To The Moon

TMTPost -- The American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) of Nio Inc. soared as much as 15.3% and settled around 11.7% higher to US$5.27 on Wednesday. Shares of the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker outperformed as two major U.S. stock market indices--S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed both closed 0.3% lower that day. As the best of EV peers, shares of Nio hit their highest close since March 18, while shares of its domestic peers Li Auto Inc. edged up nearly 0.3% and Xpeng Inc. down 0.1%.  

Credit：Nio

Nio shares jumped after the Shanghai-based EV manufacturer posted much stronger delivery growth despite intense price war in its homeland. Nio said it delivered 15,620 vehicles in April, representing a shockingly year-over-year (YoY) increase of 134.6%. The growth accelerated from a 14.3% YoY growth in March, when Nio’s monthly delivery just reversed a sharp YoY decline of 33%. Sequentially, Nio maintained double-digit growth as it recorded a 31.6% month-over-month (MoM) increase in delivery in April following a 46% growth a month ago.

Nio signaled it would remain robust growth with new product pipelines in the horizon.  Last Thursday saw its launch of 2024 ET7, a premium smart electric executive sedan. Featuring major enhancements in interior and exterior design and digital cockpit, the ET7 is tailored to cater to the demands of premium executive users. Deliveries of the 2024 ET7 began on Tuesday. It also plans to start deliveries of the 2024 ES7 and ET5 in the second quarter.

Nio said a month ago that the 2024 models feature enhanced configuration and performance, highlighted by the upgraded Center Computing Cluster, which further boosts our computing power and product competitiveness. Moreover, Nio ramped up its promotion this month with a purchase plan that doesn’t require down payment for any shopper who gets a car loan. It also offered trade-in for old cars in forms of an exclusive subsidy of up to RMB20,000.

None of Chinese EV companies posted on Wednesday more-than-doubled increases in their deliveries in April but Nio. Li Auto’s delivery even dropped 11% MoM to 25,787 vehicles. The figure represented a mere 0.3% YoY rise, the slowest monthly expansion since August, 2022. The chairman and CEO Li Xiang expressed optimism about sales.

“Li L6, our first model priced under RMB300,000, has garnered widespread popularity among young families following its April debut. We will commence large-scale deliveries in May,” Li said. He added his company will provide users with complimentary charging services and cover the electricity costs at all of its super charging stations during the May Day holiday period. It will also roll out OTA version 5.2 this month, significantly enhancing Li AD Pro and Li AD Max systems with more advanced and safer autonomous driving, automated parking, and active safety features, among others, Li said. He noted users will be able to control their vehicles through Siri following the upgrade, enjoying a more convenient and faster voice control experience.

BYD Co. Ltd, the world’s largest new energy vehicle (NEV) maker, said it sold 313,245 NEVs, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), in April. The sales suggested a 49% YoY growth and a 3.6% MoM growth.  April is the second month for BYD to return to monthly sales of more than 300,000 units to the year date, though still below its recent record of over 341,000 units set in last December. With the highest monthly sales volume among Chinese EV makers, BYD maintained double-digit growth since the beginning of the year. Its sales totaled 939,508 units, up 23% YoY.

Xpeng shipped 9,393 vehicles in April, up 33% YoY and 4% MoM. The Xpeng X9 achieved monthly deliveries of 1,959 units in April, with cumulative deliveries nearing 10,000 units since its launch on January 1. X9, Xpeng’s first full-electric MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle) model, maintained its position as the top-selling all-electric MPV in China. Year-to-date, Xpeng has delivered 31,214 smart EVs with a 23% YoY increase.At the Beijing Auto Show 2024 starting April 25, XPENG showcased its latest artificial intelligence (AI)-powered innovations, including the XOS 5.1.0 or Tianji OS. The latest XOS represents the industry's first OS integrating AI into both smart cockpits and smart driving, set for release on May 20, 2024.

Zeekr, an EV brand owned by Geely, delivered 16,089 units in April, refreshing its monthly record. The delivery almost doubled with a 99% YoY growth, and rose 24% MoM.Delivery for the first four months of this year jumped 111% YoY to 49,000 units, compared with a 117% YoY increase in the first quarter. The company set a sales target of 230,000 vehicles this year, which requires it step up sales since it would have delivered 147,000 vehicles this year based on the average monthly delivery year to date.

 Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies Ltd. Delivered 150,005 units with a 72% YoY growth and a 15.3% MoM growth in April, slowing down from a 136.02% YoY and 121.85% MoM increase a month earlier. Sales in the past two months were driven by Leapmotor’s first global model C10 and its SUV model C11 updated in March. The automaker began presales of C10 on January 10 and has accumulated over 45,000 preorders of the model prior to the official release on March 2. Deliveries of C10 and C11 both topped 10,000 units in April. Preorders of C16 exceeded 11,900 units within 24 hours since presales of the new model started at the Beijing Auto Show.

Xiaomi Corporation also released initial delivery results of SU7, its first EV model launched late March. As end of April, Xiaomi delivered 7,058 vehicles and  locked-in orders totaled 88,063 units. Xiaomi said it is making every effort to expand production capacity and acclerate delivery to meet an annual target of 100,000 units.The target represents more than 8330 cars delivered per month this year.