Electric car startups double shipments in first 10 months

Chinese electric car startups delivered a total of 104,000 units in the first 10 months of this year, a jump of 104.32 percent year on year amid rising momentum in the new-energy vehicle sector, according to auto insurance data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

In October, car insurance policies on Chinese electric car startups reached 16,756 units, an increase of 157.78 percent, data from the commission showed.

China's overall new-energy vehicle sales fell 7.1 percent to 901,000 units in the first 10 months of this year, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Sales of new-energy vehicles surged 105 percent year on year to 160,000 units last month, the fourth consecutive month of gains.

With the improving pandemic situation and government policies to promote auto consumption, the decline of new-energy vehicle sales in the first 10 months narrowed compared with the first nine months.

China’s electric car startups are accelerating production and increasing sales as market competition intensifies. Some are raising funds and going public to grab market share.

Based on figures from January to October, the top five startups are still NIO, Li Auto, Xpeng Motors, WM Motor and Hozon Auto. These five companies’ car insurance records in the first 10 months totaled 92,800, accounting for 89.23 percent of total startups insurance data.

NIO remained the market leader, delivering a total of 31,217 vehicles in the first 10 months. Li Auto ranked second with 22,158 units and Xpeng ranked third with 17,257 cars delivered. They were followed by WM Motor, which delivered 11,524 units and Hozon Auto with 10,606 units.

NIO expects 16,500 to 17,000 vehicles will be delivered in the fourth quarter. This means that in the last two months of this year, NIO's minimum monthly deliveries need to reach 5,723 new cars.

As for Li Auto, the company said it has 41 retail centers across the country, covering 36 cities as of October 31. The automaker said it is recruiting more talent amid rising demand.

Guangzhou-based Xpeng Motors said it continues to strengthen investment in branding, sales and charging network.The company hopes to deliver around 10,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2020. This means that in the next two months, Xpeng Motors will have to deliver 3,500 new cars every month.

Industry insiders say that competition is becoming more intense in China, where US electric carmaker Tesla has already lowered prices on its vehicles in the Chinese market.