Xpeng predicts it will deliver fewer electric cars than Nio

BEIJING – Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng predicts it will deliver far fewer cars than rival start-up Nio during the first three months of the year.

Xpeng, which is listed in New York, announced overnight that it would likely deliver about 12,500 vehicles in the first quarter. This implies deliveries of 4,250 cars for March, based on the figure of 6,015 in January and down to 2,223 in February.

Even considering the lunar New Year week holidays in mid-February, those numbers are lower than Nio’s.

Last week, Nio expected deliveries of between 20,000 and 25,000 vehicles in the first quarter, which would mean deliveries of at least 7,197 vehicles in March. The company only offers SUVs at this time and sells them at a higher price range than Xpeng cars.

While Nio plans to deliver a sedan to customers early next year, Xpeng launched its P7 sedan last year, which has accounted for a growing share of deliveries compared to its G3 SUV. Xpeng plans to launch another sedan later this year.

Li Auto, another Chinese electric car company listed in the United States, gave the lowest forecast of the three emerging companies, between 10,500 and 11,500 deliveries during the first quarter.

Despite the focus on emerging companies like Nio and Xpeng, older carmakers Tesla and BYD are already selling electric cars in China on a much larger scale. In January alone, Tesla sold more than 14,500 models 3 made in China and BYD more than 7,200 of its Han model, according to data released Tuesday by the Chinese Passenger Car Association.

After rising in 2020, shares of U.S.-listed electric car companies have fallen in the past two months amid the volatile start to the year of the U.S. stock market.

• Shares of Xpeng fell nearly 4% overnight and have fallen more than 35% over the year.
• Nio fell 7.6% overnight and dropped more than 25% to date.
• Shares of Li Auto fell 5% to start the week and have fallen 26% so far.
• Shares of Tesla fell more than 5% in Monday’s session and have fallen 20% so far.

While Nio, Tesla and other car companies compete to develop autonomous driving technology, Xpeng began launching its autonomous driving software this year to some premium customers of the P7 sedan. The technology allows users to automate tasks such as changing lanes and getting in and out of highways.

About a fifth of more than 20,100 P7 sedans delivered in February have activated the latest autonomous driving software, management said in a earnings call.

Xpeng reported that total revenue rose 43% in the third quarter to 2.85 million yuan ($ 437 million) in the fourth quarter. The company expects revenue to fall slightly to 2.6 billion yuan in the first quarter.

Net losses fell to 787.4 million yuan in the last three months of the year, from 1.155 billion yuan in the previous quarter.