For the January 1-28 period, Nio was 9,900 units, Xpeng 6,800, Li Auto 27,100, Tesla 35,200 and BYD 168,500.
Insurance registrations in China by major electric vehicle (EV) makers continued to rebound last week, though they remained at low levels, foreshadowing a weak January due to seasonal factors.
For the week of January 22-28, Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) continued to rank first among China's new carmakers with weekly sales of 8,500 units, the company said today on Weibo.
As before, Li Auto didn't explain the basis for calculating the weekly sales, but apparently, they were insurance registrations. The company suspended sharing this data in May 2023, but has since resumed sharing it.
Major automakers are expected to report their deliveries or sales figures for January on Thursday, February 1, and today's weekly insurance registrations will be the last before that.
Li Auto's insurance registrations last week were up 11.84 percent from the previous week's 7,600 units and continue to outpace the Huawei-backed Aito's 8,000 units.
Aito had higher insurance registrations than Li Auto for the first two weeks of January, but the latter regained the lead over Aito for the week of January 15-21.
For January 1-28, Li Auto had 27,100 insurance registrations.
Li Auto delivered a record 50,353 vehicles in December, marking the first time monthly deliveries exceeded the 50,000-unit mark.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) had 3,300 insured registrations in China last week, up 73.68 percent from 1,900 in the previous week.
For January 1-28, Nio had that number at 9,900 units.
Nio delivered 18,012 vehicles in December, the third highest on record, behind July's 20,462 and August's 19,329, according to figures it announced on January 1.
The company announced on January 17 that it would begin deliveries of the 2024 models in early March and begin offering discounts on current models.
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) was 2,200 last week, up 22.22 percent from 1,800 vehicles the week before.
For January 1-28, Xpeng had that figure at 6,800 units.
Xpeng delivered 20,115 vehicles in December, the third consecutive month over the 20,000-unit mark, according to figures it announced on January 1.
Xpeng announced on January 26 that it launched an upgrade project at its Zhaoqing plant in Guangdong province, for which it plans to invest more than RMB 100 million ($13.9 million), involving production lines and logistics equipment in the stamping, welding, painting, and general assembly workshops.
The work will last about 20 days, with all modifications expected to be completed by February 9, and overall production line commissioning to be completed by the end of February.
The upgrade is aimed at preparing for the production of a new model and boosting the plant's capacity, Xpeng said. The company has another plant in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, where it is headquartered.
In addition, Xpeng announced on January 23 that customers who purchase the P7i Wing Edition between January 24 and February 29 will receive a discount of RMB 50,000 off.
The P7i Wing Edition is the highest-priced version of the P7i sedan with a starting price of RMB 339,900, which is reduced to RMB 289,900 after this offer.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) vehicles had 12,800 insurance registrations in China last week, up 9.4 percent from 11,700 the week before.
For January 1-28, Tesla had that number at 35,200 vehicles.
Tesla sold 94,139 China-made vehicles in December, including 75,805 delivered in China and 18,334 exported from its Shanghai plant, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Tesla began the Cybertruck's tour of China on January 28 with debuts in the first eight cities. The electric pickup may not be available in China anytime soon, but has brought Tesla a significant increase in store visits.
Here are several images Tesla shared on Weibo on January 28 about the large number of visitors the Cybertruck has attracted.
In addition, local media outlet Dongchedi reported on January 28 that the new Tesla Model 3 Performance is expected to go on sale in China in the second quarter, and that it will likely be priced close to RMB 400,000 yuan.
Tesla began sales of the new Model 3, or Highland version, in October 2023 with only an entry and a long-range version available in China.
BYD (OTCMKTS: BYDDF) had 43,300 insurance registrations in China last week, up 7.18 percent from 40,400 in the previous week.
For January 1-28, BYD had that figure at 168,500 units.
BYD sold 341,043 NEVs in December, including 340,178 passenger NEVs, and 865 commercial NEVs, according to figures it announced on January 1.
BYD's earnings preview released yesterday showed a strong 2023, but implied a drop in fourth-quarter net profit from the third quarter.
BYD's premium brand Denza was at 2,300 units last week, up 15 percent from 2,000 units in the previous week.
Denza sold 11,929 units in December, including 10,492 D9 MPVs, 1,035 N7 SUVs, and 402 N8 SUVs.
For the January 1-28 period, Denza was at 7,400 units.
Zeekr was at 3,100 units last week, up 10.71 percent from 2,800 units the week before.
For the January 1-28 period, Zeekr was 10,500 units.
Leapmotor was at 2,700 units last week, unchanged from the previous week.
During the January 1-28 period, Leapmotor was at 10,800 units.
Leapmotor delivered 18,618 vehicles in December, a new all-time record, according to its January 1 release.
Neta was at 1,700 vehicles last week, up 13.33 percent from 1,500 the week before.
During the January 1-28 period, Neta was at 5,000 units.
Neta delivered 5,135 vehicles in December, down 34.12 percent year-on-year and 58.94 percent from November.
($1 = RMB 7.1786)
