A Li Xiang One hybrid SUV is on display during the 18th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition at the China Import and Export Fair Complex on November 23, 2020 in China.
Li Zhihao | Visual China Group | Getty Images
BEIJING – At the beginning of 2021, a drop in January deliveries puts Chinese automaker Li Auto in third place, behind its rookie competitors Nio and Xpeng.
Nasdaq-listed Li Auto said on Monday, Eastern Time, that it delivered 5,379 Li One SUVs in January. This represents a drop from 6,126 in December and below 7,225 and 6,015 deliveries from Nio and Xpeng in January.
Li Auto also announced that it is creating a new research and development center in Shanghai for autonomous driving and other technologies related to electric vehicles.
Li Auto’s shares fell further among their peers in the US trades on Tuesday, down 5.7% against losses of around 4.6% for Xpeng and 2.1% for Nio. Tesla’s shares were up 3.9%.
Competition for state-of-the-art electric SUVs increased in January, with Tesla announcing that it would soon begin deliveries of its China-made Model Y at a price close to that of Nio and Li Auto cars. Tesla delivered 180,570 electric cars worldwide in just the last three months of 2020.
The Li One SUV is Li Auto’s first and only model so far. It was the best-selling high-end electric SUV in 2020 and even entered the list of the top 10 high-end SUVs, along with Nio, according to the China Passenger Car Association.
Morgan Stanley analysts said the Li One SUV stands out for its fuel tank that can charge the battery and extend driving range by 620 kilometers (385 miles) to a total of 800 kilometers.
One of the biggest concerns of Chinese consumers about buying an electric car is whether it will run out of battery very quickly, with no nearby charging station or long charging times.
January deliveries of 5,379 Li One SUVs still mark a four-fold increase over the same period last year, and cumulative deliveries have exceeded 38,900 since the vehicle’s launch in December 2019, according to Li Auto.
That is less than half of the more than 82,800 vehicles that Nio said he had delivered cumulatively by the end of January. Nio has three SUV models on the market and plans to start delivering a sedan next year.