Li Auto (LI) scored record monthly China EV sales in April, helped by the new L7 SUV, a Tesla (TSLA) Model Y rival.
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Data released Monday showed the Chinese startup extended its sales lead over peers Nio (NIO) and XPeng (XPEV) during April. LI stock edged up Monday while Nio shares fell and XPeng shares popped.
A product switch-over weighed on Nio sales last month, while XPeng sales continued to improve after challenges.
China EV Sales
Li Auto sold 25,681 electric vehicles for April, setting a fresh monthly record while exceeding 20,000 deliveries for the second straight month. Li’s April EV sales surged 516.3% year over year and rose 23.3% month over month.
In addition, Li sold over 10,000 L7s in the SUV’s first full month of deliveries. The company said it marked “the first time a Chinese branded five-seat SUV priced above RMB 300,000 (roughly $43,000) has achieved this monthly delivery milestone.” The L7 SUV is seen as a Model Y challenger.
Li Auto, a maker of premium hybrid EVs, launched the L7 in early February.
The company announced its road map for electric vehicles (EVs) running solely on battery power at the Shanghai Auto Show in April.
By 2025, Li’s product lineup will include one “super flagship model,” five hybrid-electric vehicles, and five battery electric vehicles or BEVs, the company said at the time.
Nio sold 6,658 EVs in April. That was up 31.2% from a year ago, but down 35.9% from March, the second consecutive month-over-month decline.
The company tied the pace of sales to a changeover to a new-gen technology platform.
Nio plans to start sales of the all-new ES6 and ES8 in May and June, respectively.
XPeng sold 7,079 vehicles in April, down 21.4% from a year ago but up 1.1% from March. The startup scored its third month-over-month sales increase, continuing to recover from roughly a year of weak sales.
Chinese EV giant BYD (BYDDF) is on deck to report China EV sales for April. Tesla, meanwhile, reports global sales on a quarterly basis.
China EV Stocks
Shares of Li Auto rose 0.5% on the stock market today. LI stock is trading between its close-spaced 50-day and 200-day moving averages after tumbling below those key support levels amid the Shanghai Auto Show.
Nio stock fell 0.8% Monday, well below the 50-day line. XPEV stock closed up 4.2%, reversing higher as it bounced off the 50-day line.
China is the world’s largest and fastest-growing EV market, but growth is slowing there.
While China EV sales more than doubled in 2021 and 2022, they are expected to grow around 31% this year.
The slowdown reflects macro headwinds and an end to EV subsidies, which helped to fuel the China EV price war.
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Source: https://www.investors.com/news/china-ev-sales-li-auto-blowout-april-nio-xpeng/?src=A00220&yptr=yahoo