- Deliveries are up more than 400% year-to-date as demand jumps
- Xpeng and Nio shares surged in New York on Tuesday on outlook
Chinese electric-vehicle makerXpeng Inc.is confident of meeting or exceeding its second-quarter delivery targets after posting strong sales growth in May, President Brian Gu said.
And the chip shortage that has crushed global auto production should start to ease later this year, Gu said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.
Xpengdelivered5,686 vehicles in May, taking year-to-date deliveries to 24,173 units, a 427% increase from the first five months of 2020, when the emergence of coronavirus in China squeezed sales.
“We are on track to meet or exceed second-quarter delivery numbers, which I think means Chinese EV demand is still very strong,” Gu said in the interview. “After a short pause during China New Year, the industry has rebounded very strongly and I think the whole year outlook is very, very strong as well.”
U.S.-traded shares of Xpeng andNio Inc.surged in New York on Tuesday after the two Chinese EV makers reported May sales and $Citigroup Inc(C-N)$. boosted its estimates for the industry. The optimism also liftedWorkhorse Group Inc., Nikola Corp., Lordstown Motors Corp. and Fisker Inc., with SNE Research sayingglobal EV battery salesmore than doubled in the first four months of the year.
Xpeng’s American Depositary Receipts closed up 7.7% and Nio jumped 9.6%.
On the chip shortage, Gu said it should start to ease in the second half, and “hopefully by early next year we’ll be back to normal again.”
Carmakers fromVolkswagen AGandStellantis NVtoFord Motor Co.andNissan Motor Co.have warned the chip shortage is set to worsen, whileLi Auto Inc.President Kevin Shen last weeksaidit may last into the start of next year.
Companies have suspended production and are starting to strip out high-tech features to cope with the crisis. The shortage may cost global automakers$110 billionin lost sales, according to AlixPartners.
精彩评论