China EV registrations showed a year-end race to the finish for Li Auto, XPeng, Nio, China EV and battery giant BYD as well as global EV giant Tesla.
For the week ended Dec. 24, Li Auto registrations came in at 12,100, up 7.1% vs. the prior week. Through Dec. 24, Li Auto has sold 36,400 so far this month. The maker of extended-range electric vehicles, essentially plug-in hybrids has said it could challenge 50,000 in December.
XPeng registrations fell to 3,900 in the latest week, off 18.75% from 4,800 in the previous week. It's sold 12,500 so far in December. XPeng has just topped 20,000 deliveries in October and November.
Nio weekly registrations were 4,100, up 20.6% from 3,400 in the prior week. It's delivered, with 12,000 so far in December. Nio has guided for 47,000-49,000 deliveries in Q4, implying 14,967-16,967 for December.
At Nio Day 2023 on Dec. 23, the EV maker unveiled a new super-premium ET9 sedan, but deliveries won't start until Q1 2025.
BYD weekly registrations ramped up to 563,900, up 23.6% from 51,700 in the week before. Its deliveries are at 180,000 so far in December, though that doesn't include significant overseas sales. Meanwhile, BYD's premium Denza brand had 2,300 deliveries last week. The new F-brand Bao 5 had 1,300 deliveries while the superpremium YangWang U8 hit 400 registrations, both ramping up.
The EV giant is aiming for sales of three 3 million EVs, including plug-in hybrids. BYD needs 316,626 EVs sold in December to hit that mark, ramping up discounts in the past several weeks to do so. BYD will likely top 500,000 sales of fully battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in Q4, which should be enough to seize the BEV crown from Tesla.
Tesla weekly registrations were a hefty 18,500, up slightly from 18,300 in the week before. The EV giant has delivered 60,200 in China this month. China has been a bright spot for Tesla, which is pushing to hit its 2023 global delivery target of 1.8 million EVs. Tesla must deliver almost 476,000 EVs in Q4 to reach that mark. Analysts currently expect 473,000, according to FactSet.
EV Stocks
Li Auto stock popped 3.8% in Tuesday market trading, but came well off intraday highs. Shares tumbled 6% last week amid the China EV price war. XPEV stock rose 1.6%, also near session lows. Shares slumped 4.8% last week. Both reclaimed their 200-day lines after undercutting that key level on Friday.
Nio stock soared 10.8%, racing above its 200-day line. Shares bounced 5.5% last week, but after nearly hitting a three-year low on Dec. 1.
BYD stock, which trades over the counter in the U.S., climbed 0.7%. Shares edged up 0.8% last week, but after hitting a nine-month low.
Tesla stock rose 1.6% to 256.61 Tuesday. Shares edged down 0.4% last week to 252.54, ending a five-week win streak . TSLA stock is trading around various entries. Technically, it has 259.84 buy point from a wafer-thin handle on a weekly chart.
EV Deliveries Due
On Jan. 1, Li Auto, XPeng and Nio will report deliveries for December, the fourth quarter and full year.
BYD will likely release sales on Jan. 1 or 2. Tesla will release its global fourth-quarter and full-year deliveries in early January.
Please follow Ed Carson on Threads at @edcarson1971, X/Twitter at @IBD_ECarson and Bluesky at @edcarson.bsky.social for stock market updates and more.
