Delivery of NIO Halved in August, while Nezha Auto and Leapmotor Top the List

SHANGHAI, Sep 5 (SMM) - Recently, a number of new OEM forces such as NIO and Li Auto have released their sales performance for August.

On the whole, the performance of new OEM forces in August has changed greatly from the previous month. Among them, Nezha and Leapmotor maintained growth, and once again took the top two seats in terms of car delivery. NIO managed small gains against a steep fall of 22% in July, and was in the third place. The traditional giants, Xpeng Motors and Li Auto, performed poorly in August, and their deliveries both fell sharply. Among them, Li Auto saw its monthly delivery halved and dropped to the end of the list. 

In detail, Nezha and Leapmotor, which were once regarded as "second-tier brands" and mid and low-end models by the market, maintained their previous rapid growth trend in August. They once again outperformed the traditional forces including NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto, and delivered 16,000 units and 12,000 units of new energy vehicles respectively in the month, a MoM increase of 14% and 4%. It is worth noting that the cumulative deliveries of these two brands this year have reached 93,000 units and 76,000 units respectively, ranking first and third among all the new OEM forces. Not just that, but they have shown clear ambition in entering the high-end market, though mid and low-end models like Nezha V and Leapmotor T03 are still their best sellers. At present, mid and high-end models such as Nezha S, Leapmotor C01 and C11 have been launched, which are aimed at rivalling traditional forces and potential strong competitors for established models such as Xpeng P7.

In contrast, the established new OEM forces delivered poor performance as a whole in August. Among them, Xpeng and Li Auto delivered 9,578 units and 4,571 units of NEVs respectively in August, down 17% and 56% month-on-month. Compared with the same period last year, Li Auto recorded a significant decline of 52% year-on-year, becoming the only one among the above-mentioned car companies that posted YoY decline.

This is mainly because these two companies are in the product iteration period, and Xpeng also has key new models such as G9 and P5 to be launched. In addition, Li Auto's new model, Li L9, is already on the market, and the L9 was officially delivered to consumers on August 30. And another star model, Li L8, as a large SUV, is considered to be a perfect alternative to the current blockbuster model, Li One. The founder and CEO of Li Auto even said bluntly on Weibo: "Friends who wait and see L8, don't buy ONE". To a certain extent, this has also delayed some car purchase needs, resulting in a decline in delivery during the process of product iteration. In addition, the widespread power rationing in Sichuan province in August resulted in the shutdown of Li Auto's range extender plant in Mianyang city, Sichuan, which somehow restricted Li Auto's production and sales, and the delivery for certain. 

In addition to the above-mentioned companies, the rest of the new OEM forces also performed well. For example, Seres AITO delivered 10,045 vehicles in August, and the delivery of ZEEKR exceeded the 7,000-unit mark, both of which broke record highs. SAIC IMMotor and Dongfeng Voyah also performed well. When the new models are launched on the market, the competition among these companies will become more intensive.