Electric vehicle sales continue to grow in China. That’s good news, but not good enough to help shares of EV makers.
Saturday and Sunday, Chinese EV makers Li Auto, NIO, XPeng, and BYD reported August delivery figures.
Li Auto delivered 48,122 vehicles, up 38% from a year ago. Li expects to deliver about 150,000 vehicles in the third quarter, so the August result leaves about 51,o00 vehicles for September for the company to hit the midpoint of its guidance.
XPeng delivered 14,036 cars in August, up about 1% from last year. XPeng expects to deliver about 43,000 cars in the third quarter, leaving about 18,000 cars for September for the company to hit the midpoint of its guidance.
NIO delivered 20,176 vehicles in August, up about 4% from last year. It was the fourth consecutive month NIO topped 20,000 cars delivered. NIO hasn’t guided for the third quarter deliveries yet. It reports second-quarter numbers on Sept. 5. The company typically guides with its quarter financials.
The trio delivered 82,334 cars combined, up more than 20% from last year. It is the second consecutive quarter above 80,000 units and the third-best combined result ever.
So far this year, the trio has sold about 493,000 EVs, up about 34%. Chinese EV sales continue to grow and take more share from traditional vehicles. Sales of electrified cars, including plug-in hybrids, have accounted for more than 50% of new car sales in recent months.
BYD, Chinse largest EV maker, builds both all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. It sold 370,084 vehicles in August, up 35% from the same time last year. All-electric sales came in at 148,470 vehicles, up 2%. Plug-in hybrid sales jumped 73%, to 222,384 units.
Passenger vehicle sales for all four of the EV makers jumped about 32% from last year. All-electric car sales grew by about 8%.
Growth is good, but growth hasn’t been enough to help share prices. More EV competition has resulted in lower prices and profit margins. Through Friday trading, Li, XPeng, and NIO shares were down about 48%, 45%, and 55%, respectively, this year. BYD shares have held up better, rising about 13%.
Tesla stock was off about 14% this year.
About one-third of Tesla sales come from China. Tesla doesn’t report monthly or regional sales data, but analysts track numbers provided by industry associations. Tesla’s August numbers will become available in the coming days. Through July, the company sold about 325,000 vehicles in China this year, flat compared with the same span of 2023.
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