Domestic new energy carmakers defy chip and battery shortages to hit new sales targets in March
Chinese EV makers disclosed their March sales performance on the first day of April, with XPeng leading the pack and new entrants NETA and Leapmotor posting better-than-expected growth numbers.
XPeng topped the list with a delivery of 15,414 cars, up 202% year on year (YoY).
NETA ranked second with 12,026 units, increasing 270% YoY. Li Auto came in third, selling 11,034 cars, 125% higher than a year ago.
Fourth-placed Leapmotor, which crossed the 10,000 monthly delivery mark for the first time, saw consumers taking delivery of 10,059 of its cars, up 212% compared with the same period last year.
NIO ranked fifth with a sales of 9,985 units, a YoY increase of 38%.
XPeng eclipsed other companies in Q1 deliveries on the back of the solid performance of its P7 sedan. P7 alone sold 9,183 units in March, the highest of all electric carmakers.
The company's founder and CEO He Xiaopeng said during the company's earnings call for the 2021 fiscal year that the model would pursue a monthly sales target of 10,000 this year.
He’s remarks came after the new energy car maker upgraded its Zhaoqing plant in southern China’s Guangdong Province during the Chinese spring festival, in an effort to speed up production of its lineup.
NETA used to be regarded as a second-tier NEV brand after XPeng, Li Auto and NIO, together christened China’s EV-making “New Force” in Chinese media.
It prices its products from CNY 100,000 to CNY 200,000, which is lower than its peers’.
But the latest delivery figures make NETA a hopeful to enter the ranks of first-tier "New Force" players, and even -- according to some observers -- unseat the former frontrunner NIO from the top three.
Leapmotor also surprised the market with a 193% month-on-month growth. But unlike NETA's primary focus on the mid-market, the company will release C01, a higher-end and medium-to-large-sized sedan, in the second quarter to mark its journey toward brand premiumization.