Electric car startups see accelerated sales

CHINESE electric car startups posted a good performance in January amid rising momentum in the new-energy vehicle sector and improving consumer confidence.

Startups such as NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto reported a sales increase of more than 300 percent year on year.

In January, NIO delivered 7,225 units, a YoY increase of 352 percent, a new high in a single month for six consecutive months. During the same time interval, Xpeng Motors sold 6,015 units, up 470 percent annually, its best delivery record in history for the third consecutive month. Li Auto delivered 5,379 vehicles, a YoY gain of 355 percent.

Wang Binggang, who leads the National 863 Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Project, said consumers’ recognition of NEVs had greatly improved compared with January last year.

The industry association has not released the country’s overall NEV sales figure for January, but Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China

Passenger Car Association said NEV sales in 2021 will be better than expected and continue to develop throughout the year.

Cui added that purchasing was relatively strong before Spring Festival and a certain amount of demand had accumulated during the end of 2020.

Market competition is intensifying as China’s electric car startups accelerate development.

Li Auto announced it is setting up a research and development center in Shanghai. The center aims to develop cutting-edge technologies for smart electric vehicles, such as a high-voltage platform, fast charging, autonomous driving as well as a next generation smart cockpit and development capability for its new car model.

The company said it had already started recruiting for the center and expects to have more than 2,000 staff.

David Zhang, an independent auto consultant, said the product capability, production scale and marketing of electric car startups had greatly improved compared to the same period last year.