As pandemic clouds erratically, China’s EV sales continue to surge in 2021, amongst which Xpeng outperforms NIO and Li Auto in EV delivery numbers.

Xpeng led delivery sales

Xpeng announced beautiful delivery results, record high with 16,000 EVs in December 2021 (up 181% year-over-year). surpassing its 15,000-vehicle monthly delivery target twice this year.

A total of 41,751 vehicles were delivered in the fourth quarter of 2021, up 222% from the same period last year. This is the second quarter in a row that XPeng has been the highest delivery volume among these three companies, with sales number 41,751 that are ahead of NIO at 25,034 units and Li Auto at 35,221 units.

P7 account for more than 60% of total Xpeng sales

In terms of individual models, the XPeng P7 remains the top-selling and most expensive model, at a near-record level.

In December, Xpeng P7 delivered 7,459 units, and the cumulative delivery for the year was 60,569 units, accounting for 62% of the total delivery volume.

Xpeng P5 seconds after as large-scale delivery began in October this year, so far 5,030 units were delivered in December, setting a new high.

Xpeng G3 series products delivered 3,511 units, with an annual cumulative delivery of 29,721 , up 148% a year-on-year.

The cumulative deliveries of Xpeng’s smart electric vehicles reached 137,953 .

Xpeng’s models are said to attract the tech-savvy, younger demographics, with affordable price and high utility.

The mid-large SUV G9, which will be on sale in 2022, could become a new breakthrough point for Xpeng Auto. According to market expectations, Xpeng’s strong performance may continue in 2022.

NIO and Li Auto ranked second and third in fierce competition

NIO remains highest in total EV delivery number, though sales are going down

NIO’s cumulative vehicle delivery volume in 2021 ranks second among the China three EV trio, delivering 10,489 vehicles in December (up 49.7% year-on-year and 3.6% month-on-month). In the fourth quarter, a total of 2,034 vehicles were delivered (up 44.3%year-on-year), achieving positive growth for seven consecutive quarters. 

NIO delivered 91429 vehicles for the full year (up 109.10% year-on-year), doubling for two consecutive years. NIO tops in total delivery of 167,070 EVs, Xpeng and Li Auto each with that of 137,953 and 124,088.

In terms of individual models, The best-selling model is the ES6 with 4939 units , followed by the ES8 with 2782 units and EC6 with 2768.

NIO’s delivery in December were down about 400 units from November and the deliveries were the lowest among these three companies. NIO also had the lowest year-on-year growth rate.

Chip shortage led to lower EV number of customs clearance for NIO

In response to the December drop, NIO related sources said “a batch of chips was delayed for customs clearance.” In fact, since this year, the supply chain has been under pressure due to chip shortages and the epidemic, and NIO’s monthly sales have fallen out of the top three several times, with October 2021 sales once slipping to 3,667 units, down 27.5% year-on-year and significantly worse than market expectations. 

The company’s executives previously saying that the number of batteries supplied by CATL is still the ceiling for deliveries.

However, in the following November, NIO delivered 10,878 vehicles, once again returning to more than 10,000 units and rejoining the top tier of new electric vehicle companies.

Li Auto ranks third in annual deliveries

Data from Li Auto shows that the company delivered 14,087 units of Li ONE in December 2021, (up 130.0% year-over-year), setting another new delivery record, surpassing November’s 602 units.

A slight increase of 4.3% from the previous month, surpassing NIO’s December delivery (10,489 units) and second only to Xpeng (16,000 units).

In the fourth quarter, Li ONE delivered a total of 35,221 vehicles, ahead of NIO at 25,034 and behind of Xpeng at 41,751 units.The fourth quarter up 40.2% from the third quarter of 2021 and up 143.5% from the fourth quarter of 2020.

It is expected that the demand for EV remain strong in 2022, though challenges remain. Among them, reduced subsidies for EVs, increased raw material costs, and chip shortages are on-going obstacles.