimed. We're going to show you how does that feel like.
This is on the low-rolling-resistance tire. If we are on the Pirelli P-Zero, this should be even better, especially the braking.
The next part is where I was surprised. I actually drove this car briefly about two weeks ago on a damp track. On the solemn 21m apart, the standard setup, ES6 can regularly maintain close to 60 kph. I have recently driven the best-handling petrol-powered SUV on an F1 track.
That car can also only maintain close to 60 kph. So this car's solemn performance is unusually good. I need to sample more high-performance electric SUVs to see if this is an attribute specific to the ES6 or if it's just that all-electric SUVs are very good at this slalom test.
Now we are out of the airstrip and into the real world. This is a closed-off, very nice piece of mountain road that it is reserved for the ES6 test drive. I am happy to report that this is probably the NIO that most people wanted.
I still prefer the ET5 because it is firmer and sportier. This generation of ES6 is head and shoulders above the previous generation ES6. I criticized the dynamics of the first-generation NIO SUVs in the original ES8 review. I thought it was too comfort biased. The whole car is very floaty. This car is not floaty at all.
NIO achieved all of that improvement while making the spring rate on the suspension softer. Overall, you feel this car is a lot more stable. And it grips the road much better than the previous generation ES6 with none of the wobbly sensations.
Another highlight is the ESP system on this car. You probably saw earlier in a slalom test that it's achieving very good average speed. On a closed-off airstrip and also on these mountain roads, we've tested back-to-back to BMW X3.
It's surprising that, to me anyway, the X3 feels like the more conservative setup on the ESP system. I never thought that day would come for NIO to give the drivers more liberty on the body control of the car.
Another aspect that you know this generation has made a huge leap forward is just that sense of size this car feels on the road. This feels like a much smaller car because the body is and especially the rear and follows the direction so much better.
The previous generation ES6 on the road feels as big as the ES8 while being significantly shorter. This feels like a much smaller car although actually on the size they are virtually the same.
All the time I've been speaking to you on camera, I'm actually in the sport mode which is not a mode that I will use on a previous ES6. All NIO cars previously, they all have a lot of performance. But you never felt like they're set up for enthusiastic driving.
I think this car is set up for the sport mode. Even the sport plus mode is much more usable. For the previous generation cars, not just the ES6, the ES8, and EC6 in general, I will only use the sport plus mode when I was trying to demonstrate performance to new customers or new journalists.
This is actually in daily driving, even the sport plus mode is much more usable. That's just another area you know this car is so much more developed than the previous generation.
Overall, the ES6 is a very accomplished car. I cannot even pick an obvious problem apart from that lack of storage on the back of the front seat.
It's big enough. It's very well made. It's very luxurious inside. It can battery swap. It has very strong autonomous driving hardware. Currently, on software this is behind the Avatar we reviewed a week ago and XPeng on the urban assisted driving functions. But NIO will have that function ready before the end of this year.
But currently, the biggest talking point on the ES6 is not about the car itself, because we know how good the ES6 can be. And it really is as good as we expected. But it's about the price.
If I put my ex-NIO employee hat on, and look at the product lineup as a whole. I can very easily give you a very educated guess on the price of this ES6. Actually, I already did that in the static review of the ES6. I guess it will be priced around 358-368k RMB. By the time you're watching this video, you would have already known whether my guess is correct or not.
Because we are filming on May 16, about nine days before the actual launch. I think if you look at this car close enough, you would come to my conclusion that the ES6 is easily worthy of that price. However, whether the market has the patience to find that out, whether the customers have the patience to find that out, is a separate question that I cannot answer.
That is all from the Telescope today. If you enjoy this video, keep watching, keep subscribing, more videos coming along very soon.
With NIO's broad price cuts and the rapid rollout of new NT 2.0 models, it could see a considerabe sales rebound in the second half of the year, according to Edison Yu's team.
NIO (NYSE: NIO) management expressed a rare cautious approach to future spending during last week's earnings call, and this week let the purchase threshold for the entire lineup drop. To Deutsche Bank, this series of moves suggests that NIO is finally starting to show real urgency.
"Our main takeaway following 1Q earnings and hosting NIO management (CFO in person in NYC this week) is that the urgency to capture volume and cut back spending is finally here," analyst Edison Yu's team said in a research note sent to investors today.
With NIO's broad price cut and the rapid rollout of the new NT 2.0 model, its sales can rebound considerably in the second half of the year, paving the way for 20,000 units per month, the team said.
In addition, as NIO reduces spending on non-core initiatives, its operating expenses and capital expenditures should be much more controlled, the team added.
The company's management said during the earnings call that NIO will manage its cash flow carefully, postpone some of its fixed asset investments and focus on the countries it has already entered in Europe.
NIO is confident that it will see sales of more than 20,000 units per month in the second half of the year, William Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, said at the time.
On June 12, NIO lowered the starting prices of its entire new model lineup by RMB 30,000 yuan ($4,200), but the previously free battery swap service several times a month became a paid option.
Yu's team said in the research note today that they applaud the move as demand for NIO's existing models, particularly sedans, has been struggling in recent months.
"In our view, pricing is an issue for getting incremental buyers considering premium BEVs in general have sold poorly this year," the team wrote.
Despite the ongoing platform changeover for NIO's three first-generation SUVs, combined sales of the Avatr 11, IM LS7 and XPeng G9 averaged only about 4,500 units per month this year, about half of what the Audi Q5 sells locally in China, the team noted.
NIO's pricing is the highest among the upstart brands. In addition to price adjustments, the company must effectively compete with internal combustion engine vehicle makers, and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) makers, and enhance its brand appeal, Yu's team said.
The electrification of China's premium car market appears to be proceeding more slowly, which may be counterintuitive to those outside of China, the team said.
They explained further:
Based on our analysis of the premium SUV market (>300k RMB), the BEV mix is only 12% YTD, compared with PHEV (includes EREV) at 18%, leaving 70% for ICE.
This compares with the overall market that is 21% BEV and 10% PHEV, showing customer preferences are quite different depending on the sub-segment.
The team's interpretation of this is that the EREV value proposition is resonating with a broader audience than expected, and Li Auto has done a very effective job at maximizing.
In addition, Yu's team believes that NIO's brand appeal has hit a wall of sorts as it struggles to gain momentum outside of Shanghai and surrounding provinces and outside of financial and tech social circles.
The performance of NIO's best-selling ET5 is a case in point. Nearly 40 percent of the model's sales come from Shanghai and surrounding provinces, and while the ET5 theoretically has the broadest appeal among NIO's offerings, sales in the south have been quite poor, the team said.
"Moreover, based on our channel checks, affluent older customers simply are not buying into the brand (yet) and still prefer traditional BBA cars (i.e., greater loyalty)," the team said.
For investors, they are shifting to a less negative view as NIO's sales and cash burn trajectory appears to be reversing, the team said.
Depending on how the second half of the year plays out, NIO's stock price could remain volatile until there is a clear upward trajectory in sales, according to the team.
XPeng will enter an accelerating positive feedback loop starting in the third quarter of this year and will see faster growth from the third quarter of next year to the end of 2025, XPeng's CEO said.
(Screenshot from the video of XPeng CEO He Xiaopeng's speech.)
Electric vehicle (EV) startups see ups and downs in fortunes as the industry grows rapidly in China. XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) is one of the EV makers that has been in a downward spiral over the past year, but its CEO doesn't think it's a big deal.
In a speech at the China Auto Blue Book Forum in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province, XPeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng argued that the landscape of China's EV industry is not yet set and that there's no need to worry too much about winning or losing in the moment.
"Whether it's joint ventures, state-owned enterprises, or private companies, including the new car makers, we see very fierce competition in the whole industry," he said.
"In fact, I don't think we need to worry too much about this competition. First of all, has anyone already got the qualification to stay at the table today?" he said.
"At least, I don't think there's a single company in China, not a single startup, that will definitively be on the table for the next one," he added.
Citing the development of China's Internet industry over the past 20 years, he said he had been thinking from 2007-2010 about which products would qualify to be part of the mobile Internet end game.
"In fact, we later found out that there was no answer to that question," he said.
None of the products had a chance of qualifying for that from 2007 to 2010, and that qualification came in 2010 and later with the emergence of big hardware and software players, he said.
XPeng has seen strong delivery growth in 2021, with deliveries reaching an all-time high of 16,000 units in December 2021.
Its deliveries have continued to be weak since the second half of last year, dropping to 5,218 units in January of this year. In the past three months, it has delivered at slightly above 7,000 units each month.
Its local counterpart NIO (NYSE: NIO) fared a bit better last year, but also faced a similarly sluggish delivery as it switched products this year, delivering just 6,155 vehicles in May.
It's worth noting that Li Auto's current models are all extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which are essentially plug-in hybrids and have a much larger market space. Both XPeng and NIO only offer battery electric vehicles, which are in a fast-growing but small market.
In his speech today, Mr. He said he could foresee a large number of hybrid models in China in the next two years, especially in the family car segment.
"Because everyone sees the success, they will follow. Because they are following, a large number of models will focus on the same place. It's a very interesting thing," he said.
He stressed that automakers should have a long-term vision. "I think in the automotive space, for everything, you have to think about the layout for ten to twenty years, it's not possible to achieve a big change in three years' time," he said.
XPeng has faced many challenges in the last year, but the positive feedback for the company will accelerate in the full year starting in the third quarter of this year, he said.
From the third quarter of next year to the end of 2025, XPeng will enter a hyper-speed positive feedback loop, he said, adding that this is based on XPeng's overall layout.
City NGP feature is expected to cover dozens of additional cities within the year, XPeng said.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
XPeng's (NYSE: XPEV) Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) similar to Tesla's FSD (Full Self-Driving) is now available in Beijing, making the company the first to launch the feature in the Chinese capital city.
The XPeng feature, called City NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot), is open in Beijing for users participating in a public test and is currently available on Beijing's ring roads and major highways, according to a press release today.
In addition to public test users, the feature will soon be available for general users of the Max version of XPeng's flagship G9 and P7i with the Xmart OS 4.3.0 system update, it said.
XPeng P5's P-version models will also be able to use the City NGP feature in Beijing after upgrading to Xmart OS 3.5.0, according to the company.
City NGP is an ADAS feature similar to Tesla's FSD, which allows the vehicle to perform driving tasks when it is activated and navigation destinations are set.
This includes cruising at a safe distance from the vehicle ahead, changing lanes due to navigation or vehicle overtaking decisions, handling merging and lane splitting, and going around stationary vehicles or obstacles.
On September 17, 2022, the City NGP feature became available on a pilot basis in Guangzhou, where XPeng is headquartered. One month later, XPeng officially opened the feature to all eligible P5 cars in Guangzhou on October 21.
When XPeng launched its flagship SUV, the G9, on September 21, 2022, it said the model would feature a second-generation assisted driving system called XNGP.
XNGP is a full-scenario assisted driving system, and XPeng aims to have it provide driving assistance in all scenarios including highways, city roads, internal campus roads, and parking lots.
On October 24, 2022, XPeng said at its annual Tech Day event that XNGP for G9 Max will enable support for City NGP in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai in the first half of 2023.
On March 31 of this year, XPeng announced that XNGP achieved the first phase of capability, covering the G9 Max and P7i Max versions, to gain City NGP capability in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, three cities with high precision map coverage.
Phase 2 of XNGP, which XPeng will launch in the second half of 2023, will see full lane-changing, overtaking and left/right turn capabilities extended to major Chinese cities without high-precision maps, while full-scenario ADAS is planned for 2024, the company said at the time.
When the full rollout of the XNGP system is completed in 2024, it will enable full-scenario ADAS from start to stop, the company said.
Based on XNGP's ability to iterate quickly, the improved capabilities of City NGP brought by the Xmart OS 4.3.0 upgrade will allow vehicles to handle tasks including lane changes, detours and following vehicles with greater ease, XPeng said today.
(Image credit: XPeng)
City NGP under the XNGP system has powerful AI learning capabilities that will allow driving skills to improve faster and also allow it to cover more cities at a faster pace, according to XPeng.
In addition to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the City NGP feature is expected to cover dozens of additional cities within the year, XPeng said.
The latest XNGP will also bring next-generation Highway NGP capabilities that perform closer to L4 assisted driving, with almost 0 takeover in highway scenarios, the company said.
City NGP has gained the equivalent of one year of driving experience for human drivers on average each quarter since its launch in October 2022, XPeng said.
In the second half of 2023, XPeng will gradually release ADAS features for Chinese cities or urban areas without HD map coverage, it said, adding that it also plans to offer customized NGP features for daily commutes across the country.
These initiatives will cater to a wider range of driving scenarios and provide users with a more intelligent driving experience in a variety of environments, XPeng said.
XPeng is seen as one of the strongest in China in terms of assisted driving capabilities, though its local counterparts are also making rapid progress on their own.
NIO's similar feature is called NOP (Navigate on Pilot), though it doesn't yet cover urban areas. The company began allowing owners of all its NT 2.0 platform vehicles to apply for a trial of an improved version of the system, NOP+ Beta, on February 20.
NOP+ Beta covers 95 percent of China's core highways and urban fast roads, and offers significant improvements in safety and comfort of experience in scenarios including following, lane changing and overtaking, and ramp passing, NIO said on April 10.
NOP+ will gradually switch and upgrade to BEV architecture in 2023, and the hardware capability and algorithm architecture will help NOP+ cover more road scenarios, the company said at the time.
In addition, starting in the second half of 2023, the feature will support pilot navigation to battery swap stations along highways and automatic replacement of fully charged batteries, according to NIO.
NIO's assisted driving software covering urban areas is called NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving), and the system is not yet available.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) unveiled its latest generation of assisted driving system, AD Max 3.0, on the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18. The system's all-scenario Navigation on ADAS (NOA) will kick off internal testing this quarter and will cover more than 100 cities by the end of the year, Li Auto said at the time.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 425,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 25 percent from the same period last month.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
The Chinese passenger car market was weak in the first two weeks of June, while the new energy vehicle (NEV) market performed slightly better.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of passenger NEVs in China were 160,000 units, up 18 percent year-on-year but down 4 percent from the same period last month, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
So far this year, China's retail sales of passenger NEVs were 2,581,000 units, up 39 percent year-on-year.
From June 1 to June 11, wholesale sales of passenger NEVs in China were 144,000 units, up 18 percent year-on-year and up 3 percent from the same period last month, according to the CPCA.
Wholesale sales of passenger NEVs so far this year were 2,927,000 units, up 45 percent year-on-year.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 425,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 25 percent from the same period last month, the CPCA said.
So far this year, cumulative retail sales of passenger cars in China were up 3 percent year-on-year to 8.057 million units.
This means that from June 1 to June 11, the penetration of NEVs at retail in China was 37.6 percent, and 32.03 percent so far this year.
In the first week of June -- June 1-4 -- the average daily retail sales of passenger cars in China were 31,000 units, down 9 percent from a year ago and 42 percent lower than the same period last month.
In the second week of June -- June 5 to 11- - average daily retail sales of passenger cars were 43,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 14 percent compared to the same period in May.
The decline in sales in early June was mainly due to a high base from last year brought about by stimulus policies.
On May 31, 2022, China announced a 50 percent reduction in vehicle purchase tax for passenger vehicles of 2.0 liter and below displacement with a purchase date between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 and with a vehicle price not exceeding RMB 300,000 ($ 41,900).
Before the policy took effect, China's purchase tax rate for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles was 10 percent, while the purchase of NEVs was exempt from purchase tax.
The stimulus policy left car sales high at the beginning of June last year, while the same period this year was a normal sales time, so a decline in sales is natural, the CPCA said today.
The CPCA did not release sales figures for specific car companies, but Li Auto shared some numbers yesterday.
Li Auto sold 11,900 units from June 1 to June 11, figures shared yesterday by the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) showed. The company did not specify, though the figures are based on vehicle insurance registrations.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 26,000 units in China from June 1-11, while NIO (NYSE: NIO) had 2,800 and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) had 2,200, according to Li Auto.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 425,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 25 percent from the same period last month.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
The Chinese passenger car market was weak in the first two weeks of June, while the new energy vehicle (NEV) market performed slightly better.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of passenger NEVs in China were 160,000 units, up 18 percent year-on-year but down 4 percent from the same period last month, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
So far this year, China's retail sales of passenger NEVs were 2,581,000 units, up 39 percent year-on-year.
From June 1 to June 11, wholesale sales of passenger NEVs in China were 144,000 units, up 18 percent year-on-year and up 3 percent from the same period last month, according to the CPCA.
Wholesale sales of passenger NEVs so far this year were 2,927,000 units, up 45 percent year-on-year.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 425,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 25 percent from the same period last month, the CPCA said.
So far this year, cumulative retail sales of passenger cars in China were up 3 percent year-on-year to 8.057 million units.
This means that from June 1 to June 11, the penetration of NEVs at retail in China was 37.6 percent, and 32.03 percent so far this year.
In the first week of June -- June 1-4 -- the average daily retail sales of passenger cars in China were 31,000 units, down 9 percent from a year ago and 42 percent lower than the same period last month.
In the second week of June -- June 5 to 11- - average daily retail sales of passenger cars were 43,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 14 percent compared to the same period in May.
The decline in sales in early June was mainly due to a high base from last year brought about by stimulus policies.
On May 31, 2022, China announced a 50 percent reduction in vehicle purchase tax for passenger vehicles of 2.0 liter and below displacement with a purchase date between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 and with a vehicle price not exceeding RMB 300,000 ($ 41,900).
Before the policy took effect, China's purchase tax rate for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles was 10 percent, while the purchase of NEVs was exempt from purchase tax.
The stimulus policy left car sales high at the beginning of June last year, while the same period this year was a normal sales time, so a decline in sales is natural, the CPCA said today.
The CPCA did not release sales figures for specific car companies, but Li Auto shared some numbers yesterday.
Li Auto sold 11,900 units from June 1 to June 11, figures shared yesterday by the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) showed. The company did not specify, though the figures are based on vehicle insurance registrations.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 26,000 units in China from June 1-11, while NIO (NYSE: NIO) had 2,800 and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) had 2,200, according to Li Auto.
This will be Tesla's first presence at an auto show in China since April 2021, and NIO will exhibit the ET5 Touring at the event and will hold a brief press conference on June 16.
(Image shows NIO's booth at the Shanghai auto show in April 2023. Credit: CnEVPost)
The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will host an auto show starting this Friday, with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and new Chinese carmakers including NIO (NYSE: NIO) participating.
The 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Auto Show (Auto Shenzhen 2023) will be held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center starting June 16, where Tesla is one of the main exhibitors, according to information released today by the show's organizers.
This will be Tesla's first participation in an auto show in China since the Shanghai auto show in April 2021.
On April 19, 2021, on the first day of the last Shanghai auto show, a female owner got on the roof of a car at the Tesla booth and accused Tesla of brake failure. As of today, the dispute is still ongoing.
Since the drama, Tesla has not participated in any more auto shows in China, including the 2023 Shanghai auto show two months ago.
June 16 is the media day for the upcoming show, and general admission will be available from June 17 to June 24.
Tesla's booth is located in Hall 9 on the 1st floor, next to XPeng's (NYSE: XPEV) booth. The booths of Huawei-backed AITO, Smart, Leapmotor, Rising Auto, and Voyah are also in the area.
NIO will also be at the show and will be showcasing the ET5 Touring, according to the event's organizers.
The day before that show starts, NIO will launch the ET5 Touring in China on June 15, with its launch event starting at 19:00 Beijing time. The company will also launch the ET5 Touring and the new ES6 in Europe a few hours later on the same day.
NIO's booth at the Shenzhen auto show is in Hall 3, near the booths of Bentley and Lotus. The company will hold a press conference at the show on June 16 from 10:00 to 10:30.
The last show, Auto Shenzhen 2022, started on May 28, 2022 and ran through June 5. It was the first auto show in China last year.
NIO's booth at Auto Shenzhen last year was also in Hall 3, a two-floor area where the first floor displayed the full range of models, a transparent second-generation battery swap station and NIO Power's products. The second floor includes a relaxation area, NIO Cafe, and Joy Camp.
In addition to Tesla, NIO and XPeng, new energy vehicle (NEV) makers including BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY), Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) and Neta will also participate in Auto Shenzhen 2023.
Li Auto CEO looks down on local peers, arguing that their sales are so low that they don't deserve to be taken seriously.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), the buzzy Chinese car-making startup, has set an ambitious goal -- to outsell German luxury brands in 2024.
"With the delivery of the all-electric model and next year's Li L6, we are confident that we will surpass BBA in our total sales in 2024," the company said on Weibo yesterday while sharing insurance registration figures for last week.
"BBA" in China refers to German luxury brands Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, and Li Auto appears to be aiming to outsell one of those three brands in China next year, though it didn't specify.
For reference, BMW Brilliance, BMW's joint venture in China, had retail sales of 653,976 units in 2022, essentially unchanged from 651,236 units in 2021 and ranked 14th in the China Passenger Car Association's (CPCA) top 15 sales ranking.
BYD and FAW-Volkswagen are the top two in the ranking, with 1,804,624 and 1,779,077 units sold in 2022, respectively. Mercedes-Benz and Audi did not make the list.
From January to May this year, BMW Brilliance's retail sales were 274,763 units, up 9.1 percent from 251,880 units in the same period last year, placing it at No. 9 in the CPCA's latest top 10 sales ranking. Mercedes-Benz and Audi are still not on the list.
Li Auto yesterday shared vehicle insurance registration figures showing it sold 8,400 vehicles in the week of June 5 to June 11, bringing the cumulative sales so far this month to 11,900.
As of June 11, Li Auto had sold more SUVs than any of the "BBA" brands in China this month with just three SUVs, it said.
All of Li Auto's models currently on sale are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), essentially plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), including the five-seat Li L7 and the six-seat Li L9 and Li L8.
The company is expected to launch its first all-electric model by the end of the year, which will be an MPV (multi-purpose vehicle, or van) powered by the latest Qilin Battery from Chinese power cell giant CATL.
On September 22, 2022, in a warm-up for the Li L8's launch in a few days, Li Auto said it will also launch the Li L6, a midsize five-seat SUV priced within RMB 300,000 yuan ($41,850).
As it eats into the German luxury carmaker's market, Li Auto is continuing to learn from the strengths of these established luxury brands.
"In the offensive ground game, the role models are of course the BBA, which are the best sellers in the market priced at RMB 300,000 and up. we learned from them how to open 4S stores, how to choose locations, and reduce customer acquisition costs to 1/5 of stores located in malls," Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on Weibo yesterday.
Li Auto also learned from these German luxury car companies how to operate in Shanghai, which does not offer free NEV license plates for EREVs, and boosted the company's sales in Shanghai to a peak in 2022 in one month's time, he said.
Before this year, Shanghai offered free license plates to consumers who bought NEVs, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as well as PHEVs.
Starting this year, only consumers who purchase BEVs will receive free license plates in Shanghai, while PHEVs, including EREVs, will not be eligible for the benefit.
In Li Auto's view, its only competitors are German luxury car companies, and local brands are not worth mentioning.
After the company shared its insurance figures for last week yesterday, it was accused by a Weibo user of the move as a continued attack on its local peers.
In response to the Weibo user, Li said that the sales of these local peers are so low that they are not worth mentioning, and that its core focus has always been on the market where BBA is located.
Li used the Chinese saying "three watermelons and two dates (仨瓜俩枣)" to describe the sales of its local counterparts, implying that they were too far behind Li Auto.
Li Auto's two main peers, NIO (NYSE: NIO) and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV), both registered around 1,500 units of insurance last week, with 2,800 and 2,200 units from June 1 to June 11, respectively.
It is worth noting that both NIO and XPeng currently offer only BEVs, a fast-growing but currently small market in China.
In January-May, China's passenger vehicle retail sales were 7.63 million units, with NEVs contributing 2.42 million units, or 31.7 percent, according to the CPCA's figures.
BEVs sold 1.64 million units from January to May, contributing 21.5 percent of all passenger car sales.
