A Li Xiang One hybrid SUV is on display during the 18th Guangzhou International Motor Show 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 slip in January deliveries places Chinese carmaker Li Auto in third place behind its starting competitors Nio and Xpeng.
Li Auto, listed on the Nasdaq, said late Monday, Eastern Time, that it had delivered 5,379 Li One SUVs in January. It fell from 6,126 in December and below 7,225 Nio deliveries and 6,015 Xpeng deliveries for January.
Li Auto also announced that it is setting up a new research and development center in Shanghai for autonomous driving and other technologies related to electric vehicles.
Li Auto shares fell the most among its US trading colleagues on Tuesday, down 5.7% from a loss of about 4.6% for Xpeng and 2.1% for Nio. Tesla shares rose 3.9%.
Competition for state-of-the-art electric SUVs increased in January, with Tesla announcing that it will soon begin delivering its China-made Model Y at a price close to that of Nio and Li Auto. Tesla has delivered 180,570 electric cars worldwide in the last three months of 2020 alone.
The Li One SUV is the first and only Li Li model so far. It was the best-selling state-of-the-art electric SUV in 2020 and even reached the top 10 for state-of-the-art SUVs in general, along with Nio, according to the China Auto Association.
Morgan Stanley analysts said the Li One SUV stands out with its fuel tank, which can charge the battery and extend its 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 too quickly, without a charging station nearby or with long charging periods.
January deliveries of 5,379 Li One SUVs increased fourfold from the same period a year ago, and cumulative deliveries exceeded 38,900 since the vehicle’s launch in December 2019, according to Li Auto.
This represents less than half of the more than 82,800 vehicles that Nio said it delivered cumulatively at the end of January. Nio has three SUV models on the market and plans to start delivering a sedan next year.