Benzinga - Chinese electric vehicle startups Nio, Inc. (NYSE: NIO), XPeng, Inc. (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto, Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) reported deliveries for March and the first quarter on Saturday.
March Deliveries: Beijing-based Li Auto’s tally for March was the highest at 20,823 units, marking the second time the company’s monthly sales crossed the 20,000-unit threshold.
“We are also very excited to see that Li Auto has captured nearly 20% market share in the RMB300,000 to RMB500,000 [$43,675-$72,792] SUV market in China, and become a brand of choice among premium family SUVs, demonstrating our product strengths and users’ widespread recognition,” said Xiang Li, chairman and CEO of Li Auto, in a news release.
Nio followed with March deliveries of 10,378 units, and XPeng stood last among the equals at 7,002 units.
XPeng said its new electrified sports sedan, launched in March exclusively for the Chinese market, has been received well and generated a strong backlog of orders.
How Competitors Stack Up: On a year-over-year basis, Li Auto once again led with 88.7% growth compared to the 20.5% growth reported by Nio. XPeng's deliveries, on the other hand, plummeted 54.57% year over year.
On a month-over-month basis, Li Auto’s deliveries grew 25.29% compared to the 17% growth for XPeng. Nio’s month-over-month growth was a negative 14.63%.
Quarterly Numbers Vs. Guidance: Li Auto’s first-quarter deliveries rose 65.8% year over year to 52,584 units, hitting the low end of the company’s guidance range of 52,000 to 55,000 units.
Shanghai-based Nio’s quarterly tally was 31,041 units, similarly hitting the low end of the 31,000 to 33,000 unit-guidance range. The figure marked a 20.5% year-over-year increase.
XPeng reported first-quarter deliveries of 18,230 units compared to the guidance range of 18,000 to 19,000 units.
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Why It’s Important: Following a difficult year in 2022 and marred by a COVID-19-induced disruption in production, the Chinese EV market saw aggressive pricing actions. Global EV leader Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) led the pack, announcing deep price cuts for its Giga Shanghai-made Model 3 and Y vehicles.
Analysts foresee competition taking a hit as a result of Tesla’s actions. More analyses on the price cuts are expected to come once Tesla reports its global first-quarter deliveries over the weekend.
Read Next: Why Li Auto, Nio And XPeng Shares Are Moving
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