Delivery Updates From NIO, XPeng (XPEV) and LI Auto (LI)

Three key China-based smart electric vehicle (EV) companies, namely NIO Inc. NIO, Li Auto LI and XPeng Inc. XPEV recently came up with their yearly and quarterly updates for 2021.

Let’s look at the deliveries that each company completed and the records that each broke or set.

NIO Inc.’s vehicle delivery went up 49.7% year over year to 10,489 vehicles in December 2021. The deliveries included 2,782 ES8s, NIO’s six- or seven-seater flagship premium smart electric SUVs, 4,939 ES6s, its five-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV and 2,768 EC6s, its five-seater premium smart electric coupe SUV.

NIO delivered a record-breaking 25,034 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2021, to boast a new quarterly delivery benchmark that reflected a 44.3% yearly increase. Its yearly deliveries shot 109.1% to 91,429 vehicles in 2021. The cumulative deliveries of ES8, ES6 and EC6 stood at 167,070 vehicles as of Dec, 31, 2021.

On its recently held NIO Day 2021 event in Suzhou, NIO launched ET5, a mid-size premium smart electric sedan. The company has deliveries slated for 2022. The pre-subsidy starting price of ET5 is RMB328,000 or RMB258,000 with the Battery as a Service (BaaS) feature. Additionally, NIO’s delivery of ET7, a flagship premium smart electric sedan, is lined up in March 2022.

NIO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

XPeng Inc. delivered 16,000 Smart EVs in December 2021, surpassing the monthly delivery yardstick of 15,000 units for the second consecutive month, notwithstanding the ongoing global-supply bottlenecks. The deliveries jumped 181% yearly, reflecting on XPEV’s robust business model and execution capability.

The deliveries in December covered 7,459 P7 smart sports sedans, 5,030 P5 smart family sedans and 3,511 G3 and G3i smart SUVs, marking a 102% and 75% yearly increase, respectively, for the P7 and G3 series, and a 134% month-over-month increase for P5, which advanced steadily with a solid order backlog.

Fourth-quarter 2021 saw deliveries of 41,751 units, including 21,342 P7 deliveries, up 222% year over year. Total vehicle deliveries for the year ended Dec 31, 2021, climbed 263% to 98,155 vehicles. P7 deliveries for the year reached 60,569, cumulatively, representing a 302% annual increase. Deliveries of 29,721 G3 and G3i smart SUVs, marking a 148% yearly increase, and that of 7,865 P5s was completed in 2021. Deliveries in the Smart EV category reached 137,953, cumulatively on Dec 31, 2021.

XPEV, as of the end of November 2021, expanded its network in China with 661 branded supercharging stations across 228 cities and 311 physical retail stores in operation across 121 cities.

XPEV currently carries a Zacks Rank of 3.

Li Auto Inc. saw deliveries of 14,087 Li ONEs in December 2021, representing a 130% yearly jump. This upside takes the fourth-quarter delivery count to 35,221, up 40.2%, sequentially, and 143.5% year over year. Total deliveries in 2021 skyrocketed 177.4% to 90,491 and cumulative deliveries have reached 124,088 since the vehicle’s market debut.

In December, LI provided the OTA 3.0 update for all its Li ONE users, which should augment their in-car experience. The update includes Li Auto’s full-stack, self-developed Navigation on ADAS (NOA) feature, which allows more than 60,000 users to enjoy safer and easier driving.

As of Dec 31, 2021, LI had 206 retail stores in 102 cities as well as 278 servicing centers and Li Auto-authorized body and paint shops operating in 204 cities.

LI currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Key Pick

A better-ranked peer in the EV space is Tesla TSLA, carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

With Model 3 being its flagship vehicle, Tesla established itself as a leader in the EV segment. Currently, it is the best-selling premium sedan in the world. Along with rising demand for Model 3, which forms a chunk of the automaker’s overall deliveries, Model Y is boosting Tesla’s prospects.

Tesla’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, missing the mark on one occasion. The company pulled off a last four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.4%, on average. Its shares have also gained 44.8% over a year.

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