March Delivery Report: Aito Aito breaks through 30,000, Xiaomi's listing marks a new turning point

For the Chinese new energy vehicle sector, there is never a quiet month.

On the first day of April, which should have been a day for competing to release delivery data, car companies seem to prefer announcing new price reduction strategies.

Tesla first raised the price of the Model Y, then announced that the Star Grey paint for Model 3/Y would be free, followed by price reductions for models such as ZEEKR 007, XPeng G9, and Aito M7.

Nio's price reduction method remains unique, announcing the introduction of up to 1 billion yuan in subsidies for gasoline car replacements, where gasoline car users purchasing Nio can receive an additional 10,000 yuan in optional equipment subsidies.

For a moment, the price reduction wave overshadowed the heat of sales days, coupled with the weekend sales increase of various new energy vehicle models, many people believe that this was the butterfly effect caused by Xiaomi's SU7.

The first quarter ended amidst the hustle and bustle surrounding Xiaomi's SU7, and the second quarter began with major car companies starting a new round of price wars.

It can be seen that rankings and fierce battles will be the main theme of April, which begins today.

Let's take a look at the imprint of March in the increasingly turbulent Chinese new energy vehicle sector.

Nio

In March, Nio delivered a total of 11,900 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 14.34% and a month-on-month increase of 45.92%.

On March 27th, Nio announced a downward adjustment to its first-quarter delivery target, from 31,000 to 30,000 units. From January to March, Nio delivered a total of 30,000 new vehicles, in line with the adjusted expectations.

Targeting gasoline car users, Nio announced today the introduction of up to 1 billion yuan in gasoline car replacement subsidies. Gasoline car users who switch to Nio's 2024 new models can receive an additional 10,000 yuan in optional equipment subsidy.

With the launch of the 2024 new models approaching, Nio released a new BaaS strategy in mid-March, reducing monthly rentals, regaining purchasing power for previously paid monthly rental fees, and allowing the renewal gift funds to be used to purchase new vehicles from Nio's second and third brands.

After communicating with users, Li Bin also started a live broadcast on Douyin that evening, responding to topics such as BaaS, past comments, rumors about Ideal MEGA and HiPhi's bankruptcy. The video he co-produced with Lei Jun on March 28th further strengthened Nio's presence on social media platforms.

Nio's comprehensive navigation assistance testing, which initially only recruited internal employees, expanded to recruit a hundred-person navigation team, a thousand-person navigation team, and expanded to a scale of recruiting 20,000 people. The launch of the 20,000-person navigation team is also an important step in preparing for the full-scale deployment of Nio's comprehensive navigation assistance function In terms of sub-brands, Nio announced the naming of its sub-brand as "LeDao", and Li Bin also showcased a wave of LeDao L60's space on Douyin.

For Nio, which does not plan to launch new cars this year, LeDao will be an important increment to achieve. What kind of performance will it bring? Will the launch of the 2024 new car spark new excitement?

XPeng

The X9 has become XPeng's "load-bearing wall". In March, XPeng delivered a total of 9026 units, a year-on-year increase of 28.91% and a month-on-month increase of 98.51%, still not exceeding ten thousand. Among them, the XPeng X9 delivered 3946 units.

Based on the X9 data, the combined delivery volume of XPeng's P5/P7i/G6/G9 four models in March was 5080 units.

From January to March, XPeng delivered a total of 21,800 new vehicles, with the XPeng X9 delivering 7872 units in the first three months after its launch. Looking at 2478 units in January and 1448 units in February, post-holiday production capacity recovery and the resolution of individual supply chain bottlenecks are helping XPeng fulfill its promise of capacity improvement for the X9.

In the three months since the X9 was launched, its proportion in the total delivery volume has been around 1/3, becoming one of XPeng's main selling models.

XPeng needs to find diverse and balanced growth points for itself, and price adjustment is one method.

Today, the 2024 XPeng G9 series has reduced prices by 20,000 yuan and introduced a top optional discount of up to 8,000 yuan. After the adjustment, its price range is 243,900 to 339,900 yuan.

In addition, the XPeng P7i welcomed the 702 Max Pengyi Edition on March 25th, and introduced two limited exclusive colors priced at 249,900 yuan to further strengthen the P7i lineup.

It is worth noting that in its WeChat official account post on March delivery data, it mentioned "In April, XPeng's new brand will debut at the Beijing Auto Show", which refers to the sub-brand MONA mentioned by He Xiaopeng at the Hundred People's Conference before. This brand will launch an A-class car in the 100-150 thousand yuan range with advanced intelligent driving functions.

With the price reduction of the 2024 G9, the launch of the P7i 702 Max Pengyi Edition, and the new wave of attention in the new energy field, will XPeng's deliveries in April heat up faster?

Li Auto

For Li Auto, March can be considered a "busy autumn".

In March, Li Auto delivered 29,000 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 39.2% and a month-on-month increase of 43.12%. Although it is far from the over 50,000 units previously expected at the financial report meeting, compared to February, the order recovery performance is better, and it has become the first Chinese new energy vehicle company to deliver a cumulative total of 700,000 vehicles On March 27, Li Auto lowered its delivery target for the first quarter of 2024 from 100,000-103,000 vehicles to 76,000-78,000 vehicles, a decrease of between 24,000-25,000 vehicles.

From January to March, Li Auto delivered a total of 80,400 new vehicles.

Compared to Li Auto's previous plans, the delivery volume in March did not meet expectations, which may be related to the listing of MEGA.

On March 1, Li Auto held a spring launch event, officially launching the 2024 L series and MEGA.

However, most people did not anticipate that this event would become the beginning of Li Auto's public relations crisis, which still lingered a month later.

On March 21, facing public criticism, Li Auto seemed to step out of the excessive enthusiasm for MEGA. Li Xiang stated in an internal memo that MEGA "significantly reduced the sales team's time and energy to serve L series users," indicating a shift in focus back to the L series.

Subsequently, with orders falling short of expectations, Li Auto announced the adjustment of its first-quarter target. The month of March for Li Auto oscillated between public scrutiny and strategic adjustments.

The first pure electric vehicle model faced challenges, orders for the 2024 L series fell short of expectations, and Li Auto is set to launch the L6 and three new pure electric vehicle models this year. Aito's new M7 was also announced today with a price reduction, seen as a pursuit of the L series and a preemptive move against the L6.

Li Auto's next steps may be more cautious.

ZEEKR

The initial volume of the new ZEEKR 001 will take time. In March, ZEEKR delivered 13,000 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 95.29% and a month-on-month increase of 73.26%.

From January to March, ZEEKR delivered a total of 33,100 new vehicles.

Its two main models compete with the Xiaomi SU7. On the first day of April, ZEEKR launched the ZEEKR 007 rear-wheel drive enhanced version, priced at 209,900 yuan, reducing the purchase threshold by 20,000 yuan compared to before.

Like other models, the ZEEKR 007 rear-wheel drive enhanced version still comes standard with 800V, 0-100 km/h acceleration in 5.4 seconds, and a CLTC pure electric range of 870 km, clearly targeting the Xiaomi SU7.

As for the new ZEEKR 001, the new car broke 30,000 units in the first month of launch. On the last day of March, the new ZEEKR 001 broke 2,000 units, showing a strong momentum in order growth Meanwhile, ZEEKR officially announced on March 22nd that its fifth model will be named "ZEEKR MIX". The new car is positioned as a five-seater all-electric MPV, with dimensions of 4688/1995/1755mm (length/width/height), a wheelbase of 3008mm, equipped with Contemporary Amperex Technology's ternary lithium battery and Quzhou ZJDR's 310kW electric motor, with optional laser radar.

With the influence of Xiaomi's SU7, ZEEKR faces an additional challenge besides production capacity. With the positive reception of ZEEKR 001 and the lowered threshold of ZEEKR 007, can ZEEKR achieve a monthly delivery volume exceeding 20,000 units this year?

Aito

Aito was the first among the new forces to submit its performance, delivering a strong performance.

In March, Aito delivered a total of 31,700 new vehicles, a 50.07% increase compared to the previous month. Among them, Aito's new M7 delivered 24,600 units, marking the first complete month of deliveries after the official launch. The M9 delivered 6,243 units, while the M5 only delivered 886 units.

From January to March, Aito has delivered a total of 85,800 new vehicles, firmly holding the leading position among the new forces.

Last month, the combined delivery volume of M5 and M9 in February was 2,663 units. This month, the single model M9 surged to 6,243 units, still in the phase of increasing production capacity. With over 60,000 pre-orders for the M9, delivery figures may continue to rise.

Today, Aito announced a price reduction of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan across its new M7 lineup. The five/six-seater rear-wheel-drive version without laser radar is reduced by 20,000 yuan, while the intelligent driving version with laser radar is reduced by 10,000 yuan, still including a 15,000 yuan technology package. The five-seater four-wheel-drive version without laser radar maintains its price.

After the adjustment, the starting price of the new M7 is 229,800 yuan.

The price reduction of the new M7 by Aito seems more like a response to the upcoming Li Auto L6. Both are extended-range SUVs, with the latter positioned in the 250,000-300,000 yuan range. The price reduction of the new M7 is also a challenge to the pricing of the Li Auto L6.

In March, Aito also conducted OTA upgrades for its entire lineup, stating that all models "now have advanced intelligent driving capabilities nationwide," fulfilling Richard Yu's previous promise of "driving everywhere in the country."

However, while the spotlight shines on Aito's new M7 and M9, the delivery figures of the M5, which are less than a thousand units, are also worth noting. It is rumored that Aito may introduce a facelift version of the M5 at the Beijing Auto Show. Can Aito reach new heights in the second quarter?

Leapmotor

Leapmotor can be said to be the representative of "silent prosperity". Although its online presence is not high, in the WeChat public account push of March delivery data, it confidently labeled itself as "standing firm at the forefront of the new forces" In March, Leapmotor delivered 14,600 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 136.02% and a month-on-month increase of 121.85%. From January to March, Leapmotor has delivered a total of 33,400 new vehicles.

Focusing on the 2024 L series models, Leapmotor released its first global model, the Leapmotor C10, on March 2, priced at 128,800-168,800 yuan. The new C11, new C01, and new T03 were also released simultaneously.

Meanwhile, in response to the current trend of car-to-driver interconnection, Leapmotor announced on March 15 that it will collaborate with Huawei to develop Leapmotor's car app based on HarmonyOS NEXT Hongmeng Star River Edition, enhancing its strength in ecological interconnection.

Looking at Leapmotor's full-year financial report for 2023, although the net loss was 4.216 billion yuan, the loss range is narrowing, and gross profit and cash flow have turned positive, showing an overall upward trend.

Recently, there have been rumors of Leapmotor's collaboration with Stellantis. Reports like Autonews mentioned that the Leapmotor T03 will be produced at Stellantis' factory in Poland. The authenticity of the news is unclear, but cooperation with Stellantis will help Leapmotor expand its presence internationally.

While it is certainly encouraging for Leapmotor to solidify its position in the forefront of new forces in terms of delivery volume, the next step for Leapmotor is whether there will be more measures to increase the gross profit of its models.

Nezha

In March, Nezha has not completely overcome its sales volume difficulties, delivering 8,317 new vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 17.55% and a month-on-month increase of 36.68%.

From January to March, Nezha has delivered a total of 24,400 new vehicles, compared to 26,200 vehicles in 2022.

On March 7, it was reported by the media that Nezha's Nanning factory had been shut down for nearly 20 days. Subsequently, Nezha CEO Zhang Yong responded that the Nanning factory is an export base, with a task of exporting 50,000 to 60,000 sets of KD parts this year, implying that the factory will not be shut down for an extended period.

In today's delivery volume poster, Nezha also mentioned the reconstruction and expansion project of its Tongxiang factory, which will have a "significant impact" on production in March and April. Production capacity will gradually increase starting in late April, indicating that Nezha's delivery volume in April may not see a significant increase.

Last year, Zhang Yong mentioned that Nezha had shortcomings in marketing and would personally lead related work this year On March 26th, Nezha invited one of the investors, Zhou Hongyi, to live stream together. During the live stream, Zhou Hongyi openly criticized Nezha's vehicle naming confusion and pointed out issues with the live stream arrangement, stating that Nezha lacks marketing skills and cannot effectively promote good products.

It is difficult to determine if this was arranged by both parties, but what is certain is that this incident brought a wave of traffic to Nezha.

Following this, Daniel Zhang posted on Weibo: "Accepting Old Zhou's criticism, learning marketing from Lei Jun, not embarrassing!"

For Nezha, the upcoming Nezha L to be listed in April is an important model for its revival. Can Nezha L help Nezha "turn the tide"?

Voyah

Voyah is also recovering from the Chinese New Year holiday. In March, Voyah delivered 6,122 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 102.24% and a month-on-month increase of 92.39%.

From January to March, Voyah delivered a total of 16,300 new vehicles.

Voyah will launch new models in 2023, including Voyah Dreamer, Voyah Light Chaser, and Voyah FREE, and has completed the puzzle of intelligent driving on multiple models.

In March, Voyah's 1 billion yuan replacement subsidy had a certain stimulating effect on sales growth. Specifically, Dreamer can get 30,000 yuan, FREE 20,000 yuan, Light Chaser PHEV 10,000 yuan, and Light Chaser EV 50,000 yuan.

Voyah's monthly delivery data is gradually increasing, and more importantly, its parent company Dongfeng Motor Group has been active in the field of new energy vehicles recently.

First, Dongfeng Yipai 007 was listed, followed by Dongfeng Fengshen L7 debut, with a comprehensive range of 1500 kilometers. Dongfeng stated that its goal is to sell 1 million new energy vehicles this year and achieve a 1:1 ratio of independent and joint venture sales by 2025.

With Yipai and Fengshen making moves, will Voyah have new actions before the Beijing Auto Show?

Aion

Aion, which recently took over GAC Mitsubishi, sold a total of 32,500 new vehicles in March, a year-on-year decrease of 18.71% and a month-on-month increase of 95.07%.

From January to March, Aion sold a total of 74,200 new vehicles, aiming for 78,300 in 2023.

In March, Aion adjusted the 80 MAX version of Aion Y PLUS and Aion V PLUS. The former launched the 310 Star Edition for 99,800 yuan in response to BYD's price reduction trend, while the latter officially reduced the price by 23,000 yuan to 186,900 yuan On the 21st of the same month, Ai An acquired Guangzhou Mitsubishi, which withdrew from the Chinese market, for 2 billion yuan. The core assets of Guangzhou Mitsubishi will be used for the capacity expansion of GAC Ai An. Currently, GAC Ai An has a production capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year, and Ai An's sales are expected to exceed 480,000 vehicles in 2023.

After the expansion of Ai An's factory is completed, its production capacity will reach 600,000 vehicles per year.

As the ride-hailing market becomes saturated, Ai An has been seeking upward development, but the sales of the Haobo brand have been unsatisfactory. Ai An stated that both Ai An and Haobo will soon launch new products to further enhance the level of intelligent driving and battery life experience.

For Ai An's upward journey, 2024 will require more powerful actions.

BYD

As usual, ending with the "big brother" BYD, in March, BYD sold 302,500 new vehicles, with 301,600 passenger cars sold, an increase of 147.8% compared to the previous month.

The Dynasty and Ocean jointly sold 286,700 vehicles, the Tang sold 10,300 vehicles, the Yuanwang sold 1,090 vehicles, and the Fangcheng Leopard sold 3,550 vehicles.

From January to March, BYD's cumulative sales of passenger cars reached 624,400 vehicles.

The significant increase in BYD's sales in March is attributed to the launch of its Honor Edition models. Since February, BYD has successively launched Honor Editions of multiple models such as Qin PLUS, Destroyer 05, Han, Tang, Song PLUS, Song Pro, Leopard, and Dolphin, with increased configurations and reduced prices. March may be a breakthrough for consumers after the consideration period.

Also in March, BYD celebrated the production of its 7 millionth new vehicle. The 7 millionth new vehicle from BYD is the newly launched Tang N7, with a price range of 231,800 to 321,800 yuan, featuring upgrades in intelligent driving, appearance, and smart cockpit.

BYD Group's sales exceeded 3.02 million vehicles in 2023. A BYD spokesperson once stated in an interview that in 2024, sales will maintain a growth of over 20% from 2023, estimating at least 3.6288 million vehicles.

With the "Honor" blessing, can BYD achieve this goal?

Conclusion

For many car companies today, it seems that the importance of announcing new car purchase policies is more significant than delivery data.

To be fair, except for BYD and Aito, the performance of most companies in the first quarter is not ideal. Most are still in the process of finding themselves, while a small portion is still hesitating.

The automotive industry in March continues the strange phenomenon since the beginning of the year: on one hand, there are hot products like Xiaomi SU7 appearing, creating a lively atmosphere, while on the other hand, some car companies are still searching for breakthroughs, hinting at a cold wind 2024 is a year of transformation for Chinese new energy vehicle companies. Such a phenomenon is hard to avoid, but even with mental preparation, it is still hard not to feel emotional.

In any case, for Chinese new energy vehicle companies, now is not the time to hit the brakes urgently, and the market does not even allow for a slowdown.

April has already shown the cruelty in the new energy field. How will this bloody and transformative year end? Let's wait and see.

Author: Siwei, Source: Electric Planet N, Original Title: "March Delivery Report: AITO Aito breaks through 30,000, Xiaomi's listing marks a new turning point"