Sales surge at Chinese EV firms Xpeng, Li Auto and NIO in pursuit of Tesla

The sales numbers came after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in an earnings call last week that the company would rather focus on coping with supply chain constraints this year than attract customers with new models. In contrast, the three Chinese brands have plans to introduce new models.

Beijing-headquartered Li Auto delivered 12,268 Li ONE cars in January, a 128.1 per cent increase year on year. The cumulative deliveries of Li ONEs have reached 136,356 since the vehicle’s market debut.

“We have delivered over 10,000 Li ONEs for the third consecutive month, achieving a record for domestic branded premium vehicles priced above 300,000 yuan in China,” Yanan Shen, co-founder and president of Li Auto, said in a statement.

“Looking ahead, we will remain committed to investing in research and development to provide our users with products and services that offer greater safety, convenience and comfort,” Shen added.

Guangzhou-headquartered XPeng delivered 12,922 smart EVs in January, a 115 per cent increase year on year, exceeding the monthly delivery benchmark of 10,000 units for a fifth consecutive month. As of January 31, its cumulative smart EV deliveries had surpassed 150,000 units, as it continues to rapidly expand its network in China.

XPeng is also carrying out a technology upgrade at its Zhaoqing plant, taking advantage of a scheduled production downtime over the Lunar New Year holiday, running from the end of January to early February. The upgrade will allow it to accelerate deliveries from a significant order backlog carried over from 2021, and better serve increasing demand in the new year.

Shanghai-based NIO, meanwhile, delivered 9,652 vehicles in January, an increase of 33.6 per cent year on year. As of January 31, 2022, the cumulative deliveries of its models ES8, ES6 and EC6 had reached 176,722 vehicles. It added that it had undergone an aggressive infrastructure expansion as well.