Smart and Sustainable Electric Mobility
Great Wall Motor's Haval H6 was the best-selling SUV for years, but that spot has been taken by BYD's Song family of models.
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Chinese fuel-car giant Great Wall Motor is making its conflict with local new energy vehicle (NEV) giant BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) public, as the competition between the two grows fiercer.
Great Wall Motor has filed a report with Chinese regulators against BYD, alleging that the latter's Qin Plus DM-i and Song Plus DM-i use normal-pressure fuel tanks and are suspected of having substandard evaporative pollutant emissions, according to a statement today.
Great Wall Motor filed the report with China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration, and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on April 11, according to the statement.
Under Chinese law, environmental regulators are supposed to conduct a preliminary review of suspected violations and decide whether to open a case, according to the statement.
Great Wall Motor is now closely monitoring regulators' progress in handling the report, the statement said.
Great Wall Motor was once the top-selling SUV company in China, with its Haval H6 being the best-selling SUV for many years.
But in the past few years, BYD has risen to the top at a time of rapid growth in China's NEV industry, with its Song family of models often becoming the new No. 1 SUV seller.
From January to April, the BYD Song family sold 174,422 units, up 76.5 percent from 98,809 units in the same period last year, making it the best-selling SUV in China during that period, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
The Haval H6 sold 63,682 units from January to April, down 25.9 percent from 85,986 units in the same period last year, placing it fifth in the best-selling SUV retail sales rankings.
Great Wall Motor is trying to recapture lost share in the SUV market with new model launches, making the Xiaolong line of plug-in hybrid SUVs available on May 16, offering the Haval Xiaolong as well as the Haval Xiaolong Max models.
The Haval Xiaolong is a compact SUV aimed at the Song Pro DM-i series, while the Haval Xiaolong Max is a mid-size SUV aimed at the Song Plus DM-i series.
Later today, BYD will officially launch the 2023 Song Pro DM-i in China, which is expected to bring the price down from the previously available version.
Full CPCA rankings: Top-selling models and automakers in China in Apr
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The launch of the new ES6 has triggered rare reactions from several of NIO's local counterparts, highlighting the fierce competition in China's EV market.
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New model launches by local automakers rarely trigger reactions from their peers, and the new NIO ES6 is apparently one of those rare ones.
NIO officially launched the new ES6 in China last night, with its event starting at 7 pm and ending around 8:10 pm after announcing the price.
About a half hour after the event, Li Xiang, founder, chairman and CEO of Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), said on Weibo that he had set a small goal in advance for his team to reach 20,000 monthly sales of the company's five-seat SUV, the Li L7, in October.
"Supplier partners, please trust us to keep up with capacity! " Li wrote at 8:40 pm yesterday.
Although Li did not mention NIO, he seemed to be reacting to the launch of the ES6, as the two models are seen as competitors in China, even though the ES6 is purely electric and the Li L7 is an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) that can be refueled.
In contrast to that Li Auto CEO's hint, an executive from HiPhi, another local car company, commented directly on the launch of the new ES6.
"Congratulations to NIO on the launch of the new ES6! Also sharing some information with those who follow HiPhi," HiPhi's brand and communications manager Xu Bin said on Weibo at 8:52 pm yesterday.
HiPhi is in the process of finalizing the pricing for the HiPhi Y series, with the 560 km range version expected to be set at a starting price of RMB 369,000 ($52,220), he said.
The HiPhi Y is HiPhi's third model and will be the brand's cheapest all-electric vehicle, with Xu revealing a price just RMB 1,000 higher than the starting price of the NIO ES6.
"HiPhi Y will open for delivery in July this year. If you are in a hurry to buy a car, you can go test drive the ES6, and if you are not in a hurry, you can wait for HiPhi Y," he wrote.
Compared to the comments of the two above, the words of a SAIC-GM-Wuling executive were more friendly, probably because the company is not in direct competition with NIO.
"Another new car went on sale this evening, the model costs more than RMB 300,000 and no one says it's expensive," Zhou Jinkai, deputy general manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling's brand department, wrote on Weibo at 11:38 pm last night.
"It seems we still have to build up the brand, the product, the technology, all around," he said.
SAIC-GM-Wuling will launch a new mini EV model, the Baojun Yep, later today.
($1 = RMB 7.0663)
NIO officially launches new ES6, potentially lifting key factor holding back sales
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Deliveries of the new ES6 began in 13 regions on the night of its launch on May 24, although NIO officially announced that deliveries would begin on May 25.
(Image credit: NIO)
NIO (NYSE: NIO) previously said that deliveries of the new ES6 would begin the next day after its launch. But as it turned out, the new SUV was delivered to its first owners on the same night it went on sale.
Deliveries of the new ES6 started in 13 regions of China the night of its launch on May 24, NIO announced on Weibo early this morning.
The electric vehicle (EV) maker shared several images showing some of the scenes from the model's first deliveries on the night of May 24.
NIO officially launched the new ES6 during an event that began at 7 pm Beijing time on May 24, and pricing information for the model was only announced near the end of the event at around 8 pm.
The new ES6 is available in only one version, unlike the three previously offered versions of the first-generation ES6.
Including the battery, the new ES6 with the 75-kWh standard range battery pack starts at RMB 368,000 ($52,220), and for the 100-kWh version, the starting price will be RMB 426,000.
If consumers choose to purchase the car using NIO's BaaS (battery as a service) program, the new ES6 starts at RMB 298,000, with monthly rental fees of RMB 980 for the 75-kWh pack and RMB 1,680 for the 100-kWh.
For owners who get delivery of the new ES6 on the day of launch, they may be big fans of NIO and are not price sensitive, and getting delivery as early as possible is what they would prefer.
NIO has already begun production of the new ES6 based on designer-recommended configuration combinations, and deliveries would begin on May 25 for consumers who purchase these vehicles, a post on the NIO App said yesterday.
Consumers who wish to customize the vehicles can lock in their orders in the NIO App, and deliveries will begin in mid-June, it said.
($1 = RMB 7.0473)
NIO officially launches new ES6, potentially lifting key factor holding back sales
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