Smart and Sustainable Electric Mobility
The Rox SUV has an EREV (range extended) powertrain, seven seats and a nice appearance. Let's get to know it better.
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From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 425,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 25 percent from the same period last month.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
The Chinese passenger car market was weak in the first two weeks of June, while the new energy vehicle (NEV) market performed slightly better.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of passenger NEVs in China were 160,000 units, up 18 percent year-on-year but down 4 percent from the same period last month, according to data released today by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
So far this year, China's retail sales of passenger NEVs were 2,581,000 units, up 39 percent year-on-year.
From June 1 to June 11, wholesale sales of passenger NEVs in China were 144,000 units, up 18 percent year-on-year and up 3 percent from the same period last month, according to the CPCA.
Wholesale sales of passenger NEVs so far this year were 2,927,000 units, up 45 percent year-on-year.
From June 1 to June 11, retail sales of all passenger vehicles in China were 425,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 25 percent from the same period last month, the CPCA said.
So far this year, cumulative retail sales of passenger cars in China were up 3 percent year-on-year to 8.057 million units.
This means that from June 1 to June 11, the penetration of NEVs at retail in China was 37.6 percent, and 32.03 percent so far this year.
In the first week of June -- June 1-4 -- the average daily retail sales of passenger cars in China were 31,000 units, down 9 percent from a year ago and 42 percent lower than the same period last month.
In the second week of June -- June 5 to 11- - average daily retail sales of passenger cars were 43,000 units, down 10 percent year-on-year and down 14 percent compared to the same period in May.
The decline in sales in early June was mainly due to a high base from last year brought about by stimulus policies.
On May 31, 2022, China announced a 50 percent reduction in vehicle purchase tax for passenger vehicles of 2.0 liter and below displacement with a purchase date between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 and with a vehicle price not exceeding RMB 300,000 ($ 41,900).
Before the policy took effect, China's purchase tax rate for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles was 10 percent, while the purchase of NEVs was exempt from purchase tax.
The stimulus policy left car sales high at the beginning of June last year, while the same period this year was a normal sales time, so a decline in sales is natural, the CPCA said today.
The CPCA did not release sales figures for specific car companies, but Li Auto shared some numbers yesterday.
Li Auto sold 11,900 units from June 1 to June 11, figures shared yesterday by the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) showed. The company did not specify, though the figures are based on vehicle insurance registrations.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 26,000 units in China from June 1-11, while NIO (NYSE: NIO) had 2,800 and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) had 2,200, according to Li Auto.
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This will be Tesla's first presence at an auto show in China since April 2021, and NIO will exhibit the ET5 Touring at the event and will hold a brief press conference on June 16.
(Image shows NIO's booth at the Shanghai auto show in April 2023. Credit: CnEVPost)
The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will host an auto show starting this Friday, with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and new Chinese carmakers including NIO (NYSE: NIO) participating.
The 2023 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area International Auto Show (Auto Shenzhen 2023) will be held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center starting June 16, where Tesla is one of the main exhibitors, according to information released today by the show's organizers.
This will be Tesla's first participation in an auto show in China since the Shanghai auto show in April 2021.
On April 19, 2021, on the first day of the last Shanghai auto show, a female owner got on the roof of a car at the Tesla booth and accused Tesla of brake failure. As of today, the dispute is still ongoing.
Since the drama, Tesla has not participated in any more auto shows in China, including the 2023 Shanghai auto show two months ago.
June 16 is the media day for the upcoming show, and general admission will be available from June 17 to June 24.
Tesla's booth is located in Hall 9 on the 1st floor, next to XPeng's (NYSE: XPEV) booth. The booths of Huawei-backed AITO, Smart, Leapmotor, Rising Auto, and Voyah are also in the area.
NIO will also be at the show and will be showcasing the ET5 Touring, according to the event's organizers.
The day before that show starts, NIO will launch the ET5 Touring in China on June 15, with its launch event starting at 19:00 Beijing time. The company will also launch the ET5 Touring and the new ES6 in Europe a few hours later on the same day.
NIO's booth at the Shenzhen auto show is in Hall 3, near the booths of Bentley and Lotus. The company will hold a press conference at the show on June 16 from 10:00 to 10:30.
The last show, Auto Shenzhen 2022, started on May 28, 2022 and ran through June 5. It was the first auto show in China last year.
NIO's booth at Auto Shenzhen last year was also in Hall 3, a two-floor area where the first floor displayed the full range of models, a transparent second-generation battery swap station and NIO Power's products. The second floor includes a relaxation area, NIO Cafe, and Joy Camp.
In addition to Tesla, NIO and XPeng, new energy vehicle (NEV) makers including BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDY), Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) and Neta will also participate in Auto Shenzhen 2023.
Store visit: First impression of NIO ET5 Touring before official launch
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A fake rumor yesterday claimed that Mercedes-Benz will use NIO's battery swap network and will build its next-generation models based on NIO's standards.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Rumors about a partnership between NIO (NYSE: NIO) and German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz were widely circulated on Chinese social media networks yesterday. But this was later denied.
One of the most widely circulated was an image with text claiming that Mercedes-Benz would use NIO's battery swap network and would build next-generation battery swap-enabled models based on NIO's standards.
In the comments section of a Weibo user's post sharing the image, NIO's legal department left a message later yesterday saying the image was a forgery.
Ma Lin, NIO's senior director of corporate communications, later retweeted the message. As of press time, the Weibo post has been deleted.
CnEVPost saw the image yesterday in several WeChat groups, as well as a chat transcript claiming that NIO had entered into a partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
The image mimics the style of the NIO App page and the company's statement, but the publisher of the false statement does not exist among NIO App users.
These false rumors appear at an interesting point in time, making it particularly noticeable.
On June 12, NIO announced an immediate RMB 30,000 ($4,200) reduction in the starting prices of all new models, but the previously free monthly battery swap service became a paid option.
On the same evening, NIO held a communication meeting with its customers and broadcasted the meeting live on its social media platforms.
William Li, NIO's founder, chairman and CEO, said in response to a question during the communication that several companies are now talking to NIO about using its battery swap network, according to the live stream watched by CnEVPost.
However, they will need to develop vehicles to NIO's battery swap standard, which takes time, Li said.
It's worth noting that these statements are not materially different from previous comments made by NIO management, which Li also said at the communication that they were diplomatic.
Li last mentioned similar remarks two months ago, when he said in an April 1 media group interview during the China EV 100 Forum that NIO wants other companies to share and build battery swap infrastructure with it.
"I met with several company executives today and they asked me how we could work together, and we're open to that," he said on April 1.
NIO refers to its battery swap model as battery as a service (BaaS), an innovation that can be understood through the lens of cloud services, Li said at the time.
The cloud services around the world, whether they are offered by Microsoft, Google and Amazon in the US or Alibaba, Tencent and Huawei in China, they all have one thing in common -- the companies themselves are the primary users, he said.
Despite frequent rumors over the past two years, as of yet no other car company has said it will use NIO's battery swap network.
In addition to the NIO brand, another brand that will use these battery swap stations will be the company's sub-brand, codenamed ALPS, which is expected to start delivering vehicles next year.
NIO's current plants can support the production of vehicles under both NIO and ALPS brands, and no major Capex investment is required, Li said in a June 9 analyst call following the announcement of first-quarter earnings.
Current battery swap stations are sufficient for both brands to share, he said.
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NIO's battery swap network open to other brands, just like cloud service, says William Li
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The Denza N7 will hit the market later this month, with deliveries set to begin in July, targeting a market in the RMB 400,000 range.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
BYD's (OTCMKTS: BYDDY) premium new energy vehicle (NEV) brand Denza is gearing up for the launch of its first SUV, the Denza N7, and the model seems to be gaining good acceptance.
Pre-orders for the Denza N7 have already exceeded 20,000 units before specifications and pricing are announced, Zhao Changjiang, general manager of Denza's sales division, said at an event yesterday.
Fifty-five percent of these pre-order holders are vehicle owners of luxury brands including Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, and 35 percent are existing owners of BYD and Denza, Zhao said, according to a report by local auto media Yiche yesterday.
On March 26, Zhao said there were many customers who want to get the Denza N7 launched as soon as possible, and the model is expected to get 30,000 orders before its mid-year launch based on inquiry volume data.
On the first day of the Shanghai auto show on April 18, Denza opened reservations for the N7, but its pricing information was not released.
Denza is a joint venture between BYD and Daimler established in February 2011, with each holding a 50 percent stake at the time, and the Daimler brand was rebranded as Mercedes-Benz in February 2022. 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 N7 is the second model after Denza's shareholding reform and its first SUV.
On April 25, Denza said the N7 received 10,569 pre-orders, just seven days before reservations opened.
On May 30, Zhao said at Denza's first brand day event that the Denza N7 would go on sale in late June, with deliveries starting in July.
Earlier today, Zhao said on Weibo that he would be attending the rollout ceremony of the first Denza N7 production car later today.
(Image credit: Denza)
No pricing information has been released for the Denza N7, but 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 ($55,850).
The Denza N7 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, a previous regulatory filing showed.
Denza's only model currently in delivery, the Denza D9, began deliveries at the end of October last year and sold 11,005 units in May this year, the third consecutive month with more than 10,000 units.
The average sales price of the Denza D9 exceeds RMB 420,000, Denza said on June 2. The MPV is now available in hybrid and all-electric versions, with a starting price range of RMB 335,800 to RMB 465,800.
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The Denza N7 will officially launch at the end of this month and will start delivery in July.
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Li Auto CEO looks down on local peers, arguing that their sales are so low that they don't deserve to be taken seriously.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), the buzzy Chinese car-making startup, has set an ambitious goal -- to outsell German luxury brands in 2024.
"With the delivery of the all-electric model and next year's Li L6, we are confident that we will surpass BBA in our total sales in 2024," the company said on Weibo yesterday while sharing insurance registration figures for last week.
"BBA" in China refers to German luxury brands Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi, and Li Auto appears to be aiming to outsell one of those three brands in China next year, though it didn't specify.
For reference, BMW Brilliance, BMW's joint venture in China, had retail sales of 653,976 units in 2022, essentially unchanged from 651,236 units in 2021 and ranked 14th in the China Passenger Car Association's (CPCA) top 15 sales ranking.
BYD and FAW-Volkswagen are the top two in the ranking, with 1,804,624 and 1,779,077 units sold in 2022, respectively. Mercedes-Benz and Audi did not make the list.
From January to May this year, BMW Brilliance's retail sales were 274,763 units, up 9.1 percent from 251,880 units in the same period last year, placing it at No. 9 in the CPCA's latest top 10 sales ranking. Mercedes-Benz and Audi are still not on the list.
Li Auto yesterday shared vehicle insurance registration figures showing it sold 8,400 vehicles in the week of June 5 to June 11, bringing the cumulative sales so far this month to 11,900.
As of June 11, Li Auto had sold more SUVs than any of the "BBA" brands in China this month with just three SUVs, it said.
All of Li Auto's models currently on sale are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), essentially plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), including the five-seat Li L7 and the six-seat Li L9 and Li L8.
The company is expected to launch its first all-electric model by the end of the year, which will be an MPV (multi-purpose vehicle, or van) powered by the latest Qilin Battery from Chinese power cell giant CATL.
On September 22, 2022, in a warm-up for the Li L8's launch in a few days, Li Auto said it will also launch the Li L6, a midsize five-seat SUV priced within RMB 300,000 yuan ($41,850).
As it eats into the German luxury carmaker's market, Li Auto is continuing to learn from the strengths of these established luxury brands.
"In the offensive ground game, the role models are of course the BBA, which are the best sellers in the market priced at RMB 300,000 and up. we learned from them how to open 4S stores, how to choose locations, and reduce customer acquisition costs to 1/5 of stores located in malls," Li Auto founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang said on Weibo yesterday.
Li Auto also learned from these German luxury car companies how to operate in Shanghai, which does not offer free NEV license plates for EREVs, and boosted the company's sales in Shanghai to a peak in 2022 in one month's time, he said.
Before this year, Shanghai offered free license plates to consumers who bought NEVs, including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) as well as PHEVs.
Starting this year, only consumers who purchase BEVs will receive free license plates in Shanghai, while PHEVs, including EREVs, will not be eligible for the benefit.
In Li Auto's view, its only competitors are German luxury car companies, and local brands are not worth mentioning.
After the company shared its insurance figures for last week yesterday, it was accused by a Weibo user of the move as a continued attack on its local peers.
In response to the Weibo user, Li said that the sales of these local peers are so low that they are not worth mentioning, and that its core focus has always been on the market where BBA is located.
Li used the Chinese saying "three watermelons and two dates (仨瓜俩枣)" to describe the sales of its local counterparts, implying that they were too far behind Li Auto.
Li Auto's two main peers, NIO (NYSE: NIO) and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV), both registered around 1,500 units of insurance last week, with 2,800 and 2,200 units from June 1 to June 11, respectively.
It is worth noting that both NIO and XPeng currently offer only BEVs, a fast-growing but currently small market in China.
In January-May, China's passenger vehicle retail sales were 7.63 million units, with NEVs contributing 2.42 million units, or 31.7 percent, according to the CPCA's figures.
BEVs sold 1.64 million units from January to May, contributing 21.5 percent of all passenger car sales.
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From June 1-11, NIO sold 2,800 units and Tesla 26,000 units.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) continued to flex its muscles, showing strong sales last week while its two local peers, NIO (NYSE: NIO) and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV), remained weak.
For the week of June 5 to June 11, Li Auto sold a record 8,400 units, the company said today on Weibo.
That's far more than other new car-making brands and more than the second, third and fourth places on the list combined, it said, adding that Li Auto had sold 11,900 units this month as of June 11.
Li Auto continues to rank in the top five luxury brands sold in the Chinese market and is the highest-ranked Chinese brand on the list, it said.
The company has maintained its focus on premium family customers and has made a strong showing in the segment with its L series models, it said.
With the company's all-electric model and the delivery of the Li L6 next year, Li Auto is confident it will surpass one of the German luxury brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi in total sales in 2024, it said.
Li Auto did not explain on what basis that weekly sales were tallied, but apparently, they were insurance registrations. The company had suspended sharing those numbers in May, but has later resumed sharing them.
All of the models Li Auto is currently selling are extended-range electric vehicles (EREVs), essentially plug-in hybrids, including the five-seat Li L7 and the six-seat Li L9 and Li L8.
The EREV maker guided a month ago for second-quarter deliveries of between 76,000 and 81,000 units, meaning June deliveries are expected to be between 22,042 and 27,042 units, considering it delivered 25,681 and 28,277 units in April and May, respectively.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) sold 16,400 units last week, putting the June 1-11 cumulative total at 26,000, according to Li Auto. In the previous week, May 29-June 4, Tesla's figure was 14,500 units.
NIO (NYSE: NIO) had 1,500 units last week and 2,800 units this month as of June 11. Its figure for the previous week was 1,700 units.
XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) was at 1,500 units last week and 2,200 units for the month as of June 11. XPeng's figure for the previous week was 2,100 units.
Zeekr was at 1,500 units last week and 2,400 units this month as of June 11. Its figure for the previous week was 2,100 units.
Leapmotor was 3,000 units last week and 4,400 units this month as of June 11. Its figure for the previous week was 3,400 units.
Neta was at 1,900 units last week and 2,800 units this month through June 11. Its figure for the previous week was 2,900 units.
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Voyah will raise a Series B round next and has plans for an initial public offering, its CFO said.
(A Voyah Zhuiguang on display at the Shanghai auto show. Image credit: CnEVPost)
Voyah, Dongfeng Motor's new energy vehicle (NEV) brand, has received RMB 15 billion yuan ($2.1 billion) in credit lines from six local banks, setting it up for future expansion.
Voyah held a signing ceremony for the partnerships with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, China CITIC Bank and China Merchants Bank.
Voyah will invest more in product development and marketing and launch more quality products, its CEO Lu Fang said, according to a press release.
The NEV maker has completed its Series A financing and will next raise Series B, Local media Shanghai Securities News quoted Voyah CFO Shen Jun as saying.
Voyah has plans for an initial public offering, and it will have more than 300 core employees holding shares, Shen said.
Voyah is the brand Dongfeng Motor announced in late 2020, when the first model, Voyah FREE, was also unveiled.
The Voyah FREE went on sale in China in June 2021 and is available in an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) version as well as an all-electric version, with current starting prices of RMB 333,600 to 393,600 respectively.
On May 7, 2022, Voyah's second model, the Dreamer MPV, was launched with a starting price of RMB 369,900.
In November 2022, Voyah announced the completion of RMB nearly 5 billion Series A financing, valuing it at nearly RMB 30 billion.
On April 18 of this year, Voyah launched the Zhuiguang sedan on the first day of the Shanghai auto show, offering three versions with a starting price of RMB 322,900.
Voyah has had a lukewarm sales performance over the past two years, selling 3,003 vehicles in May, bringing combined January-May sales to 12,024 units.
For comparison, Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI), which currently only offers EREVs, delivered 28,277 vehicles in May for a combined January-May total of 106,542 vehicles.
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Li Auto's poster hints that it may announce developments related to its assisted driving system NOA, and a battery that supports ultra-fast charging. | Li Auto US | Li Auto HK
NIO (NYSE: NIO) and XPeng (NYSE: XPEV) both have their own signature annual events, NIO Day and 1024 Tech Day, respectively and now Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) is creating a similar one.
Li Auto will hold its first Family Tech Day event on Saturday, June 17, starting at 20:00, the extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) maker announced on its social media accounts yesterday.
The company's poster yesterday mentioned the words "5C" and "NOA," hinting that it may announce progress on a battery that supports ultra-fast charging, as well as its NOA (Navigation on ADAS) system.
"Li Auto's Family Tech Day launch ushers in the era of dual-energy," its poster reads.
Li Auto has been targeting family users, and the three SUV models currently on sale -- Li L7, Li L8 and Li L9 -- are designed to cater to such groups.
On April 18, Li Auto unveiled its all-electric solution on the first day of the Shanghai auto show, saying that the company has officially entered the dual-energy era, a phase in which the EREV and battery electric vehicle (BEV) product lines are developing in parallel.
The company's all-electric solution is based on an 800 V high-voltage platform that enables a BEV to get 400 kilometers of range on a 10-minute charge, it said at the time.
By 2025, Li Auto's product array will include a super flagship model, five EREVs, and five BEVs, it said.
Li Auto's first all-electric model will be the world's first to feature CATL's 4C Qilin Battery, it said at the launch in April. The model is expected to be an MPV to be released by the end of the year.
C refers to the battery's charging multiplier, and 4C means that the pack can theoretically be fully charged in a quarter of an hour.
It's worth noting that when Li Auto previewed its Family Tech Day on May 31, it poster showed text that included "4C".
In the poster released yesterday, that text was changed to "5C," perhaps implying that it will use a faster-charging CATL battery.
In terms of assisted driving software, Li Auto announced its latest generation of assisted driving system, AD Max 3.0, on April 18, and said the software will be free for life.
Li Auto's current assisted driving systems include AD Max and AD Pro. AD Max 2.0 is powered by NVIDIA's Orin X chip and Hesai's LiDAR, while AD Pro 2.0 is powered by Horizon Robotics' Journey 5 chip.
AD Max 3.0's all-scenario NOA will begin internal testing this quarter and will cover more than 100 cities by the end of the year, Li Auto previously said.
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