China's Three Biggest Electric Car Manufacturers Continue To Scramble For Market

Chinese electric car manufacturers continue to produce their cars. (photo: wikimedia)

JAKARTA - Chinese electric car start-up Nio, which has been beating rivals Li Auto and Xpeng in monthly car shipments, now trailed behind its rivals in July.

US-listed Nio said it delivered 7,931 vehicles in July, bringing this year's total to 49,887, more cars than last year. But this July figure is down from a record monthly 8,083 vehicle deliveries in June.

In contrast, shipments of hybrid electric cars from US-listed Li Auto surpassed Nio's shipments in July, and outpaced the just-started Xpeng for the second month in a row.

Li Auto said on Sunday it delivered 8,589 Li One vehicles in July, a monthly record. The Li One SUV is the company's only model on the market. The car is equipped with a fuel tank to charge the battery, extending the driving range to 180 kilometers by about 620 km.

Xpeng said on Monday 2 August that it is also shipping a record monthly 8,040 vehicles - of which 75% are its P7 sedan, rather than its other model, the G3 SUV.

That means Li Auto shipped 549 more cars than Xpeng last month, after shipping over 1,000 more cars than Xpeng in June. On a year-to-date basis through July, Xpeng shipped slightly more cars, at 38,778 versus 38,743 Li Auto.

For the year so far, Nio has delivered more than 10,000 more cars than each of the two start-ups each. The company will release its second-quarter results on August 11.

Among the three Chinese electric car startups listed in the US, Li Auto shares had the best performer this year with a 15.8% gain. Nio shares have fallen 8.3% over the same period, while Xpeng is down nearly 5.4%.

Chinese and US regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of US-listed Chinese companies in the last month.

Several companies such as Xpeng have also listed shares in Hong Kong, partly as a hedge against risk in the New York market. Shares of the Hong Kong-listed start-up have fallen more than 4% since the offering raised about $1.8 billion in early July.

More than a week later, Xpeng announced that a third model and second sedan, the P5, will be priced as low as 160,000 yuan. That's less than the starting price for the Tesla Model 3 in China at 250,900 yuan. Shipments of the P5, which comes in six versions, will begin in the fourth quarter.