Author: Jingtao Wu
Hold on, one sees the moon rise high when the clouds move away.
“Cut in half” and “plunge” can be said to be the most frequently appearing keywords in the car sales news of April. Under the impact of the epidemic, the vast majority of car companies are facing comprehensive problems such as upstream and downstream supply chain shutdowns, production cuts, insufficient production capacity, and delivery difficulties. Although it is a sunny April, many car companies are as bleak as in the cold winter of December.
Hold on, one sees the moon rise high when the clouds move away. We have survived the heavy difficulties caused by the epidemic in April. With the improvement of the epidemic situation, we can feel the strong signs of the recovery of the entire automotive industry in various aspects in May.
Let us feel the recovery of the automotive industry in May through this fresh “new car” sales performance report. Also, please keep faith and believe that “the sun always shines after the storm.”
Li Auto: delivered 11,496 in May, totaling 47,379 this year
In April, due to the suspension of work and production of suppliers in Shanghai and Kunshan, some of Li Auto’s orders were squeezed, severely affecting delivery, and only 4,167 Li ONEs were delivered, resulting in a sharp drop in delivery volume.
Fortunately, in May, Li Auto’s auto parts suppliers gradually began to resume partial production, and Li Auto’s delivery volume began to recover strongly.
In May, Li Auto delivered a total of 11,496 Li ONEs, a year-on-year increase of 165.9%. The cumulative delivery volume from January to May this year reached 47,379, regaining the top position in the “new car” sales rankings.
However, due to the tight supply of auto parts still existing, the production of Li Auto’s Changzhou factory has not yet fully returned to normal, resulting in delayed delivery of new cars for some users.
WM Motor: delivered 11,009 in May, totaling 49,974 this year
In May, NIO delivered 11,009 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 144%, ranking up one place on the “new car” sales chart and winning the runner-up of May’s sales. Among them, NIO V delivered 7,884 units and NIO U delivered 3,125 units. From January to May this year, NIO delivered a total of 49,974 units, a year-on-year increase of 213%.
On June 1, which happened to be the fourth anniversary of the establishment of NIO, NIO CEO William Li sent a message, stating that NIO has developed into a new force in the automotive industry with a team of 6,000 people and 150,000 users. The message also revealed that NIO’s upcoming new model, NIO S Yoixi Edition, will officially begin pre-sales on June 6. The message described this as a new starting point for NIO’s development, and at the same time, NIO S is also an important model to enhance the brand image of NIO.
XPeng: Delivered 10,125 vehicles in May, 53,688 vehicles in total this year
In May, XPeng delivered 10,125 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 78%. Among them, XPeng P7 delivered 4,224 units, XPeng P5 delivered 3,686 units, and XPeng G3i delivered 2,215 units, ranking third on the “new car” sales chart.
In mid-April, He XPeng, CEO of XPeng Motors, said, “If supply chain companies in Shanghai and surrounding areas still cannot find a way to resume production dynamically, all automakers in China may have to stop production in May.” Fortunately, the worst situation did not happen. With the improvement of the epidemic situation and the accelerated resumption of the core supply chain, XPeng Motors was able to resume double-shift production at its Zhaoqing factory in mid-May to accelerate the delivery of the large number of orders accumulated since the first quarter.
On May 23, He XPeng posted a video on Weibo, using the popular online searching for “core” to initiate a discussion about the shortage of chips. Interested friends can quickly browse the previous article titled “Can’t believe it! The richest person in China’s new car industry can get the duck but not the chip?”
From January to May this year, XPeng delivered a total of 53,688 units, a year-on-year increase of 122%.
LI: Delivered 10,069 vehicles in May, 40,735 vehicles in total this year
In April, Zeekr emerged as the best-selling “new energy vehicle” of the month, but in May, its ranking fell to fourth place. Despite the decline in ranking, Zeekr’s deliveries continued to rise.
In May, Zeekr delivered 10,069 new cars, surpassing 10,000 for the first time and setting a new historical record. Monthly deliveries have increased by over 200% year-on-year for 14 consecutive months. Although the absolute ranking has dropped, Zeekr’s sales volume is still on the rise, indicating a strong recovery trend in the auto industry in May.
From January to May this year, Zeekr has delivered 40,735 cars. On May 10, the company’s large-sized pure electric vehicle C01 was officially put on pre-sale, and the number of orders has exceeded 48,000 as of now.
NIO, one of the car companies most severely affected by the epidemic, delivered just over 5,000 cars in April, but the overall situation of the supply chain and market improved in May.
In May, NIO delivered 7,024 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. Among them, 2,936 were ES6, 1,635 were EC6, 746 were ES8, and 1,707 were ET7. Among them, ET7 performed the best, with more than 1,000 more deliveries than in April.
From January to May this year, NIO delivered a total of 37,866 new cars, an increase of 11.8% year-on-year.
NIO officials stated that the demand for NIO orders continued to be strong in May. With the resumption of work and production by supply chain enterprises, production is expected to further recover in June, and delivery of models including ET7 will be accelerated. In June, NIO may launch a new model ES7 and other upgraded models. With the delivery of ET5 and ES7 in the third quarter, NIO may usher in a new sales growth point in the second half of the year.
Somewhat unexpectedly, AITO was the first company to announce its sales in May. In May, AITO delivered a total of 5,006 units of the AITO M5, bringing the total delivery to 11,296 units. Delivery began in March, and it took only 87 days to exceed 10,000 deliveries, and it ranked sixth on the sales list of “new energy vehicles”.# WENJIE M5: The First Car Developed by Huawei and Seres AITO
WENJIE M5 is the first mass-produced SUV developed by the partnership between Huawei and Seres AITO. It is a midsize SUV that incorporates the latest HarmonyOS and many other intelligent solutions provided by Huawei. The powertrain features an extended-range hybrid configuration, with the 1.5T engine serving as the range extender and generating a maximum power output of 92kW (125Ps). The power output of the generator in the range extender is 60kW. The four-wheel-drive flagship variant’s comprehensive maximum power output is 365kW, while its 0-100km/h acceleration time is 4.4 seconds. The price range for this SUV model ranges from CNY 259,800 to CNY 331,800.
JiKe: Delivered 4,330 Units in May, Total Delivery of 14,708 Units in 2022
JiKe delivered 4,330 units of its 001 model in May, marking a month-on-month growth rate of 102.6%. It has delivered 14,708 units in total from January to May this year. On May 28, at the 2022 Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao Greater Bay Area Auto Exhibition, JiKe held a delivery ceremony for the 20,000th 001 model, announcing that the 001 model’s total deliveries exceeded 20,000. By May, the historical deliveries of the 001 model had reached 20,715 units. According to JiKe’s official statement, with the commissioning of the Vibac air suspension parts production line, the most influential production bottleneck, the supply of air suspension parts will improve in June. It is expected that after the arrival of the parts, all air suspension orders before January 2022 can be fulfilled. However, the specific production and delivery situation is still subject to uncertainty due to the pandemic and supply chain issues.
GAC Aion: 21,056 Units Sold in May, Total Sales of 76,142 Units in 2022
GAC Aion, which has been hoping to join the “new energy vehicle” camp through mixed-ownership reform, has once again released its monthly sales report on time on the first day of June. In May, the GAC Aion sold 21,056 units, a month-on-month growth rate of 106%. From January to May this year, Aion’s cumulative sales volume has reached 76,412 units, a year-on-year growth of 122%. According to the latest information disclosed by GAC Group, the second Aion factory will begin production in the fourth quarter of 2022, adding an annual capacity of 200,000 units to support Aion’s higher production and sales targets.
Note: Neither BYD nor Tesla has released their May sales figures yet.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.