Category: China

Musk meets with more officials as he begins 2nd day of China visit

Musk met with China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology and Minister of Commerce today. He met with China's foreign minister after arriving in Beijing yesterday and was seen meeting with 's chairman.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

(NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk began the second day of his visit to China today, meeting with more local officials.

On May 31, Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Minister Jin Zhuanglong met with Musk in Beijing, where they exchanged views on topics including the development of new energy vehicles (NEVs) and smart connected vehicles, according to an announcement from the MIIT.

The MIIT is China's industrial regulator, overseeing areas including the automotive industry.

Earlier today, Reuters reported that Musk visited China's Ministry of Commerce and met with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on its private jet, and was later met by Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

Tesla opposes decoupling as well as supply chain disconnection and is willing to continue to expand its business in China and share in China's development opportunities, Musk said, according to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday.

In addition to the meeting with Chinese officials, Musk was seen yesterday meeting with Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, the world's largest power battery maker.

A picture circulating on Chinese social networks showed Musk and Zeng together in the lobby of a hotel.

Neither Tesla nor CATL made an announcement about the meeting. Local media outlet The Paper cited industry sources as saying the talks could include cell supply for Tesla's Megafactory in Shanghai, future cooperation on a battery plant in North America and power cell supply.

Tesla signed a contract with Shanghai's Lingang authorities on April 9 to build a new Megafactory in the area, which will be dedicated to the production of Tesla's energy storage product Megapack.

The Megafactory will be Tesla's first energy storage system factory outside of the US home market, with an initial planned annual production capacity of up to 10,000 commercial energy storage batteries and an energy storage scale of nearly 40 GWh, with products to be supplied to the global market.

The plant is scheduled to start construction in the third quarter of this year and go into operation in the second quarter of 2024, according to an announcement by the Lingang special area administration.

Tesla's vehicle assembly plant in Shanghai is located in the Lingang area, which began operations in late 2019 and has now become Tesla's largest EV production site in the world.

Tesla sold 75,842 China-made vehicles in April, including 39,956 delivered in China and 35,886 exported, according to data released earlier in the month by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang meets with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Beijing

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NIO kicks off preparations for NIO Day 2023

is more likely to announce plans for its sub-brands than new NIO-brand models on NIO Day 2023.

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With about five months of the year gone, NIO (NYSE: NIO) has kicked off preparations for its biggest event of the year, NIO Day.

NIO today began recruiting user advisory group members for NIO Day 2023 in China, with the registration deadline of 8:00 pm Beijing time on June 3.

NIO Day is an annual event for NIO and its friends, and the company has had a NIO Day user advisory panel since 2019, according to an article posted on the NIO App today.

Only NIO owners or those who have ordered a NIO vehicle can apply to join the NIO Day user advisory panel, and they also need to have ample spare time to participate in discussions and preparations for the event.

"Users with relevant experience or skills in large-scale event planning, execution, content direction, music production and planning, and art curation are especially welcome to join us," NIO said.

It will conduct an initial screening based on applications and subsequent interviews. In late June, the company will announce the names of the NIO Day 2023 user advisory panel members.

NIO typically holds its annual NIO Day event at the end of each year or at the beginning of the following year, and unveils the latest models and technologies.

The last such event, NIO Day 2022, was held on December 24 in Hefei, Anhui province, the city where NIO's vehicle assembly plants are located.

The city of NIO Day is not decided by NIO, but rather by its customers' votes. The company is expected to continue this practice this year.

NIO launched its preparations for NIO Day 2023 at about the same time as it did for the last event.

The company began recruiting members for the NIO Day 2022 user advisory panel on June 7, 2022, and on July 15 began the process of selecting cities to host the event.

On August 29, 2022, the host city for NIO Day 2022 was determined to be Hefei, and on December 8, the event was scheduled for December 24.

NIO launched the EC7 and the new ES8 at the last NIO Day event, with deliveries of the former already starting a month ago and the latter expected to start in June.

There is no clue what new models or technologies NIO will unveil on NIO Day 2023.

On December 14 last year, local auto media Auto Home reported that NIO was going to build its own "Mercedes Maybach" model, which was already in the design stage and would be a luxury sedan priced at 1 million yuan ($144,000).

The luxury sedan will be operated under the NIO brand, not a sub-brand, and will compete with the Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-class, the report said, citing an NIO insider close to the project.

If things go well, the model would be released as early as 2024 and sold globally, the source added.

It is worth noting that these rumors have never been confirmed by NIO.

In addition, NIO management previously mentioned that the company plans to start delivering mass-market models in the second half of 2024, with prices in the RMB 200,000 to 300,000 range.

The sub-brand, internally codenamed ALPS, will be based on the NT 3.0 platform and powered by NIO's own batteries.

In addition to ALPS, NIO is also planning a third brand with the internal code name Firefly, which will debut in Europe and is expected to go on sale in the third quarter of 2024, according to information previously revealed by the company's management.

Including the new ES8, which has not yet begun delivery, NIO currently has six models on sale, which seems to be a well-established model matrix.

On NIO Day 2023, the company is more likely to announce information about the two sub-brands than new models.

NIO's Firefly project will have its own plant, but city not yet determined, report says

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Denza to begin delivery of N7 SUV in July, offers 2 front design options

Denza, which currently has only the Denza D9 MPV on sale, delivered 10,526 units in April, the second consecutive month with more than 10,000 units.  |  BYDDY.US | HK

Denza, the premium new energy vehicle (NEV) brand of BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY), has announced the launch schedule for the upcoming Denza N7, after pre-sales of the new SUV began last month.

The Denza N7 will be officially launched in late June, with deliveries starting in July, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of Denza's sales division, said yesterday at the company's first brand day after it was effectively controlled by BYD.

Denza is a joint venture established by BYD and Daimler in February 2011, with each holding a 50 percent stake at the time. In February 2022, the Daimler brand was rebranded as Mercedes-Benz.

BYD's stake in Denza increased to 90 percent last year, and Mercedes-Benz's stake decreased to 10 percent.

In August 2022, Denza let the D9 MPV go on sale, the brand's first model after the reorganization. The Denza D9 began deliveries at the end of October last year and 10,526 units were delivered in April this year, the second consecutive month with more than 10,000 units.

The Denza N7, the second model after the Denza equity change, is a 5-seat midsize SUV with a length, width and height of 4,860 mm, 1,935 mm and 1,602 mm respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,940 mm.

The model will have two front design options, differing in the daytime running lights below the headlights, one with a bar and the other with a grille, Zhao said at yesterday's event.

The N7 will be delivered with smart driving hardware and the advanced assisted driving software will be available starting in December, Zhao said.

The Denza N7 has its own operating system and is compatible with different systems, 's HarmonyOS being one of them.

Denza D9 consumers are in their 30s and 40s, and 30 percent of them ordered the Denza N7, Zhao said.

Data from more than 10,000 orders show that Denza N7 consumers are over 23 years old, younger than those for the D9, he said.

Denza opened reservations for the N7 on the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18, but its pricing information was not released.

Zhao said on Weibo last December 20 that the SUV aims to capture the market for traditional internal combustion engine cars priced around 400,000 yuan ($56,300).

On April 25, Denza said the N7 received 10,569 pre-orders, just seven days after pre-sales bean.

In addition to the N7, Denza has also unveiled the exterior and interior design of another SUV, the Denza N8.

($1 = 7.1044 RMB)

Denza could see monthly sales of over 20,000 units this year, exec says

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XPeng making its last stand with G6, says Deutsche Bank

With margins and cash burn looking worse following first-quarter earnings, management may be making its last stand with the G6, Deutsche Bank said.  |  XPeng US | XPeng HK

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XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) is expected to officially launch its new SUV, the G6, late next month, which analysts say will be crucial as the company continues to face weak sales and financial performance.

"With margins and cash burn looking materially worse following 1Q earnings, we believe management may be making its last stand with the G6," Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team said in a research note sent to investors yesterday.

The team's previous view assumed XPeng could see stable natural margin improvement from the sharp drop in battery input prices, but those savings were mostly offset by incremental promotional activity and a poor mix.

" Therefore, the importance of the upcoming G6 has become even GREATER," the team wrote.

XPeng reported weaker-than-expected first-quarter earnings on May 24, with gross margins plunging to 1.7 percent. As a comparison, that figure was 12.2 percent and 8.7 percent in the same quarter last year and the fourth quarter of 2022, respectively.

The company reported a negative 2.5 percent vehicle margin in the first quarter, compared to 10.4 percent in the same period in 2022 and 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The decline was due to increased sales promotions and the expiration of the new energy vehicle (NEV) subsidy in China, XPeng said.

XPeng's new SUV, the G6, will officially launch in June, with volume deliveries starting in July, and production capacity will climb quickly, its management said in a May 24 analyst call after announcing first-quarter earnings.

The G6 will be a hot seller in China's new energy SUV market priced between 200,000 yuan ($28,200) and 300,000 yuan, and will enable XPeng's total deliveries to grow well above the industry's pace in the third quarter, the company said.

The G6 has been set aside about two months from the start of production to delivery, and XPeng expects the model to reach more than twice the sales of the P7i, its management said.

That means, according to Yu's team, that XPeng management expects the G6 to sell 6,000-8,000 units a month.

The G6 needs to be successful for XPeng to be truly relevant to the market again, the team said.

XPeng will likely price the G6 significantly lower than the Model Y (RMB 263,900), hoping to attract consumers with a sleeker design and updated interior, the team said, adding that the X is already taking this approach with a starting price of just RMB 190,000.

A leaked image on Chinese social media on May 22 showed XPeng seeing the first production vehicle of the G6 roll off the line.

XPeng expects second-quarter vehicle deliveries to be between 21,000 and 22,000, and given that it delivered 7,079 vehicles in April, the guidance means the company expects it will deliver a total of 13,921 to 14,921 vehicles in May and June.

Yu's team also noted that XPeng's cash burn trajectory was worse than expected.

"XPeng exited 1Q23 with <25bn RMB in net cash as A/P became a big drag on working capital. This was caused by poor sales performance and also suggests to us suppliers are becoming less accommodative," the team wrote.

After months of lackluster G9 demand, XPeng management may be under pressure from suppliers to be more conservative with its outlook, the team said.

That said, XPeng's operating expenses and capex discipline are still very much intact and should at least get the company through most of next year, Yu's team said.

($1 = RMB 7.0951)

XPeng Q1 earnings miss expectations, gross margin falls to 1.7%

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Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang meets with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Beijing

opposes decoupling and is willing to continue to expand its business in China and share in China's development opportunities, Musk said.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk began his meetings with Chinese officials upon his arrival in Beijing.

On May 30, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with Musk in Beijing, according to a statement on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website.

Chinese-style modernization will create unprecedented growth potential and market demand, and China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has a promising future, Qin said.

China will continue to unswervingly promote a high level of opening up to the outside world and is committed to creating a better market-oriented, rule-of-law and international business environment for enterprises from all countries, including Tesla, he said.

China's development is an opportunity for the world, and a healthy, stable and constructive US-China relationship will benefit both China and the United States, as well as the world, Qin said.

To develop Sino-US relations well, it is necessary to hold the steering wheel and move forward in the right direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as proposed by President Xi Jinping, he said, using the analogy of Tesla's car.

The United States and China need to "apply the brakes" in time to avoid "dangerous driving"; good at "stepping on the accelerator pedal" to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, Qin said.

The Chinese people are hardworking and wise, and China's development achievements are well deserved, Musk said, according to the statement.

The interests of the United States and China are intertwined, like Siamese twins inseparable from each other, Musk said.

Tesla is opposed to decoupling and the disconnection of the supply chain and is willing to continue to expand its business in China and share the opportunities of China's development, Musk said.

The statement provided no further content. Qin previously knew Musk when he was China's ambassador to the United States.

On March 4, 2022, Qin tweeted that he had an inspiring conversation with Musk about cars on the road, stars in the sky, research on the human brain, the meaning of life on Earth and our future into space.

Last August, Qin congratulated Tesla's Shanghai plant for seeing its one millionth production vehicle roll off the line, citing it as a model for US-China cooperation.

"In less than 3 years, from 0 to 1,000,000. This is a marvelous achievement," Qin said in a retweet of Musk's tweet on August 16, 2022.

China's foreign ministry says welcome as Musk arrives in Beijing

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NIO App stops showing wait time for new ES6

has produced some new ES6 vehicles based on designer-recommended configuration combinations, and deliveries of customized vehicles will begin in mid-June.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

NIO's (NYSE: NIO) mobile app has stopped showing the wait time for the new ES6, which previously showed an expected delivery date in May.

The electric vehicle maker officially launched the new ES6 in China on May 24, when it announced a starting price of RMB 368,000 ($51,920) including batteries.

Deliveries of the new ES6 started in 13 regions of China on the night of the launch on May 24, NIO announced on Weibo in the early morning hours of May 25.

This is NIO's fastest model from launch to delivery as it has changed its strategy to produce some vehicles earlier for quicker delivery.

NIO began production of the new ES6 based on designer-recommended configuration configurations, and if consumers purchase these vehicles, deliveries would officially begin on May 25, according to a May 24 post on the NIO App.

Consumers who wish to customize the vehicles can lock in their orders in the NIO App, and deliveries will begin in mid-June.

Notably, NIO appears to still be in the process of ramping up capacity for the new ES6, and deliveries of the model appeared to be limited last week.

NIO vehicles had 1,600 insurance registrations last week, according to figures shared by its local peer today.

This means that NIO's cumulative sales for the month through last week were about 5,300 units. NIO's numbers for the first three weeks of May were 1,100, 1,200 and 1,400 units, respectively.

Expected delivery dates for NIO's other models remain unchanged today, with the new ES8 set to begin delivery in June, the ES7 with a wait time of about 4 weeks, the EC7 with 5-7 weeks, the ET7 with about 3 weeks and the ET5 with 2-3 weeks.

($1 = RMB 7.0874)

Data table: Latest wait times for NIO models

(Screenshots on May 30.)

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China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 28: Li Auto 7,100, XPeng 2,100, NIO 1,600

's cumulative sales so far this month were around 5,300 units, with the company launching and starting deliveries of the new ES6 on May 24.

For the week of May 22 to May 28, (NASDAQ: LI) sold 7,100 vehicles, continuing to lead among China's new car brands, the company said today on Weibo.

Li Auto didn't explain what that sales volume was based on, but apparently, they were insurance registrations. The company had suspended sharing those numbers earlier this month, but has now resumed sharing them.

Last week's numbers mean that Li Auto sold 25,413 vehicles from May 1 to May 28. In the first three weeks of May, Li Auto's numbers were 4,543, 6,670 and 7,100 vehicles.

Li Auto is currently untroubled by the product switch, and its founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on Weibo on May 24 that the company's five-seat SUV, Li L7, is expected to reach 20,000 monthly sales in October.

All of Li Auto's models currently on sale are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), with the other two models being the six-seat Li L9 and Li L8.

NIO (NYSE: NIO) sold 1,600 units last week, according to figures shared by Li Auto.

This means that NIO's cumulative sales for the month through last week were about 5,300 units. NIO's numbers for the first three weeks of May were 1,100, 1,200 and 1,400 units, respectively.

NIO officially launched the new ES6 on May 24, after the wait for the model by potential consumers seemed to have been holding down its sales.

Deliveries of the new ES6 began on the evening of May 24, although the vehicles were produced by NIO in advance rather than customized by consumers to their liking.

NIO began production of the new ES6 based on designer-recommended configuration combinations, and if consumers purchase these vehicles, official deliveries will begin on May 25, according to a May 24 post on the NIO App.

Consumers who wish to customize the vehicles can lock in their orders in the NIO App, and deliveries will begin in mid-June.

(NYSE: XPEV) vehicles sold 2,100 units last week, up from 1,500 units the week before. The numbers were 870 and 1,500 in the first two weeks of May, respectively.

Since May 1, XPeng vehicles have sold 5,970 units this month.

(NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 12,800 units in China last week, up from 10,200 the week before, according to figures shared by Li Auto.

That figure for Tesla was 5,928 and 9,990 in the first two weeks of May and 38,918 cumulatively so far this month.

was at 1,900 last week, down from 2,000 the week before and up from 1,500 in the second week of May. Its numbers for the first week of May are not available.

sold 2,100 units last week, up from 1,500 the week before. That figure was 1,000 and 1,700 units in the first two weeks of May, for a cumulative total of 6,300 units so far this month.

Leapmotor sold 3,600 units last week, up from 3,000 the week before. That figure was 2,200 and 2,500 units in the first two weeks of May, and 11,300 units so far this month.

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 21: Li Auto 7,100, XPeng 1,500, NIO 1,400

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