Nio, XPeng report rising sales as Wall Street awaits U.S. auto sales snapshot

Dow Jones2021-02-02

MW UPDATE: Nio, XPeng report rising sales as Wall Street awaits U.S. auto sales snapshot

By Claudia Assis

Chinese electric-vehicle makers Nio Inc. and XPeng Inc. on Monday reported breakthrough sales numbers, albeit from low starting posts, as investors expect January car sales to continue to show the industry's resilience through the pandemic.

The EV makers' sales news boosted shares of U.S. car makers, with Tesla Inc. $(TSLA)$ rising 4% and Ford Motor Co. $(F)$ jumping 6%.

Nio $(NIO)$ said Monday it delivered 7,225 vehicles in January, a new monthly record for the company and a 352% rise from a year ago. It has delivered 82,866 vehicles in total, it said.

Don't miss:Nikola stock rallies after Wedbush analyst says it's no longer a sell

Nio's American depositary receipts rose on the news but later gave back those gains and traded nearly 3% lower. The stock is up 1,364% in the past 12 months, contrasting with gains of around 17% for the S&P 500 index in the same period.

XPeng $(XPEV)$ reported a nearly sixfold increase in January .

For U.S. car sales, analysts at Deutsche Bank, led by Emmanuel Rosner, said they expect annualized sales around 16.2 million vehicles in January, down slightly from December's but above November's, "continuing to demonstrate impressive resilience in light of the high daily rate of infection from (COVID-19) in the US and ongoing restrictions nationwide."

See also: EV battery maker Microvast to go public via $3 billion SPAC deal

Retail sales were seen down about 6% in the month, which had one fewer selling day this year. Fleet sales could see another decline around 30% on ongoing low daily rental activity, even though commercial and government fleet sales have shown signs of improvement, the analysts said.

They forecast 2021 U.S. sales around 15.8 million units, "with upside potential from new government infrastructure spending or EV incentives."

Among U.S. makers, Ford is expected to report January sales within the next few days while Tesla and General Motors Co. $(GM)$ will report first-quarter sales in early April. GM last week surprised markets with the goal of phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles and offering only EVs by 2035.

-Claudia Assis; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

$(END)$ Dow Jones Newswires

February 01, 2021 12:16 ET (17:16 GMT)

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Nio, XPeng report rising sales as Wall Street awaits U.S. auto sales snapshot

Comments