Deliveries for July

Shares in Li Auto and Xpeng rose 8.9% and 6.4%, respectively, ahead of the companies' delivery reports. Chinese start-up Li Auto reported another record delivery of its Li ONE electric vehicle last month, surpassing its rival for the second consecutive month.

Chinese electric car makers Li Auto (LI) and XPeng (XPEV) on Sunday issued press releases on their electric car deliveries for July.

Li Auto's July delivery results for its only electric car, Li ONE, were better than its larger rival XPeng for the second consecutive month.

Their even larger rival NIO (NIO) has not yet reported deliveries for July. NIO will report its financial results for the second quarter on Wednesday, 11 August.

According to Li Auto's report, deliveries of Li ONE electric vehicles to customers for July rose 11.4 per cent year-on-year and 251.3 per cent year-on-year to 8,589 units. The result marked a new milestone for Li of 8,000 vehicles and a new record.

This is also higher than XPeng reported on Sunday, with deliveries for July at 8,040 units, up 228% on last year and 22% on the previous month. The company sells XPeng P7 electric sedans and XPeng G3 SUVs, with deliveries of 6,054 and 1,986 units respectively for July. From the start of the year to July 31, XPeng delivered just 38,778 units, a 388% increase on the same period last year.

According to Li Auto, Li ONE has delivered a total of 38,743 units since the beginning of 2021. Since the company entered the market, Li ONE's cumulative deliveries have totalled 72,340 units.

Li Auto's chairman and CEO, recently stated that "Li ONE became the second best-selling electric SUV in China in the first quarter".

While ramping up production, Li Auto is also accelerating the expansion of its direct sales and service network.The company has 109 retail shops and 176 service centres in 67 cities across China.

In April, Xpeng unveiled the P5 sedan with a new autopilot at a cheaper price than the Tesla Model 3. Deliveries of the P5, which will come in six versions, are due to start in the fourth quarter.

In July, NYSE-listed Xpeng dual-listed its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at $42.52 per share, raising the equivalent of $1.8 billion.