On the track of new energy vehicles, as a new force in car manufacturing, "Weixiaoli" has always been the focus of attention in the industry. Recently, in addition to NIO, both Xiaopeng Motors and Ideal Motors have released their second quarter financial reports.
In the first half of this year, Xiaopeng Motors achieved a revenue of 14.66 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 61.20%, with a net loss of 2.65 billion yuan, a decrease in the magnitude of the loss compared to the same period last year. Ideal Automobile demonstrated its strong competitiveness in the market with a revenue of 54.57 billion yuan and a net profit of 1.69 billion yuan. NIO achieved a revenue of 9.91 billion yuan and a net loss of 5.18 billion yuan in the first quarter. Despite facing losses, the year-on-year decline in revenue has narrowed.
The overall positive trend of 'Wei Xiaoli'
Currently, NIO has not released its financial report for the first half of the year. According to the first quarter financial report, NIO has not yet achieved profitability. Its operating revenue was 9.91 billion yuan, slightly lower than the same period last year, with a net loss of 5.18 billion yuan, a decrease in the year-on-year loss margin. At the same time, NIO delivered 30000 new vehicles in the first quarter, with a gross profit margin of 9.20%, an increase compared to the same period last year. Regarding the fact that NIO has not yet achieved profitability, NIO CEO Li Bin responded, "NIO will always make a profit. We are now prioritizing infrastructure construction... Please be patient, I also hope to make a profit as soon as possible. Even if there is no profit, we will consider infrastructure as a very important investment direction
In its financial report for the first half of the year, Xiaopeng Motors achieved a revenue of 14.66 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 61.20%, with a net loss of 2.65 billion yuan, which narrowed compared to the same period last year. Dr. Gu Hongdi, Honorary Vice Chairman and Co President of Xiaopeng Motors, stated that with the realization of technology cost reduction and technology monetization income from Volkswagen's strategic cooperation, Xiaopeng Motors' gross profit margin further increased to 14% in the second quarter of this year. In addition, Xiaopeng Motors' car delivery volume has also shown a positive growth trend, with a cumulative delivery of 52028 vehicles in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 25.60%.
Ideal Auto achieved a revenue of 31.7 billion yuan in the second quarter, setting a new high for the same period. Based on this, Ideal Automobile's revenue of 54.57 billion yuan and net profit of 1.69 billion yuan in the first half of the year demonstrate its strong competitiveness in the new energy vehicle market. The newly released Ideal L6 has become a new hot selling model, driving steady growth in the company's business performance along with the continuously popular models across the entire range. In addition, Ideal Automobile delivered a total of 108581 new cars in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 25.50%. Its market share in the new energy vehicle market of over 200000 yuan ranks first among Chinese brands, and the overall gross profit margin of the vehicle remains at a healthy level of 19.5%.
New opportunities for the development of the new energy vehicle market
In 2024, the global new energy vehicle market will continue to maintain strong growth momentum. Canalys predicts that the global new energy vehicle market will grow by 27% to 17.5 million vehicles, with a penetration rate of 20%. As the world's largest market for new energy vehicles, China is expected to account for 55.50% of global sales, with local sales approaching 10 million units, accounting for 45% of China's total automobile sales.
Canalys analyst Liu Ceyuan pointed out that popular new energy vehicle models were launched at the end of last year, laying the foundation for sales in 2024. In the Chinese market, new energy vehicles are the core driving force for maintaining sales growth in the Chinese market. In 2024, it is expected that the market share of Chinese automobile brands in the new energy market will further increase to 78%, leading other competitors.
In the domestic market, the growth of production and sales of new energy vehicles has made significant contributions to the overall growth of the automotive industry. In 2023, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China will reach 9.587 million and 9.495 million respectively, an increase of 35.80% and 37.90% year-on-year, accounting for over 60% of the global production and sales volume. From January to April 2024, the export volume of new energy vehicles in China was 663000 units, a year-on-year increase of 27%. Among them, the export volume of passenger cars was 649000 units, a year-on-year increase of 30%.
In the international market, China's exports of new energy vehicles will reach 1.735 million units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 55%. Among them, the export of pure electric vehicles will reach 1.545 million units, a year-on-year increase of 63%, accounting for 92%; 138000 plug-in hybrid vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 46%, accounting for 8%. This trend will continue in 2024, with an export volume of 663000 vehicles from January to April, a year-on-year increase of 27%, demonstrating the competitiveness of China's new energy vehicles in the international market. In such a market environment, Chinese new energy vehicle companies are facing enormous market opportunities and challenges.
Technology and strategy remain the core driving forces
In the increasingly fierce competition in the new energy vehicle industry, technological innovation and market strategy formulation have become the key to whether enterprises can maintain competitiveness. Despite facing financial losses, NIO's investment in technology research and development has not decreased. In 2023, NIO's research and development expenses reached 13.4314 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.9%. This continuous high investment demonstrates NIO's emphasis on technological innovation. Previously, Li Bin had repeatedly stated in public that "NIO's losses mainly come from research and development investment". In addition, NIO's continuous innovation in autonomous driving, battery technology, and user service experience is expected to translate into market competitiveness in the future.
Xiaopeng Motors, committed to being a "future travel explorer", launched a cooperation agreement with Volkswagen in July this year. The two sides signed a strategic cooperation and joint development agreement for electronic and electrical architecture technology, and will fully invest in developing industry-leading electronic and electrical architecture for Volkswagen's CMP and MEB platforms produced in China. At the same time, the first model of the MONA brand, MONA M03, which is a collaboration between Xiaopeng Motors and Didi, has been mass-produced and launched on August 27th. It is reported that the model achieved a large order of over 10000 yuan within 52 minutes of its first day of launch, and received a large order of over 50000 yuan within 72 hours.
Starting from the launch of MONA M03 in August, we have entered a strong product cycle and a favorable period of rapid development. From now until the end of 2026, we will have multiple competitive new products and models intensively launched, "said He Xiaopeng, Chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors. Our plans for AI technology and category innovation, coupled with the achievements of cost reduction through technology, will be reflected in these products, and will be sold in the Chinese and global markets through a stronger marketing system, which will bring us sustainable growth in sales
Ideal cars have also made significant investments in intelligent driving technology. In the second quarter of 2024, the R&D expenses of Ideal Automobile reached 3 billion yuan, all of which were invested in the development of core technologies such as intelligent driving and intelligent space, promoting high-frequency and high-quality iteration of product strength and exceeding user needs. In addition, Ideal Full Scale Push No Image NOA achieves nationwide coverage, with a user intelligent driving penetration rate of over 99% and a cumulative mileage of over 1.11 billion kilometers; The release of a dual system intelligent driving technology architecture based on end-to-end and visual language models marks a technological breakthrough and provides a new paradigm for the industry.
At the same time, Ideal Auto continued to strengthen its sales strategy and optimize its sales network structure in the second quarter of this year. By opening new center stores and upgrading mall stores, the proportion of center stores was increased to 31%, and the total number of booths in stores increased by 13% compared to the previous quarter.