Li Auto outsells other four major NEV startups in Jan., scoring 2-digit YoY rise

On the first day of Feb. 2023, the five major Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startups, namely, HOZON Auto, Li Auto, NIO, XPeng, and Leapmotor, announced their delivery results of the first month of this year.

Affected by the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday in a big way, all of the five companies saw their monthly deliveries in Jan. tumble at a two-digit rate from the previous month. Compared to the year-ago period, only Li Auto achieved an increase in Jan. deliveries, while the other four all encountered a double-digit decline.

Li Auto ranked highest among Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) startups with its Jan. deliveries surpassing 15,000 units.

As of Jan. 2023, cumulative deliveries of Li Auto vehicles had reached 272,475 units.

“We ranked first in both China’s full-size and large SUV markets for the full year of 2022, thanks to the outstanding sales performance of all three models we have brought to the market: Li L9, Li L8, and Li ONE,” commented Li Xiang, founder, chairman, and CEO of Li Auto. “With an unwavering commitment to our mission of 'Create a Mobile Home, Create Happiness,' we will continue to design and build products and services exceeding users’ demands,” he added.

Mr. Li revealed that Li Auto would officially launch the Li L7, a five-seater flagship family SUV, on Feb. 8, 2023, in order to unlock new journeys for families of three.

As for sales and service network development, the startup had 296 retail stores in 123 cities, as well as 320 servicing centers and Li Auto-authorized body and paint shops operating in 222 cities by the end of Jan. 2023.

NIO was the runner-up among the top 5 NEV startups with a Jan. delivery volume of 8,506 units.

NIO said its Jan. 2023 deliveries were composed of 2,190 SUVs and 6,316 sedans. The three models built on the NT2.0 platform—the ET7, the ES7, and the ET5—accounted for 85.6% of the startup’s overall deliveries for the month.

As of Jan. 31, 2023, NIO had cumulatively delivered 298,062 vehicles.

From Jan. 13, 2023 to Jan. 31, 2023, the Spring Festival travel rush in China, NIO offered more than 1 million battery swaps to its users, of which over 300 thousand swaps were completed at NIO’s power swap stations along expressways, and over 11 thousand swaps were flexible battery upgrades to enhance the long-distance travel experience, said the startup.

HOZON Auto, the owner of the NEV brand NETA, announced a delivery volume of 6,016 vehicles for the month of Jan., which plunged 45.4% year on year and 22.8% month on month, respectively.

Of the vehicles delivered last month, 1,517 units were the NETA S sedans.

Besides, cumulative deliveries of NETA-branded vehicles had amounted to 254,065 units as of Jan. 2023.

In Jan., HOZON Auto inked an agreement with CATL (Shanghai) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. ("CATL Intelligent Tech"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CATL, for the CIIC (CATL Integrated Intelligent Chassis) project.

Under the agreement, HOZON Auto and CATL Intelligent Tech will leverage their respective resources to co-develop the CIIC skateboard chassis. The first NETA-branded model equipped with the CIIC chassis is expected for launch as early as the end of 2024.

XPeng saw its Jan. deliveries shrink 59.6% from a year earlier to 5,218 units, which included 2,249 G9 flagship SUVs.

Vehicle deliveries for the month of Jan. reflected the seasonal slowdown during the Chinese New Year holiday period which began in mid-January, XPeng explained.

This year, XPeng plans to put two all-new models and three refreshed models onto the market, according to an internal letter He Xiaopeng issued to staff members in late Jan.

Leapmotor delivered the least vehicles among the five startups. Along with the 1,139 vehicles sold in Jan. 2023, the company’s cumulative deliveries had added up to 165,142 units.

As for the new product launch plan, Leapmotor is about to kick off presale of the C11’s REEV (range-extended electric vehicle) variant on Feb. 9.