Category: China

Nio partners with Chinese oil giant CNOOC on power-up network deployment

CNOOC -- one of China's three largest oil giants -- said it will provide with reliable sites, technology and service support to fuel the rapid growth of its charging and battery swap network.

(Image credit: Nio)

Nio (NYSE: NIO) has entered a strategic partnership with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) at a time when the oil giant, like its other local peers, is seeking to transform itself into an integrated energy service provider.

On June 27, Nio's energy business unit, Nio Power, signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with CNOOC Refinery, CNOOC's petroleum refining subsidiary, to jointly build charging and battery swap infrastructure, the electric vehicle (EV) maker said yesterday.

Wang Weimin, chairman and general manager of CNOOC Refinery, and Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of Nio, attended the signing ceremony in Hefei, Anhui province, and remotely witnessed the launch of the first joint battery swap station between the two in Huizhou, Guangdong province.

Wang visited one of Nio's manufacturing sites and a Nio House in Hefei and had a hands-on experience at a battery swap station, according to an announcement from Nio.

Guided by China's carbon peak and carbon neutral goals, CNOOC is actively building integrated energy sites and will gradually transform from an energy producer to an integrated energy service provider, Wang said.

CNOOC will next provide Nio with reliable sites, technology and service support to facilitate the rapid development of its charging and battery swap network, according to Wang.

 

CNOOC is China's largest operator of offshore oil and gas production, ranking 65th on the Fortune 500 for 2022 with $127 billion in revenue, according to the Fortune website.

CNOOC Refinery is CNOOC's business in charge of refining and chemical sales, with assets of more than RMB 100 billion, according to Nio's announcement.

Currently, Nio and CNOOC Refinery are already working together in several Chinese provinces and cities, which will provide users with a more convenient energy replenishment experience, the announcement said.

In 2020, China announced its goal of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Since then, controlling carbon emissions has become a major concern for Chinese society, especially in the energy sector.

In addition to CNOOC, the other two largest Chinese oil giants, Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), have both made it clear that they will transform into integrated energy service providers.

Sinopec appears to be more aggressive in this transformation, stating in March 2021 that it will aim for carbon neutrality 10 years ahead of the national commitment, with net zero emissions as its ultimate goal.

As part of achieving that goal, Sinopec signed a strategic partnership agreement with Nio on April 15, 2021, to co-build charging and battery swap infrastructure.

At that time, the first Nio second-generation swap station was opened in a Sinopec gas station area in Beijing in the presence of both parties.

On April 15 of this year, the second anniversary of their partnership, the number of charging and battery swap stations they have built together reached 251, according to information previously shared by Nio.

These stations include 102 battery swap stations, 121 supercharging stations and 28 destination charging stations, covering 27 provincial administrative regions and 89 cities.

On November 24, 2021, the first two battery swap stations built by Nio and CNPC were put into operation, marking the official result of their cooperation.

In addition to its partnership with the Chinese oil giants, Nio also signed a strategic partnership agreement with Shell, the world's largest gasoline retailer, in November 2021 to collaborate on charging and battery swap facilities in China and Europe.

The two would jointly install 100 swap stations in China by 2025, according to a statement at the time.

On August 1, 2022, the first Nio-Shell partnership battery swap station and supercharger station went into operation in Xiamen, Fujian province, in southeastern China.

On May 16 of this year, Nio said the first battery swap stations it built with Shell in Europe went live in the Netherlands.

To date, Nio has 1,511 battery swap stations in China and 1,457 supercharging stations offering 7,176 supercharging piles, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

In Europe, Nio has 17 battery swap stations and 8 charging stations.

Nio reaches 1,500 swap stations in China as it aims for 2,300 by year-end

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China’s Ministry of Finance explains in detail how consumers will enjoy NEV tax breaks in 2024-2027

For a NEV with a pre-tax price of RMB 300,000, consumers will continue to be exempt from purchase tax from 2024-2025, while they will be subject to RMB 15,000 in purchase tax from 2026-2027.

China's Ministry of Finance explains in detail how consumers will enjoy NEV tax breaks in 2024-2027-CnEVPost

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has provided a more detailed explanation of its future purchase tax policy for NEVs (NEVs), after announcing the policy for the next four years last week.

In a Q&A posted on its website today, the MOF provided details on how the NEV purchase tax will be levied over the next four years.

In short, for a NEV with a pre-tax price of RMB 300,000 ($41,600), there will continue to be no purchase tax in 2024-2025, while in 2026-2027 there will be a purchase tax of RMB 15,000.

On June 21, the MOF announced that NEVs with a purchase date between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025, will continue to be exempt from vehicle purchase tax. Still, the exemption amount will not exceed RMB 30,000 per vehicle.

For NEVs with a purchase date between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2027, the vehicle purchase tax will be levied at half the normal rate, with the tax reduction not exceeding RMB 15,000 per vehicle.

When consumers purchase a NEV, if the invoice for the car and the battery are separate, the taxable price is the price of the body before tax.

In today's Q&A, the MOF provided examples of how the NEV purchase tax will be calculated over the next four years:

For the years 2024-2025, NEV purchase tax continues to be exempted, but the tax exemption amount for each vehicle will not exceed RMB 30,000.

For example, Mr. Li purchases a new energy passenger vehicle that meets the tax exemption criteria on February 5, 2024.

If the sales price of the vehicle is RMB 300,000 (excluding VAT, same below), then the normal vehicle purchase tax rate is 10 percent and his tax amount is RMB 30,000 (30 x 10 percent).

According to the tax exemption policy at this time, the amount of tax exemption he can enjoy is RMB 30,000. Since the vehicle does not exceed the RMB 30,000 tax exemption limit, Mr. Li is not required to pay vehicle purchase tax.

For a new energy passenger car with a sales price of RMB 500,000, the normal tax amount is RMB 50,000 (50×10 percent). According to the tax exemption policy, Mr. Li is entitled to a tax exemption of RMB 30,000 and needs to pay vehicle purchase tax of RMB 20,000.

In 2026-2027, the vehicle purchase tax will be reduced by half, while the tax reduction will not exceed RMB 15,000 per vehicle.

For example, on March 1, 2026, Mr. Zhang purchases a new energy passenger car that meets the tax reduction criteria.

If the sales price of the vehicle is RMB 300,000 and the vehicle purchase tax rate is 10 percent, then the normal tax amount is RMB 30,000 (30 x 10 percent).

According to the policy of 50 percent reduction in purchase tax, the tax reduction is RMB 15,000 (3×50 percent). As the vehicle does not exceed the RMB 15,000 tax reduction limit, Mr. Zhang is entitled to a RMB 15,000 tax reduction and is required to pay RMB 15,000 vehicle purchase tax.

If the sales price of the vehicle is RMB 500,000, then the tax payable is RMB 50,000 (50 x 10 percent). Under the 50 percent reduction policy, the tax reduction is RMB 25,000 (5 x 50 percent), which exceeds the RMB 15,000 tax reduction limit.

According to the policy at that time, Mr. Zhang is entitled to RMB 15,000 tax reduction and needs to pay RMB 35,000 vehicle purchase tax.

CnEVPost would like to remind that the prices of the vehicles in the above examples are all prices excluding VAT.

In China, the basic VAT rate is 13 percent. The prices that car companies are showing to consumers are the prices including VAT.

($1 = RMB 7.2119)

BREAKING: China extends NEV purchase tax breaks for 4 years

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Li Auto CEO denies raising sales target for this year to 400,000 units

finished the first half of the year with more than 130,000 units sold and does not have any ability to sell 400,000 vehicles for the full year, its CEO said.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) CEO denied that the company raised its sales target to 400,000 units this year, after the reports sparked widespread discussion.

"A media report today that our target for this year has been adjusted to 400,000 units is false and unfounded," Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on Weibo today.

Li Auto finished the first half of the year with more than 130,000 units sold and does not have any ability to make the full year sales of 400,000 units, he said.

The company's capabilities, including product, sales, capacity and organization, cannot support 400,000 units sold this year, and the gap is huge, Li said.

"The automotive industry's capability chain is built one step at a time, with no particular shortcuts," he added.

In a report yesterday, local media outlet 36kr cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that Li Auto recently raised its full-year sales target to 400,000 units from the original 300,000.

In addition to the overall sales target, Li also set targets for sales of specific models, according to the report.

Li set a goal for the Li L7 to achieve 20,000 deliveries of a single model in October, and to keep deliveries of the more expensive Li L9 and Li L8 above 10,000 units, bringing overall deliveries to 40,000 units/month, the report said.

Earlier today, Li Auto said on Weibo that it had sold 27,300 units this month as of June 25 and was on track to reach its 30,000-unit monthly sales goal.

Assuming Li Auto sells 30,000 vehicles in June, the 400,000-unit full-year sales target means it will need to sell an average of about 44,000 units per month in the second half of the year.

On June 18, Li said on Weibo that most members of Li Auto's management team thought the company should set an annual sales target of 360,000 units at the beginning of the year, but he ultimately decided to set a budget target based on annual sales of 306,000 units.

"This was partly because I didn't think we could be too optimistic about the economic environment this year, and partly because we didn't meet our budget targets for all three years from 2020-2022," he said at the time.

Li said the too-low targets he set led the company to place orders at suppliers at the beginning of the year that were clearly not keeping up with current sales, so several key components would take more than a quarter to reach the right capacity if production ramp-up began now.

Separately, Li said in another Weibo today that the Li L7 is on track to deliver more than 13,000 units this month, although it faces an onslaught of new models in June including IM Motors' LS7, 's new ES6.

Sales of the Li L8 have risen from more than 7,000 last month to more than 9,000 this month, and the Li L9 has improved from slightly more than 6,000 last month to more than 8,000, he said.

In addition to deliveries that can exceed 30,000, Li Auto has seen record order in-takes, Li said, adding that capacity has become the biggest bottleneck in deliveries, not demand.

All three of Li Auto's SUVs currently on sale are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which are essentially plug-in hybrids.

In retweeting Li Auto's Weibo today about last week's sales figures, Li hinted that the company could launch sedan models next.

The focus is generally on the sedan lineup as dealers of luxury brand fuel cars struggle to meet their first-half sales targets this week, so sedan sales for t first-tier luxury brands are very solid, he said.

"So, the question is, shall we launch sedan offerings?" He asked.

China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Jun 25: Tesla 16,700, Li Auto 7,500, Nio 3,200

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China NEV insurance registrations for week ending Jun 25: Tesla 16,700, Li Auto 7,500, Nio 3,200

sold 8,000 units between June 1 and June 25. Its previous guidance implied 10,187-12,187 vehicles would be delivered in June.

For the week of June 19 to June 25, (NASDAQ: LI) sold 7,500 units, continuing to lead among China's new car-making brands, the company said today on Weibo.

As of June 25, Li Auto has sold 27,300 units this month and is on track to reach its 30,000-unit monthly sales goal, it said.

Li Auto didn't explain what that weekly sales tally was based on, but apparently they are insurance registrations. The company had suspended sharing those numbers in May, but has since resumed sharing them.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) sold 3,200 units last week and 8,000 units from June 1 to June 25, according to figures shared by Li Auto.

Notably, June 22 to June 24 was a three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, and June 25 was a Sunday, but a working day after the holiday.

Nio's weekly sales have continued to grow over the past three weeks, as deliveries of new models began. It was 1,500 units in the week of June 5 to June 11 and 2,000 units in the week of June 12 to June 18.

Nio officially launched the new ES6 on May 24 and the ET5 Touring on June 15.

Deliveries of the new ES6 began on the night of the launch on May 24, and deliveries of the ET5 Touring began on June 16.

In addition to these two new models, Nio will also begin deliveries of the new ES8 on June 28, which was launched on Nio Day 2022 on December 24, 2022.

When Nio reported first-quarter earnings on June 9, it guided for second-quarter deliveries of between 23,000 and 25,000 vehicles, meaning it expects to deliver between 10,187 and 12,187 vehicles in June.

On June 20, Nio signed a share subscription agreement with Abu Dhabi-based investment firm CYVN Holdings, which will invest a total of about $1.1 billion in it.

(NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 16,700 units in China last week and 57,300 units from June 1 to June 25, according to figures shared by Li Auto.

In the two weeks prior to last week, Tesla sold 16,400 units and 14,500 units respectively in China.

From June 1 to June 25, Tesla was the top-selling premium brand in China, surpassing Mercedes-Benz's 52,100 units and above Audi's 51,600 units, according to a table by Li Auto.

On June 16, Tesla announced that Chinese consumers who purchase and take delivery of an already produced rear-wheel drive version of the Model 3 this month will receive an insurance subsidy of RMB 8,000 ($1,110).

(NYSE: XPEV) sold 2,600 units last week and 6,400 units from June 1 to June 25.

Xpeng began pre-sales of the G6 on June 9 at a price starting at RMB 225,000, significantly lower than the Tesla Model Y's starting price of RMB 263,900 in China.

The Xpeng G6 received more than 25,000 orders within 72 hours of the start of the pre-sale, the company announced on Weibo on June 12.

The G6 show cars were already available at Xpeng stores, and the model will officially go on sale June 29 with deliveries starting in July, the company said earlier this month.

Leapmotor sold 3,100 units last week and 10,600 units from June 1 to June 25.

On June 20, Leapmotor announced that it had reached 200,000 cumulative deliveries since its inception.

Leapmotor delivered 12,058 vehicles in May and had 192,962 cumulative deliveries by the end of May, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

sold 2,600 units last week and 6,900 units between June 1 and June 25. It began deliveries of its third model, the Zeekr X, on June 12.

Denza sold 2,400 units last week, and 8,300 units from June 1 to June 25.

Denza, which currently has only the Denza D9 MPV on sale, will officially launch the Denza N7 on July 3, its first SUV since the rebranding last year.

The Denza N7 is aimed at the market for traditional internal combustion engine vehicles priced around 400,000 yuan, an executive said earlier.

sold 1,900 units last week and 6,700 between June 1 and June 25.

A total of 4,000 Neta EVs were shipped abroad, the latest new batch after 3,600 were sent to overseas markets in March, the company said on June 6.

Great Wall Motor's Wey brand sold 1,500 units last week and 5,000 units from June 1 to June 25.

Changan Automobile's NEV subsidiary Deepal sold 1,500 units last week and 4,900 units from June 1 to June 25.

-backed Aito sold 1,200 units last week, and 3,200 units from June 1 to June 25.

($1 = RMB 7.2181)

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Changan teases electric sedan under new brand

The Qiyuan A07 is a mid to large-size sedan that will be offered in BEV and EREV versions, a previous regulatory filing shows.

(Image credit: Changan Qiyuan)

Chinese auto giant Changan Automobile is upping its bets in the electric vehicle (EV) segment, starting the warm-up for a new sub-brand and its first model.

The Changan sub-brand, called Qiyuan (启源), today posted several images on Weibo about the Qiyuan A07, showing exterior and interior design details of the sedan.

It is worth noting that Changan has not yet officially launched the Qiyuan brand, which has recently registered accounts on several social media platforms.

Yesterday, Qiyuan posted its first Weibo post, a preview video of the Qiyuan A07.

 

Qiyuan did not reveal more information about the A07, although the model previously entered a filing catalog of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The Qiyuan A07 is a mid to large-size sedan with a length, width and height of 4,905 mm, 1,910 mm and 1,480 mm, respectively, and a wheelbase of 2,900 mm, according to the filing.

The dimensions are slightly smaller than 's flagship sedan, the Han EV, which measures 4,995 mm in length, 1,910 mm in width and 1,495 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 2,920 mm.

Similar to Changan's other sub-brand Deepal, the Qiyuan A07 will be available in battery electric vehicle (BEV) and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) versions.

The Qiyuan A07 BEV has an electric motor with a peak power of 190 kW, the same as the Deepal SL03 BEV. The Qiyuan A07 EREV has a peak electric motor of 160 kW, the same range-extender as the Deepal SL03, and a displacement of 1.5L with a power of 70 kW.

The Qiyuan A07 BEV is equipped with battery packs with capacities of 58.1 kWh and 79.97 kWh, respectively, with CLTC ranges of 515 km and 710 km. The Qiyuan A07 EREV is equipped with a 28.39 kWh battery pack with a battery range of 170 km.

Changan sold 244,996 units in May, including joint venture brands, with new energy vehicles (NEVs) contributing 35,934 units, or 14.7 percent, according to figures it announced earlier this month.

Deepal sold 7,021 units in May, bringing January-May sales to 33,585 units.

Changan's EV brand Deepal launches S7 SUV at about half price of Tesla Model Y

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Chinese self-driving truck startup sued by Pony reportedly winding down

Just 19 months old, Qingtian Truck is nearing a shutdown and employees have been dismissed, according to local media.

(Image from Qingtian Truck website)

A Chinese self-driving truck startup that was previously sued by Pony.ai is reportedly winding down, the latest setback seen in the space.

Just 19 months old, Qingtian Truck is nearing a shutdown, with employees having been displaced and its operating entity facing liquidation, according to a report by local media outlet Jiemian today.

Qingtian Truck's engineers have also been leaving the company, the report said, citing self-driving industry sources.

The company's registration information has not yet changed and its operating status remains intact, although its website has not been updated with company news since January, the report noted.

Qingtian Truck was founded in Beijing in November 2021 to work on self-driving truck technology.

It received an angel funding round of nearly $10 million from 5Y Capital, the only round it has disclosed, just two and a half months after its founding.

In August 2022, Pony.ai, a self-driving startup backed by Toyota Motor and Capital, sued Qingtian Truck and its key executives, Pan Zhenhao and Sun Youhan, alleging that the latter had infringed on Pony.ai's trade secrets.

Pan and Sun are two of the founders of Qingtian Truck and had worked for Pony.ai.

Pony.ai asked the court to order Qingtian Truck to stop infringing on its trade secrets and ask it to pay economic damages and expenses totaling RMB 60 million ($8.3 million).

In April, Qingtian Truck filed a countersuit against Pony.ai, claiming that the latter had abused its intellectual property rights and engaged in unfair competition.

In June, the two announced that they had reached a settlement, each withdrawing its lawsuit against the other.

It's unclear what the main reason is for the current woes facing Qingtian Truck, but investors appear to be increasingly cautious about the prospects for commercialization in the autonomous driving space at a time of slowing economic growth in China.

On May 15, Shanghai Securities News reported that e-commerce giant Alibaba's DAMO Academy is no longer retaining its autonomous driving business and team, which is being fully integrated into its logistics arm Cainiao.

This means that Alibaba's self-driving business is entering a whole new phase of moving from cutting-edge technology exploration in the lab to applications in real-world scenarios, the report noted.

($1 = RMB 7.2135)

Alibaba backtracks on autonomous driving R&D

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Great Wall Motor steps up electrification transition as Tank brand launches 1st NEV model

The Tank brand has launched its first NEV model, the Tank 500 Hi4-T. The brand has sold more than 10,000 fuel-powered vehicles in most months of the past year.

(Image credit: Great Wall Motor)

Great Wall Motor is continuing its electrification transition, though it has fallen significantly behind major rivals, including (OTCMKTS: BYDDY).

The automaker's personalized brand Tank officially launched the Tank 500 Hi4-T, the brand's first new energy vehicle (NEV) model, at an event yesterday, with only one version available and a starting price of RMB 335,000 ($46,290).

The Tank 500 Hi4-T is the plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) version of the fuel-powered Tank 500 which is offered in nine versions with a starting price range of RMB 335,000 to RMB 395,000.

The Tank 500 Hi4-T's starting price of RMB 335,000 means that Tank is essentially phasing out the lower-trim versions of the Tank 500 with this PHEV model in order to gain a larger presence in the NEV market.

Tank's current models are all off-road SUVs, including the Tank 500 and the less expensive Tank 300.

The Tank 500 Hi4-T measures 5,078 mm in length, 1,934 mm in width and 1,905 mm in height, and has a wheelbase of 2,850 mm, which are essentially the same dimensions as the fuel-powered Tank 500, except for a slightly longer length than the latter's 5,070 mm.

The Tank 500 Hi4-T is powered by a 2.0T engine with a maximum power of 180 kW and a peak torque of 380 Nm, and an electric motor with a maximum power of 120 kW and a maximum torque of 400 Nm.

The Tank 500 Hi4-T has a combined power of 300 kW and 750 Nm of peak torque, and can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds.

The model is equipped with a ternary lithium-ion battery pack with a capacity of 37.1 kWh and has a pure electric range of 120 km in NEDC and 110 km in WLTC.

It supports fast charging, taking 24 minutes to charge from 30 percent to 80 percent and 42 minutes to recharge from 30 percent to 100 percent.

The Tank 500 Hi4-T has a fuel tank of 70 L and consumes 9.55 L per 100 km at the lowest charge under WLTC standards.

Powered by this powertrain, the Tank 500 Hi4-T has a combined WLTC fuel consumption of 2.2 L per 100 km.

Like the current mainstream NEV models, the Tank 500 Hi4-T is equipped with L2 driving assistance system with functions including smart parking, adaptive cruise control, lane assist, collision warning and automatic braking.

The Tank 500 Hi4-T show cars and vehicles used for test drives are already available at Great Wall Motor's stores.

Great Wall Motor is one of the most successful local car companies in China, but is clearly lagging behind in the NEV market.

In the past few months, Great Wall Motor has increased its efforts in the NEV market with the launch of several products including the Lanshan DHT-PHEV and the Haval Xiaolong.

Great Wall Motor sold a record 23,755 units of NEVs in May, up 104.13 percent year-on-year and up 59.83 percent from 14,863 units in April, according to data released earlier this month.

Including conventional fuel vehicles, Great Wall Motor's total sales in May were 101,020 units, up 26.18 percent year-on-year and up 8.49 percent from 93,107 units in April.

This means that NEVs contributed 23.5 percent of Great Wall Motor's sales in May.

As a comparison, its main competitor BYD stopped production and sales of vehicles powered entirely by internal combustion engines in March 2022 and switched to focus on producing plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.

BYD sold 240,220 NEVs in May, up 108.99 percent year-on-year and up 14.23 percent from April.

The success of the Tank line of off-road SUVs over the past few years and the lesser competition they face may be one of the reasons for the brand's slow transition to electrification.

The Tank brand has sold more than 10,000 units per month over the past year, except for January and February of this year, when it sold 5,915 and 6,344 units, respectively.

($1 = RMB 7.2376)

Great Wall Motor NEV sales in May: 23,755

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Li Auto reportedly lifts 2023 sales target from 300,000 to 400,000 units

The latest target means that in the second half of the year, will need to deliver an average of about 45,000 units per month.

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) reportedly raised its sales target for the year, after seeing strong delivery growth over the past few months.

Li Auto recently raised its full-year sales target to 400,000 units from the original 300,000, local media outlet 36kr said in a report today, citing people familiar with the matter.

In addition to the overall sales target, Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang also set targets for sales of specific models, according to the report.

He set a goal for the Li L7 to achieve 20,000 deliveries in a single month in October, and to keep deliveries of the more expensive Li L9 and Li L8 above 10,000 units, bringing overall deliveries to 40,000 units/month, the report said.

Assuming Li Auto delivers 30,000 vehicles in June, the latest target means that for the remaining six months, Li Auto would need to average about 45,000 deliveries per month to meet its goal, the report noted.

Li Auto has seen strong growth in the past few months, at a time when growth in China's new energy vehicle industry has slowed significantly.

It delivered a record 28,277 vehicles in May, the third consecutive month to surpass the 20,000-unit mark. From January to May, Li Auto's cumulative deliveries reached 106,542 units, according to data monitored by CnEVPost.

On June 17, the day of Li Auto's first Family Tech Day event, the Li L7 sold more than 1,000 units in a single day for the first time, Li said earlier this month.

Li Auto launched the Li L7, its first five-seat SUV, on February 8 and currently offers three versions with starting prices of RMB 319,800 ($44,200), RMB 339,800 and RMB 379,800, respectively.

All of the company's current models are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), with the other two being the higher-priced, six-seat Li L8 and Li L9.

The Li L7 was a model that was almost canceled during development, Li said on Weibo on June 18. He said he was quite determined to axe the model last September, but several other executives stopped him.

Most members of Li Auto's management team thought the company should set an annual sales target of 360,000 units at the beginning of the year, but he ultimately decided to set a budget target based on annual sales of 306,000 units, according to a June 18 Weibo post from Li.

"This was partly because I didn't think we could be too optimistic about the economic environment this year, and partly because we didn't meet our budget targets for all three years from 2020-2022," he said.

Li said the too-low targets he set led the company to place orders at suppliers at the beginning of the year that were clearly not keeping up with current sales, so several key components would take more than a quarter to reach the right capacity if production ramp-up began now.

Li Auto currently has two production lines in its Changzhou, Jiangsu plant, one for double-shift production and one for single-shift production. Li Auto will not be able to achieve 10,000 units/week capacity until the fourth quarter, when both of its lines will be on double-shift production, according to Li.

On May 10, Li Auto management said in a call with analysts after announcing its first-quarter earnings that the company was aiming to reach its goal of 30,000 units delivered in a single month in June.

Notably, the 36kr report mentioned that sales of Li Auto's cheaper Air version have been less than expected.

Li Auto had hoped that the Air version models would bring in 30 percent incremental sales, but Li said in its earnings call that the lineup only brought in 20 percent additional sales, the 36kr report noted.

To meet its sales targets, Li Auto will need new growth, and Li's approach was to launch the Li L9 Pro, the 36kr report said.

In a recent regulatory list from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Li Auto filed for the Li L9 model without LiDAR, the report noted.

The Li L9 Pro is likely to be priced at around RMB 419,800, which will help boost sales of the Li L9 and Li L8 to more than 20,000 units/month while improving the company's competitiveness in the price range above RMB 400,000, the report said.

In addition, with the launch of 's (NYSE: Nio) new ES6 and ET5 Touring, and an RMB 30,000 price cut across the company's model lineup, Li Auto will face stronger competition in the RMB 300,000 to 400,000 price range, according to the report.

Nio is aiming to double its sales this year compared to last year, implying full-year sales of about 240,000 units, according to previous comments from the company's management.

($1 = RMB 7.2345)

NIO keeps goal of doubling sales this year despite price war causing greater challenges

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GAC unveils eVTOL Gove, consisting of two separate parts

GAC hopes Gove will be part of its integrated mobility solution in the future.

(Image credit: GAC)

Several automakers are exploring the field of electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOL), with automotive giant GAC Group being the latest.

GAC unveiled an eVTOL, called Gove, at a Tech Day event today, saying it has completed its maiden flight.

The name Gove is made up of the initials of the words GAC, On the Go, Vertical, and EV, and GAC hopes it will be part of its integrated mobility solutions in the future.

The eVTOL features a design in which the vehicle and chassis can be separated, with the two merging when driving on land and separating when flying in the air.

Gove is equipped with GAC's ADiGO-Pilot autonomous piloting system and has a dual backup multi-rotor flight system, GAC said.

GAC is joining forces with research institutes in the aerospace field to build a cooperative ecosystem for flight technology, and is committed to creating a safe and reliable air travel corridor, said Wu Jian, president of GAC research institute.

The demonstration of Gove flying car is just the starting point, in the future it will build up GAC's travel solution together with Ruqi Mobility and Robotaxi, said Wu.

It is worth noting that Gove is very similar in design to the form of an eVTOL demonstrated by another Chinese team at the end of last year.

Beijing Institute of Technology said on November 19, 2022, that one of their teams had unveiled a two-seat engineering prototype of a manned flying car, the world's first such product with a split design.

The flying car consists of three separate modules: an autonomous vertical takeoff and landing vehicle, an intelligent control cockpit, and an autopilot chassis, capable of driving on land and switching between airborne flight modes.

It is not clear if GAC's Gove is related to this product.

Over the past year, multiple teams have explored the eVTOL space, though the product form has largely been all-in-one.

A local company demonstrated an eVTOL shaped like a flying saucer at a low-altitude economy investment promotion event in Shenzhen, southern China, on June 3.

Aeroht, a subsidiary of Xpeng, wants to make it possible to build a manned vehicle based on a car, and its X2 was tested on June 5 by flying over the Yellow River.

Ehang, for its part, is building an autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) close to a helicopter, and the company said last April that it received a pre-order for 100 EH216s from Indonesian airline Prestige Aviation.

On July 27, 2022, Volkswagen Group China unveiled its first eVTOL manned vehicle prototype, the V.MO, which is also close to a helicopter in appearance.

Chinese team builds flying car prototype unlike any other

The post GAC unveils eVTOL Gove, consisting of two separate parts appeared first on CnEVPost.

For more articles, please visit CnEVPost.

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