On August 15, Li Auto released weekly sales data in China for week 32 of 2023 (August 7 – 13). The sales are rounded and derived from insurance registration monitored by CMBI, which Li Auto uses as background data.
In week 32 (W32), Li Auto delivered 7,200 units in China, remaining flat from the previous week (W31). It is worth noting Li Auto only sell range-extended vehicles (EREVs), which are EVs with petrol engine (ICE) that is not connected to wheels and works as a power generator for the battery. Li Auto plans to launch the first all-electric vehicle next year.
Nio occupies the second spot with 3,300 delivered vehicles. It is down 23% from last week (W31) when the Hefei-based EV maker delivered 4,300 units. The record weekly sales culminated the week before that (W30) when Nio delivered 5,400 units thanks to its facelifted bestseller Nio ES6 2023, launched in June. The new Nio ES6 contributed 50% of all Nio sales in July. Previously, CEO and co-founder William Li said that if this car didn’t sell well, he would need to find a new job. So he must be happy he can keep his position.
The third spot among Chinese brands goes to Changan’s EV brand Deepal (Shenlan), which sold 2,900 units, -6% from the last week when they sold 3100 units. Deepal currently sells two cars in China – an SL03 sedan and an S7 SUV.
Xpeng sold 2,800 units, down 10% from the previous week. This is slightly disappointing as the Xpeng G6 SUV carried (and still carries) huge expectations for the company as a budget Tesla Model Y competitor. Also, the deal with Volkswagen from last month was supposed to kick the sales.
Leapmotor sold 2,600 EVs, mostly budget electric city cars, and BYD’s Denza 2,600 vehicles; they have three premium vehicles on sale: MPVs D9 and SUVs N7 and N8.
Budget EV maker Neta delivered 19000 cars, down 17% from last week, and Geely’s premium brand Zeekr delivered 1,700 EVs, down 32%. Zeekr had big expectations from its mid-size SUV Zeekr X, which also got great reviews and is expected to be exported to Europe soon. Aside from X, Zeekr sells 001 shooting brake and 009 MPV.
Huawei’s Aito delivered 700 units, which is 20% down from the previous week, but still enough to keep in the top 10. Great Wall Motors brand Wey sold 600 units.
Tesla delivered 14,000 units in China in W32, up from 12,800 units the previous week.
Li Auto also released the top 10 NEV-selling brands leaderboard. NEV is a Chinese shortcut for New Energy Vehicles, including BEV + PHEV vehicles. Well, to be precise, also hydrogen FCEVs, but this kind of vehicles have nearly non-existent sales.
BYD remained mostly flat from the previous week (W31) with 44,400 sales. About half of their sales are plugin hybrids. GAC Aion is 14% up with 9,900 sold EVs. Volkswagen and their ID. series is 22% down from W31 with 3,400 delivered EVs. Wuling sold 6,400 EVs, 5% down from W31; most sales contributed to their BYD Seagull rival Wuling Bingo.
