Category: eMobility

XPeng earnings preview: Q4 to be soft with promotions hitting margins

"We expect generally soft results and a weak 1Q23 outlook due to challenging demand and pricing dynamics," Edison Yu's team said.

US | XPeng HK

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) will report fourth-quarter earnings on Friday, and as usual, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu's team provided their preview.

"We expect generally soft results and a weak 1Q23 outlook due to challenging demand and pricing dynamics," the team said in a research report sent to investors yesterday.

Soft fourth-quarter

XPeng will report its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2022 on Friday, March 17, before the US markets open.

It delivered 22,204 vehicles in the fourth quarter, above the upper end of the guidance range of 20,000 to 21,000, but down 46.82 percent year-on-year and down 24.91 percent from the third quarter.

XPeng's previous revenue guidance for the fourth quarter was RMB 4.8 billion to RMB 5.1 billion, representing a year-on-year decrease of about 40.4 percent to 43.9 percent.

"We expect a soft quarter with deliveries already reported at 22,204, above management's guidance range (20,000-21,000), but with promotional activity hitting margins," Yu's team wrote.

The team expects XPeng to post revenue of RMB 5.4 billion yuan and a gross margin of 11.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

They expect XPeng's vehicle margin to be 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter, down 3.1 percentage points from the third quarter, and adjusted earnings per share of RMB -2.33.

The current analyst consensus in the Bloomberg survey is for revenue of RMB 5.7 billion, gross margin of 12.1 percent and adjusted EPS of RMB -2.25.

For the first quarter, Yu's team expects deliveries to be around 19,000-20,000 units and for gross margin to drop to single digits as price cuts take hold.

XPeng deliveries in January and February were 5,218 and 6,010 units respectively, for a cumulative total of 11,228 units. Insurance registration figures for the past two weeks suggest that the company did not see a significant improvement in deliveries in March.

Uncertainty in 2023

The key to XPeng's relevance going forward is to win back market share, and that could take several quarters to achieve, which has created significant uncertainty this year, Yu's team said.

Demand for the company's flagship SUV, the G9, has clearly been disappointing, despite mostly positive reviews, the team said, adding that they expect XPeng to potentially make pricing or SKU adjustments to the SUV in the coming months.

XPeng's new P7i sedan should help with order volume, but there won't be materially beneficial until the second quarter, the team said.

Most importantly, XPeng's upcoming Model Y competitor, the G6, needs to reach at least 5,000 units per month by the end of the year to be considered a success, the team said.

The team now expects XPeng to be on track to deliver 145,000 vehicles in 2023, a 10,000-unit downward revision from earlier, taking into account the decline in G9 sales.

How can capacity utilization be improved?

If XPeng's sales continue to be weak, its management may need to get creative to improve its capacity utilization, Yu's team said, adding that the easiest way to do that would be to sign some large fleet deals.

That may be hard in China, considering and GAC have stronger positions in the taxi and ride-sharing segment, but XPeng recently signed deals with some local car rental companies to buy its P7 sedan, the team noted.

XPeng entered into a strategic partnership with local car rental company eHi Car Services on July 19, 2022, and delivered the first few hundred cars to the latter.

On January 9 this year, XPeng signed agreements with car rental company China Auto Rental and 's travel service platform Xiaolinggou Travel Technology, and completed the delivery of the first XPeng P7 vehicles in Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

In addition, XPeng has restarted its expansion efforts in Europe, where large fleet deals could make sense due to the region's high percentage of corporate fleets and low availability of cheap BEV options, Yu's team said.

"We note BYD has an agreement with SIXT for 100,000 EVs and XPeng's vehicles fall into a similar price point. BYD also just announced a 5,000 unit agreement with UK's Octopus EV," the team wrote.

Another option is to partner more deeply with traditional OEMs on EVs and robotaxis, which could come in the form of equity investments or strategic alliances, according to the team.

XPeng offering discounts to clear P7 inventory, facelift to launch next week, report says

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Survey Shows Pathway To Speeding Up EV Adoption In Rural Areas

Regardless of where we live, we should all have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits provided by electric vehicles. These benefits range from the reduced cost of operation, the reduced need for maintenance and the improved performance, to the fact that electric vehicles have no tailpipe emissions. Everybody’s health stands to gain from reducing local […]

More Chinese EV makers promise no price cuts as price war intensifies consumer wait-and-see sentiment

EV makers including , and Denza have all introduced 90-day price protection policies.

(Image credit: Neta)

As the auto price war in China continues, some electric vehicle (EV) makers are beginning to make it clear that they will not cut prices in an attempt to dispel the wait-and-see sentiment of potential consumers.

EV makers including Leapmotor, Neta and Denza have all introduced price protection policies, after (NASDAQ: LI) introduced a similar policy and (NYSE: NIO) made it clear that the company would not cut prices.

Leapmotor announced yesterday that for consumers who purchase any of its models during this month, they will get the difference back if the price drops within 90 days or if the company offers additional cash discounts.

This is in line with a policy introduced earlier this week by Li Auto, whose salespeople said it was designed to make clear to consumers that its models would not be reduced in price.

Neta, Hozon Auto's EV brand, announced today that consumers who order its flagship sedan, the Neta S, by April 30 will not have to worry about the model's price dropping within 90 days.

If the price of the model drops within 90 days of the consumer's purchase, Neta will refund the difference.

Notably, along with the announcement of the price protection policy, Neta began offering an RMB 23,000 ($3,340) discount for the lowest-priced model of the Neta S, bringing the model's starting price down to RMB 179,800 from the previous RMB 202,800, valid until the end of April 30.

Neta models on sale also include the Neta V and Neta U, which start at less than RMB 150,000 and are not covered by its price protection policy.

Denza, 's premium brand, announced that if consumers who purchase its vehicles during the month see a drop in official guide prices will receive a rebate for the difference.

Auto and Volvo Car's jointly held Lynk & Co brand also began offering a 90-day price protection policy that expires on April 30.

The increasing number of car companies joining the price war has led to an increased wait-and-see mood among consumers to avoid seeing price cuts soon after purchasing a car.

An NIO executive said yesterday that they noticed Li Auto's move and the company had considered whether to issue a similar policy.

But for NIO, it has previously made it clear that prices will not be lowered, the company's assistant vice president of sales operations Pu Yang said at a media event yesterday, adding that NIO is not only not cutting prices for 90 days, but prices will not change for a longer period of time.

(1 $= RMB 6.8843)

NIO won't get involved in price war, exec says

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Li Auto survey shows Li L8 buyers mainly former German luxury car owners

Among the first owners of the Li L8, those who previously owned a BMW 3 Series were the highest, followed by those who owned a BMW 5 Series and an Audi A6.

US | Li Auto HK

(Image credit: Li Auto)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is taking market share away from the German luxury car company, a survey by the company shows.

Among the first owners of the Li L8, those who previously owned a BMW 3 Series were the highest, followed by those who owned a BMW 5 Series, according to a survey of 303 first owners of the Li L8 released yesterday by Li Auto.

Among these Li L8 owners, the number of owners of the Audi A6 came in third, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in fourth, the Audi A4 in fifth and the Audi Q5 in sixth.

Li Auto launched the Li L8, a six-seat mid to large-size SUV, on September 30, 2022, when it was offered in two versions, Pro as well as Max, with starting prices of RMB 359,800 ($52,300) and 399,800 respectively.

On February 8, Li Auto introduced a lower-priced Air version of the Li L8 with a starting price of RMB 339,800 when it launched the five-seat SUV Li L7.

Li Auto delivered 16,620 vehicles in February, up 9.77 percent from 15,141 in January and up 97.53 percent from 8,414 in the same month last year, data it released on March 1 showed.

The company did not release a breakdown of deliveries for these models, though data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) monitored by CnEVPost show that 8,192 units of the Li L8 were delivered in February, bringing the model's cumulative deliveries to 29,773 units since deliveries began last November.

As for the owners' reasons for replacing their old cars for the Li L8, most believe the model is suitable for family use. Targeting family consumers has always been the positioning of Li Auto.

Some said their original cars had problems including constant minor issues and high gas consumption, and some said the Li Auto offered simple car-buying options.

($1 = RMB 6.8801)

Li Auto to build charging stations at 'NIO pace', report says

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CATL, BAIC sign deal to jointly develop battery products

will participate in the vehicle development and production of BAIC-affiliated NEV companies, and provide power battery products and services.

(Image credit: CATL)

BAIC Group, which has lagged behind many of its local counterparts in the transition to electrification, appears to be stepping up its efforts.

CATL and BAIC signed a strategic cooperation agreement on March 13, in which they plan to jointly develop power battery products and tap into the new energy vehicle (NEV) market, according to a press release from the power battery giant yesterday.

CATL will participate in the vehicle development and production of BAIC-affiliated NEV companies and provide power battery products and services, according to the press release.

The two sides will build a close strategic partnership and cooperate fully in power batteries, the release said.

BAIC's efforts in the NEV market are mainly carried out by its subsidiary Beijing Electric Vehicle Co Ltd (BJEV), but its performance has been lukewarm.

BJEV sold 50,179 units for the full year 2022, up 92.06 percent from 26,127 units in 2021, but lags behind most Chinese electric vehicle startups, according to data released by its parent company BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co.

In the first two months of this year, BJEV sales were 4,812 units, up 42.16 percent from 3,385 units in the same period last year.

In August 2022, Bloomberg reported that smartphone giant Xiaomi was in talks with BAIC Group to collaborate on the production of electric vehicles, which could see vehicles built by BAIC BluePark and co-branded with .

BAIC Group later told local media that the company had "not heard of this."

That comes after BAIC BluePark announced on July 15 that it plans to raise up to 8 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) in additional shares to no more than 35 specific targets.

The stock offering is intended to increase the company's capital strength, as it continues to increase the size of its business and invest in product development amid the rapid growth of China's NEV industry, BAIC BluePark said at the time.

BAIC BluePark's share price has been weak over the past year and is currently down about 40 percent from its high last June.

($1 = RMB 6.8715)

Xiaomi reportedly in talks with BAIC to jointly build EVs

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Biden-Harris Administration Opens Applications For First Round Of $2.5 Billion Program To Build EV Charging Infrastructure

First round of funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure program will help ensure America’s zero-emission vehicle future is accessible and equitable, no matter where you live The Biden-Harris Administration today opened applications for a new multi-billion-dollar program to fund electric vehicle (EV) charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure in communities across the country […]
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