Chinese electric car start-ups Nio and Xpeng post strong deliveries in March



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Xpeng CEO He Xiaopeng stands next to the company’s P7 electric sedan as he addresses the media at the 2020 Beijing auto show.

Evelyn Cheng | CNBC

BEIJING – Two of China’s U.S.-listed electric car start-ups exceeded market expectations in their March deliveries, with both companies setting quarterly records.

Xpeng said Thursday it delivered 5,102 cars in March, beating the implied deliveries of 4,262 cars for that month. The company delivered a total of 13,340 vehicles in the first quarter, exceeding its forecast of 12,500 for the period.

Nio announced the delivery of 7,257 vehicles in March, or 20,060 cars for the first three months of the year – the most for all quarters, according to the company.

This is in line with Nio’s initial forecast for the first quarter of 20,000 to 20,500 vehicles. Nio lowered the forecast last week to 19,500 cars after announcing a five-day plant shutdown due to a semiconductor shortage.

Shares of both companies rose more than 1% in Thursday’s New York trading session. Inventories remain in negative territory for the year so far, having jumped in 2020.

Xpeng’s March deliveries were roughly split between the company’s P7 sedan and the G3 SUV. Of Nio’s three models – all SUVs – the company said its five-seat ES6 was the most demanded with more than 3,000 deliveries last month.

The pace of delivery is “a very positive indicator of the growth trajectory of the electric vehicle market in China for the remainder of the year,” wrote Wedbush analysts Dan Ives and Strecker Backe. They also predict that March was a good month for Tesla in China and expect EV inventories to climb 30% to 40% this year.

BYD’s exceptional sales in March

However, record quarterly start-ups deliveries remain pale compared to Chinese electric vehicle and battery maker BYD.

For the company’s only Han model – which comes in hybrid and pure-electric versions – sales topped 10,000 units in March, BYD management told Citi analysts on Tuesday. BYD’s total sales of new energy vehicles reached 23,000 units last month, according to Citi.

BYD expects that by December it can reach sales of 30,000 cars in the battery-powered category alone, Citi said.

Another Chinese electric car startup listed in the United States, Li Auto, had not released first quarter figures Friday morning Beijing time.

The company predicted in February that it would deliver between 10,500 and 11,500 cars in the first quarter, or less than 4,000 vehicles per month. The only Li Auto model on the market is an SUV that comes with a fuel tank to charge the battery.

Li Auto shares rose 1% on Thursday and are down about 12% year-to-date.

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