Category: Li Auto

Li Auto delivers record 28,277 vehicles in May

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's revenue exceeded RMB 10 billion ($1.4 billion) in May, the first time it has achieved that level of monthly revenue.

Li Auto provided guidance for second-quarter deliveries of 76,000 to 81,000 units when it reported first-quarter earnings on May 10.

The May deliveries announced today mean that it is expected to deliver between 22,042 and 27,042 units in June.

Li Auto's revenue exceeded RMB 10 billion ($1.4 billion) in May, the first time it has achieved that level of monthly revenue, said Li Xiang, founder, chairman, and CEO of Li Auto, adding that it lays a solid foundation for the company to surpass its revenue target of RMB 100 billion in 2023.

From January to May, Li Auto delivered 106,542 vehicles, up 124.87 percent from 47,379 vehicles in the same period last year.

By the end of May, Li Auto's cumulative deliveries since its inception were 363,876 units.

Li said on May 24 on Weibo that he set a goal for his team to reach 20,000 monthly sales of the company's five-seat SUV, Li L7, in October.

"Vendor partners, please trust us to keep up with capacity! " Li wrote.

On May 30, he said on Weibo that Li Auto's order and delivery volume exceeded 1,000 units per day for three consecutive weeks.

Li Auto's next major task is to boost supply chain availability, as the supply target set at the beginning of the year was a bit low, he said at the time.

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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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Li Auto rapidly expanding smart driving and chip teams, report says

is hiring talent in China as well as abroad, and some of its core executives recently visited Silicon Valley, according to local media.  |  Li Auto US | Li Auto HK

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Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is ramping up its R&D investment at a time when its major local peers are struggling with weak sales.

Li Auto's smart driving and chip teams are expanding rapidly, and the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) maker is hiring talent in China and abroad, according to a report today in local media outlet 36kr.

Some of Li Auto's core executives, including senior vice president Fan Haoyu, smart driving vice president Lang Xianpeng, and product strategy chief Zhang Xiao, recently visited Silicon Valley and launched recruiting presentations at universities, the report said, citing industry sources.

As part of its efforts to ramp up recruitment of talent for its smart driving R&D team, Li Auto even asked employees to recommend resumes, according to the report.

In addition to its smart driving team, Li Auto's chip development team is also expanding, with a new chip lead, Luo Min, already on board to fill the position, which was vacant, the report said.

Li Auto's chip team had fewer than 100 people last year, and the company plans to expand it to about 200 this year, according to the report.

Li Auto invited some of Zeku's employees to talk about onboarding after cell phone maker OPPO shut down the chip design unit, the report said.

As China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry enters 2023 with weak sales, (NYSE: NIO) and (NYSE: XPEV) were seeing sales decline due to product switches.

In contrast, Li Auto maintained strong sales, delivering 25,681 vehicles in April, another monthly high and the second consecutive month over the 20,000-delivery mark.

Li Auto's 5-seat SUV, the Li L7, delivered more than 10,000 units in April, its first full month of deliveries.

On April 18, Li Auto unveiled its all-electric solution on the first day of the Shanghai auto show, along with its latest generation of assisted driving system, AD Max 3.0, and said the software will be free for life.

AD Max 3.0's all-scenario Navigation on ADAS (NOA) will kick off internal testing this quarter and will cover more than 100 cities by the end of the year, Li Auto said at the time.

Li Auto CEO predicts China NEV penetration to exceed 80% by Dec 2025

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NIO’s local peers react to launch of new ES6

The launch of the new ES6 has triggered rare reactions from several of '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 (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.

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NIO officially launches new ES6, potentially lifting key factor holding back sales

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

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vehicles registered 10,200 insurance units in China last week, bringing the number to 26,118 for the first three weeks of May.

founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said last week that they had been complained about by some of their peers and therefore could not continue to share the weekly insurance registration numbers.

Interestingly, however, the company resumed sharing those numbers today to continue to show that it leads the pack among Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startups.

For the week of May 15 to May 21, Li Auto sold 7,100 units, far outpacing other new car brands and reigning as the weekly sales leader for new automaking brands in the Chinese market, the company said today on Weibo.

Li Auto did not explain on what basis the sales were counted, but apparently, they were insurance registrations.

Li Auto surpassed all other traditional luxury brands except Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi to remain in the top five luxury brands in the Chinese market in terms of sales, the highest-ranked Chinese brand on the list, it said.

In the first two weeks of May, Li Auto vehicles had 4,543 and 6,670 insurance registrations, respectively. This means that from May 1 to May 21, Li Auto sold about 18,313 vehicles.

The tables Li Auto shared today show that vehicles had 1,400 insurance registrations last week. This means that NIO had 3,700 insurance registrations for the first three weeks of May.

NIO deliveries continue to be curbed by the upcoming launch of the new ES6, with insurance registration figures of 1,100 and 1,200 in the first and second weeks of May, respectively.

NIO will officially launch the new ES6 on May 24, and its deliveries will start on May 25.

The company is getting the ES6 to market with unprecedented delivery efficiency, and as of May 20, the new ES6 show cars were available at nearly 300 NIO stores in 92 cities.

registered 1,500 insurance units last week, the same as the previous week. In the first three weeks of May, XPeng vehicles had 3,870 insurance registrations.

XPeng deliveries were also dampened by the new model G6, which is expected to officially launch and begin deliveries at the end of next month.

Insurance registrations for Tesla vehicles in China were 10,200 last week, bringing the figure to 26,118 for the first three weeks of May. The number was 5,928 and 9,990 in the first two weeks of May.

Data table: China NEV weekly insurance registrations

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China NEV insurance registrations for week ending May 14: BYD 46,892, Tesla 9,990, NIO 1,200

NIO's sales appear to continue to be dampened by the upcoming new ES6, as potential consumers may be waiting for this more cost-effective SUV.

The main channels that previously shared weekly auto insurance registrations in China stopped sharing these numbers, but multiple reliable sources that we track on a daily basis shared last week's numbers.

For the week of May 8 to May 14, insurance registrations for all passenger vehicles in China were 365,000, up 43.5 percent year-on-year, but down 11.8 percent from the previous week.

Insurance registrations for conventional internal combustion engine vehicles were 245,000 last week, up 29.8 percent year-on-year but down 20.3 percent from the previous week.

New energy vehicles (NEVs) were 120,000 units last week, up 82.7 percent year-on-year and 12.8 percent from the previous week.

In terms of NEV insurance registrations, BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) continues to hold the distant lead with 46,892 units last week, up from 45,789 units the week before.
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During the week of May 1 to May 7, the first three days were the Labor Day holiday in China, although May 6 was a Saturday but a weekday. The holiday ran from April 29 to May 3.

(NASDAQ: TSLA) registered 9,990 insurance units in China last week, up from 5,928 the week before.

NIO (NYSE: NIO) had 1,200 insurance registrations last week, up from 1,100 the week before. These numbers are not precise to the single digit, as the sources tracked by CnEVPost did not share more detailed figures.

NIO's sales appear to be continuing to be dampened by the upcoming new ES6, as potential consumers may be waiting for the more cost-effective SUV.

The company announced yesterday that the new ES6 will be officially launched on May 24, with test drives available on the same day and deliveries to begin on May 25.

This will be its fastest model from launch to delivery, perhaps because of the lessons learned from the long waiting period for models including the ET5 that led to the loss of potential orders.

The continued product switchover led to months of sluggish NIO deliveries, which fell further to 6,658 vehicles in April. The company will report first-quarter earnings on June 9, when it is expected to provide guidance on second-quarter deliveries.

(NASDAQ: LI) continued its strong trend with 6,670 insurance registrations last week, up from 4,543 the previous week.

Li Auto is currently untroubled by product switches and its three models are competitive compared to their class, allowing it to maintain strong sales.

To show off that it is leading the pack of new car makers, Li Auto has shared weekly insurance registration figures for the past two months, but stopped sharing them this month.

On May 15, Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on Weibo that their sharing of weekly data was complained about by some of their peers, so they were unable to continue sharing them.

Li Auto guided for second-quarter deliveries between 76,000 and 81,000 vehicles when it reported first-quarter earnings on May 10. Considering it delivered a record 25,681 vehicles in April, that guidance means it expects to deliver a total of 50,319 to 55,319 vehicles in May and June.

XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) had 1,500 insurance registrations last week, up from 870 the week before.

XPeng, similar to NIO, is facing a product switch, with potential consumers perhaps watching the upcoming launch of the new SUV G6.

It previously said the G6 would be officially launched and delivered by the end of the second quarter, with a price range of RMB 200,000 ($28,660) - RMB 300,000.

XPeng's monthly sales target for the G6 is two to three times that of the P7, its chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said during a March 17 analyst call after the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings.

XPeng delivered 7,079 vehicles in April, down 21.36 percent from 9,002 a year ago but up 1.1 percent from 7,002 in March.

It will report first-quarter earnings on May 24, when it is expected to provide guidance on second-quarter deliveries.

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Data table: China NEV weekly insurance registrations

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Li Auto puts 2nd batch of 6 supercharging stations into operation

To date, Li Auto has 13 supercharging stations and aims to have more than 300 by the end of the year.  |  Li Auto US | Li Auto HK

(Image credit: Li Auto)

Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is continuing to build out its charging system, bringing a second batch of supercharging stations into operation.

The automaker's six 4C supercharging stations went live today, and they're all located in highway service areas in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Jinan, Shandong and Dongguan, Guangdong, it said today on Weibo.

Li Auto opened the first seven 4C supercharging stations for trial operation on April 20. As of now, the company's supercharging stations reach 13.

All of Li Auto's currently available models are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), which are essentially plug-in hybrids.

The company unveiled its all-electric solution on April 18, the first day of the Shanghai auto show, which is based on an 800 V high-voltage platform capable of giving a battery electric vehicle (BEV) a 400 km range on a 10-minute charge.

By 2025, Li Auto's product array will include a super flagship model, five EREVs, and five BEVs, the company said.

Li Auto's first all-electric model will be the world's first to feature 's 4C Qilin Battery, it previously said.

C refers to the battery's charge multiplier, and 4C means that the pack could theoretically be fully charged in a quarter of an hour.

By the end of May, Li Auto's first 25 supercharging stations will open for trial operation and be available to all electric vehicle owners, it announced on April 18.

Each station will be equipped with three regular fast-charging piles and one 4C super-fast charging post, it said.

These 4C charging piles will have a maximum power of 480 kW and 2C charging piles will have a maximum power of 250 kW. 2C charging piles will allow vehicles to go from 20 percent to 80 percent in 30 minutes, the company said at the time.

By the end of this year, Li Auto will have built more than 300 supercharging stations along highways, it said.

By 2025, Li Auto will have 3,000 charging stations, covering 90 percent of China's highway miles and major cities, the company said.

Earlier today, NIO (NYSE: NIO) announced it had put eight new battery swap stations into operation, bringing the total to 1,403.

As of May 15, NIO also had 2,580 charging stations in China, offering 15,312 charging piles.

As of March 1, 's (NYSE: XPEV) charging network included 1,948 charging stations, of which 1,018 were operated by the company, according to the latest information on its website.

NIO exceeds 1,400 swap stations in China

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Li Auto stops sharing weekly sales data, CEO explains why

Li Auto CEO said they have been complained about by many of their peers, so they are temporarily unable to publish insurance data from last week.

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Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) continued to share weekly auto insurance registration numbers in China after they became unavailable on major channels starting in April.

Now the automaker has stopped sharing those numbers as well, and its founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang explained why.

"We have been complained and reported by many peers, so we can't release the insurance registration data for the time being since last week, very unfortunate," Li wrote on Weibo today.

Notably, earlier today, multiple versions of a table purportedly showing the insurance registration data for the first week of May circulated on Chinese social media, with Li claiming that much of the data was fake.

"I saw that some of my peers couldn't stand the fact that some people started faking the insurance registration data (which every car company buys) and took it upon themselves to release the real data for the first week," he said.

Li Auto's insurance was not less than 6,000 in that falsified data, but 7,000, he said.

Previously, we had access to those numbers every Tuesday, and it was Li Auto's practice to share a portion of them later to show off that it was leading the pack among new car makers.

The company last shared those numbers on May 5, when it provided a table showing that it sold 8,100 units in the week of April 24 to April 30.

Li Auto delivered 25,681 vehicles in April, another monthly high, while surpassing the 20,000-delivery mark for the second consecutive month.

On May 10, Li Auto reported its first-quarter earnings with guidance that second-quarter vehicle deliveries would range from 76,000 to 81,000.

This means that it expects to deliver a total of 50,319 to 55,319 vehicles in May and June.

Insurance registrations for week ending Apr 30: Tesla 11,500, Li Auto 8,100, NIO 2,600

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Largest US pension cuts stake in NIO, liquidates Li Auto in Q1

CalPERS liquidated its position in in the third quarter of 2022.

The largest US public pension continued to trim its investment in Chinese electric vehicle (EV) stocks in the first quarter.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) owned 2,210,446 shares of NIO's US-traded ADRs at the end of the first quarter, according to a 13F report dated May 12.

This is down 390,806 shares, or 15.02 percent, from 2,601,252 at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.

The pension's holdings in NIO were worth $23.23 million at the end of the first quarter, down 8.4 percent from 25.36 million at the end of the fourth quarter.

CalPERS now has about $440 billion in assets under management and is the largest public pension in the US. It opened a position in NIO in the first quarter of 2019, when it bought 140,451 shares. NIO went public in the US on September 12, 2018.

CalPERS cut its position in NIO by 10.79 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. The value of the pension's holdings in NIO fell 44.85 percent during the fourth quarter due to a large drop in NIO's stock price during the period.

In the third quarter of 2022, CalPERS liquidated its position in XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) while increasing its stake in NIO by 18.20 percent. As of the end of the first quarter, it still did not own any XPeng shares.

The pension liquidated its position in , another Chinese EV company, in the first quarter.  CalPERS held 1,136,298 shares of Li Auto at the end of the fourth quarter last year.

NIO, XPeng and Li Auto all rose in the first quarter, up 7.79 percent, 9.14 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively.

Renaissance keeps NIO position stable in Q1, nearly liquidates position in XPeng-CnEVPost

Several prominent hedge funds reduced their positions in these three Chinese EV companies in the first quarter.

Bridgewater reduced its holdings in NIO by 40.53 percent, XPeng by 25.98 percent and Li Auto by 54.69 percent in the first quarter, according to Friday's Form 13F.

Renaissance cut its position in NIO by 0.16 percent, XPeng by 98.88 percent and Li Auto by 20.44 percent during the first quarter.

Bridgewater cuts positions in NIO, XPeng, Li Auto in Q1

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Bridgewater cuts positions in NIO, XPeng, Li Auto in Q1

Bridgewater reduced its holdings in NIO by 40.53 percent, by 25.98 percent and by 54.69 percent in the first quarter.

Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund founded by renowned investor Ray Dalio, reduced its position in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) trio in the first quarter, the second consecutive quarter it did so.

Bridgewater held 2,526,156 US-traded ADRs of NIO (NYSE: NIO) at the end of the first quarter, down 1,721,751 shares, or 40.53 percent, from 4,247,907 at the end of the fourth quarter, according to a Form 13F it filed with the SEC on Friday.

The value of Bridgewater's holdings in NIO was $26.55 million at the end of the first quarter, down $14.87 million, or 35.90 percent, from $41.42 million at the end of the fourth quarter.

Bridgewater's holdings in NIO decreased by 27.91 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Prior to that, the fund's position in NIO had grown for five consecutive quarters.

At the end of the first quarter, Bridgewater's holdings in XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) stood at 1,501,493, a decrease of 527,119, or 25.98 percent, from the end of the fourth quarter.

The fund's holdings in XPeng were last valued at $16.68 million, a decrease of 17.27 percent from the end of the fourth quarter.

Bridgewater's holdings in XPeng decreased by 6.15 percent during the fourth quarter of last year. This followed three quarters of increased or unchanged holdings.

Bridgewater's holdings in Li Auto's US-traded ADRs were 792,442 shares at the end of the first quarter, a decrease of 956,375 shares or 54.69 percent from the end of the fourth quarter.

Bridgewater's Li Auto position had a value of $19.77 million at the end of the first quarter, a decrease of 44.58 percent from the end of the fourth quarter.

NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto all gained in the first quarter, up 7.79 percent, 9.14 percent, and 22.3 percent, respectively.

Renaissance keeps NIO position stable in Q1, nearly liquidates position in XPeng-CnEVPost

Renaissance keeps NIO position stable in Q1, nearly liquidates position in XPeng

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