Nio, BYD see big jumps in March EV deliveries as Tesla's numbers loom

By Tomi Kilgore

Stocks of China-based EV makers rallied after March, Q1 deliveries data

Shares of Nio Inc. rallied Monday, as did those of other China-based electric-vehicle makers, after data showed March deliveries rose sharply from a year ago.

The big increases in deliveries come as U.S.-based EV giant Tesla Inc. is expected to report its numbers, as early as Monday.

Shanghai-based Nio said it delivered 11,866 vehicles in March, up 14.3% from a year ago and 45.9% more than in February. The deliveries included 6,737 sport-utility vehicles and 5,129 sedans.

The company said it started deliveries of the 2024 models of its ES8, ES6, EC7, EC6 and ET5T EV in March, and plans to start delivering new ES7, ET7 and ET5 models "soon," in the second quarter.

Nio's stock (NIO) bounced 1.6% in premarket trading, after closing Friday at a four-year low.

In the first quarter, Nio said it delivered 30,053 EVs, 3.2% less than a year ago.

Meanwhile, shares of Tesla, which generated 22.5% of its 2023 revenue from China, tacked on 0.3% ahead of Monday's open. The FactSet consensus for first-quarter deliveries is 457,000, but expectations have fallen sharply from 494,000 deliveries at the end of January, amid slowing demand and increased competition.

Elsewhere, BYD Co. Ltd. (BYDDY) (HK:1211) said it delivered 302,459 new-energy vehicles in March, up 46.1% from a year ago. The deliveries included 139,901 battery-electric passenger vehicles, or 36.3% more than last year, and a 56.4% increase in plug-in hybrid EVs.

The Shenzhen-based company said it sold 38,434 new-energy passenger vehicles outside of China in March.

For the quarter, new-energy vehicles delivered grew 13.4% to 626,263 vehicles.

BYD's U.S.-listed shares gained 1.8% in Monday's premarket.

Shares of Li Auto Inc. (LI) climbed 3.4% after the Beijing-based company said March deliveries jumped 39.2% from a year ago to 28,984 vehicles, which was also up 43.1% from February. Year-to-date, deliveries of 80,400 EVs were 52.9% more than last year's first quarter.

And XPeng Inc.'s stock (XPEV) advanced 1.8% after the Guangzhou-based company said March delivered climbed 28.9% from a year ago, and rose 98.6% from February, to 9,026 EVs.

For the first quarter, 21,821 EVs were delivered, up 19.7% from last year.

The company said in March it introduced two electric SUVs into the German market, and entered into strategic partnerships with car dealer groups in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia to pave the way to launch right-hand drive G6 models.

XPeng also plans to enter other markets outside China, including France, Italy and the U.K.

-Tomi Kilgore

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04-01-24 0802ET

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