To The Moon

Major EV manufacturers released their August delivery numbers yesterday, and the results were a mixed bag.

NIO, XPeng & Li Auto

Starting with $NIO Inc.(NIO)$ $NIO-SW(09866)$ , they delivered 20,176 units in August, a 4.4% increase year-over-year, marking their fourth consecutive month with over 20,000 units.

This is solid for NIO, especially since they haven’t launched any new models recently and are relying on their existing lineup. For a company focusing solely on EV, maintaining monthly sales above 20,000 units is impressive.

NIO also celebrated the launch of its new brand, ONVO, which kicked off with a “100 Stores Opening” event. ONVO L60 model will be available in 105 stores across 55 cities and 23 provinces by late September. The L60, a mid-size electric SUV, starts at ¥219,900 (including battery). If you’re a BaaS user, the price drops below ¥200,000.

It’s likely that ONVO L60 could outpace NIO’s main brand in sales, potentially setting new records.

$XPENG-W(09868)$ $XPeng Inc.(XPEV)$ delivered 14,036 units in August, up 2.5% year-over-year. Their Q3 forecast is 41,000-45,000 units. Given July’s figures, it was expected that August and September would each see around 16,000 units.

However, August’s actual numbers fell short. XPeng recently launched the Mona 03, a lower-priced model with over 30,000 pre-orders in just 48 hours. This could boost sales, but September’s targets remain challenging.

$Li Auto(LI)$ $LI AUTO-W(02015)$ delivered 48,122 units in August, up 37.8% year-over-year, though this was a drop from July’s 51,000 units. Their Q3 forecast is 145,000-155,000 units. With just 99,122 units delivered in July and August, September will need to hit at least 55,878 units to meet expectations. Without new model releases, surpassing this target will be tough.

BYD & Leapmotor

$BYD Co., Ltd.(BYDDF)$ $BYD COMPANY(01211)$ delivered 373,083 units in August, a 36% increase year-over-year, setting a new record. However, their overseas sales were only 31,451 units, a 25.7% increase—slowing significantly. BYD’s executives believe that overseas sales could eventually match half of their total sales, but that’s still a long way off.

In August, $LEAPMOTOR(09863)$ delivered 30,305 units, a stunning 113.6% increase year-over-year, setting a new record and becoming the third new carmaker to exceed 30,000 monthly sales.

Leapmotor’s success is largely attributed to the C16, a new model launched in late June. Priced around ¥150,000, the C16 offers both bettery electric and extended range options, targeting the six-seat family market. It features 800V fast charging, Qualcomm 8295 cockpit chips, and Nvidia Orin autonomous driving chips. Compared to Li Auto’s L series, the C16 is cheaper and delivered 8,000 units in August.

One of Leapmotor’s key strategies is offering high specs at low prices. In the first half of this year, Leapmotor’s gross margin was only 1.1%, significantly lower than other new carmakers.

Seres, Zeekr & Great Wall Motor

$Seres Group Co.,Ltd.(601127)$ delivered 34,242 units in August, up 949% year-over-year, but down from 40,288 units in July. The competitive landscape is fierce, with Seres facing intense competition from Li Auto.

$ZEEKR(ZK)$ delivered 18,015 units in August, up 46.4% year-over-year.

$GREATWALL MOTOR(82333)$ delivered 94,461 units in August, a 17.2% year-over-year decline. Excluding the Tank series, most models saw surprising drops. The Tank brand sold over 16,000 units in August, though its growth rate slowed to 11.4%. With Tank’s higher pricing and off-road focus, its contribution to Great Wall’s overall sales may slow down.

Great Wall still faces risks. Besides the Tank, it needs other models to prove its success in the EV transition.