Li Auto more than quadrupled June sales and more than doubled Q2 deliveries, easily beating its own company target. On Thursday, fellow Chinese electric vehicle makers NIO Inc. and XPeng Inc. Motors reported booming sales despite a global chip shortage. Li Auto, Nio and Xpeng stock fell early Friday, after all reversed lower on Thursday.
Li Auto reported June deliveries of 7,713 Li One SUVs, up 78.4% vs. May and 321% vs. a year earlier. Second-quarter deliveries hit 17,575, up 166% vs. a year earlier and far above the company's target for 14,500-15,500. Li Auto's lone production vehicle, the Li One, has a tiny gas engine as a range extender.
Nio deliveries reached 8,803 in June, up 20.4% vs. the prior month after May sales fell vs. April. Year-over-year, June sales surged 116%. Second-quarter deliveries totaled 21,896 electric SUVs, up 112% and at the higher end of a target range of 21,000-22,000. Chip shortages had affected Nio production in recent months.
June deliveries included 1,498 ES8s, 3,755 ES6s and 2,830 EC6s. The EC6 crossover competes with the Tesla Motors Model Y.
Xpeng deliveries jumped to 6,565 in June, up 15% vs. May and surging 617% vs. a year earlier. Q2 deliveries shot up 439% vs. a year earlier to 17,398.
In June, Xpeng sold 4,730 P7 sedans, which competes with the Tesla Model 3. It also delivered 1,835 G3 compact SUVs.
Xpeng cited the popularity of Navigation Guided Pilot, its highway autonomous driving solution, with China's tech savvy consumers. It reaffirmed a goal to start delivering a new electric sedan, the P5, in Q4 2021.
New EVs Will Follow Key Moves This Week
Nio and Xpeng are bringing new EVs to market, hoping to shake Tesla's dominance in China. They're also accelerating on other fronts.
On July 9, Nio will hold a Nio Power Day event. It announced the event, focused on EV batteries and charging, earlier this week. And on Wednesday, U.S.-listed Xpeng said that a dual Hong Kong listing raised the equivalent of $1.8 billion, pricing at $42.52 per ADS. Shares are set to begin trading in Hong Kong July 7.
Also on Wednesday, Nio added 11 battery swap stations to in China, taking the total on its network to 300. Nio sharply accelerated the pace of additions this week as it targets 500 battery swap stations in China by the end of 2021. And it added more than 110 robots to its factory as a key new EV looms, local reports said.
Nio Stock, Xpeng Stock, Li Auto Stock
Nio stock, fell nearly 1%, Xpeng fell about 1.5%, and Li Auto fell nearly 2% before the open in Friday's stock market trading.
On Thursday, Nio stock jumped early, but reversed lower to fall 4.3% to 50.90, as many hot Chinese stocks came under heavy selling. Nio stock is up more than 10% so far this week on meme-stock momentum, the Power Day news and June and Q2 sales.
Xpeng stock fell 1.7% to 43.66 after surging more than 6% earlier Thursday.
Li Auto stock slid 0.7% Thursday.
Nio stock, Xpeng and Li Auto have surged over the last several weeks after huge sell-offs before that.
Tesla stock dipped 0.3% but is holding above its 50-day line.
Both Nio and Xpeng are looking to bring their most advanced and technically ambitious EVs yet to market.
Xpeng's P5 electric sedan, its third EV, is set to arrive by year end. Nio's ET7, its fourth EV and first sedan, will arrive in Q1 2022.
Both electric sedans will come equipped with lidar sensors to offer highly autonomous driving capabilities. Xpeng claims the P5 will be the world's first lidar-equipped EV. Tesla was famously skeptical of lidar, but is now reportedly testing the technology.
Tesla, which dominates China's premium EV market, reports Q2 deliveries later this week. It could deliver about 200,000 vehicles, according to reports, with China demand key.