[BEIJING] As BYD weathers a rough patch atop China’s market for new-energy vehicles, other, smaller players are surpassing their sales goals by leaning into demand for cheaper cars.
Xpeng reported year-to-date deliveries of 271,615 units on Monday (Sep 1), more than three times the same number of cars it sold in the first eight months of 2024. A key reason is the launch last August of its MONA M03 model, which starts from just 119,800 yuan (S$21,556).
The entry-level electric vehicle (EV) competes with mass-market models from BYD and Geely Automobile Holdings but leverages Xpeng’s highly regarded intelligent technologies. It’s quickly become a bestseller, accounting for about 40 per cent of Xpeng’s monthly sales.
That’s translating directly into financial improvements for Xpeng. The carmaker’s net loss narrowed in the second quarter while gross margins expanded to 17.3 per cent. During an earnings call last month, chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said that the EV maker expects monthly deliveries to consistently exceed 40,000 units starting in September.
Xpeng is also set to receive a boost from its newly revamped P7 sedan, which launched last week. First introduced in 2020, the refresh should “kick off a product cycle acceleration”, HSBC Holdings analysts led by Yuqian Ding wrote.
Beyond its own product line, Xpeng is securing new revenue streams through strategic partnerships. On Aug 14, Xpeng and Volkswagen announced an expansion of their collaboration around electronic and electrical architecture for the German automaker’s combustion engine and plug-in hybrid platforms in China. The move is expected to bring in additional software service revenue with considerable margins.
Other EV startups are making market share gains against the big players, too.
Zhejiang Leapmotor Technologies reported monthly deliveries of 57,066 vehicles in August, an increase of more than 88 per cent year on year, according to a post on the company’s official Weibo account. Consumers are rushing to showrooms to snap up its affordable models, such as the B10 and C10, which such as Xpeng’s EVs, are packed with intelligent features.
As more boutique brands gain momentum, BYD looks in danger of missing its own target for 5.5 million shipments this year. Sanford C Bernstein now expects that number to be more like 5.1 million. BLOOMBERG
