Competitors in the production of electric cars

The Wednesday delivery report from Chinese electric car makers Nio (NIO), Li Auto (LI) and Xpeng (XPEV) showed the ongoing problem of chip shortages in the automotive industry, which are limiting the pace of production and sales.

Among the three start-ups, Li Auto was the most successful, as the company outperformed its rivals in terms of auto sales for August.

Nio shares, down 19.8% YTD and down 4.45% in the last quarter, fell 0.6% on Wednesday.

Xpeng shares, down 4.8% YTD but up 13.4% in the last quarter, were down sharply by 4% on Wednesday.

Li Auto shares fared better, up 5.7% YTD, adding +22% over the last quarter, but closing down 1.26% on Wednesday.

Nio's August delivery report

Sales with deliveries to NIO customers totalled 5,880 vehicles: 1,738 flagship ES8 SUVs (6-7-seater), 2,342 ES6s and 1,800 EC6 five-seater SUVs.

This is an increase of 48.3% compared to August last year, but well below the figure of 7,931 Nio deliveries in July.

In addition, due to constraints in the chip supply chain, the manufacturer has had to reduce its own car delivery forecast for the third quarter (ending September 30) from a range of 23,000 25,000 electric vehicles to 22,500 23,500.

Nevertheless, this is higher than the 21,896 cars delivered by Nio for the second quarter. In addition, the company said that the volume of new orders reached a record high due to rising demand.

Xpeng shipments report for August

XPeng sold and delivered 7,214 electric vehicles to customers: 6,165 P7 sedans and 1,049 G3 SUVs. This is a 172% increase on last August, but lower than the 8,040 vehicles XPeng delivered in July.

In total, the Chinese startup has delivered 45,992 electric cars since the start of the year, up 334% on last year.

Li Auto's August delivery report

As for Li Auto, it was the only automaker to report an increase in shipments in August compared to July: 9,433 Li ONE electric SUVs versus 8,589 respectively.

Li Auto's delivery growth rate compared to August last year is the highest among competitors with 248%, a figure that becomes a record every month. Total deliveries in the first eight months of 2021 and Li ONE's cumulative deliveries reached 48,176 and 81,773 respectively.