August sales reshuffle: Li Auto, Xpeng, and NIO take the top three spots, Li Auto's sales decline, NIO makes a comeback

If you think the landscape of new energy vehicle startups is already set, the sales figures for August will come as a big surprise to you.

On September 1st, new energy vehicle startups successively announced their delivery volumes for August, and the rankings underwent another major reshuffle.

In terms of single-brand sales, the top three in the delivery rankings for August were Leapmotor (57,066 units), AITO (40,012 units), and XPeng (37,709 units). This top-three ranking of "Leapmotor, AITO, and XPeng" remained the same as in July.

It's worth mentioning that out of the total of 44,579 units announced by Hongmeng Smart Mobility, AITO alone contributed 90% of the sales.

The real reshuffle took place in the second tier: NIO (31,305 units) emerged as a dark horse, jumping from sixth to fourth place. Xiaomi Auto (over 30,000 units) maintained fifth place, while Li Auto (28,529 units) dropped to sixth.

The differentiation among new energy vehicle brands incubated by traditional automakers has become more pronounced.

The comparison between the top two, Deepal and Aion, is quite interesting: Deepal (28,235 units) saw a year-on-year increase of 40.3%, while Aion (27,044 units) experienced a year-on-year decline of 23.5%. One is rising, and the other is falling, reflecting the differences in the transformation strategies and execution capabilities of traditional automakers.

There are also some players with year-on-year increases of one to two times that are worth paying attention to, such as Fangchengbao (16,265 units), Voyah (13,505 units), Avatr (10,565 units), and Wei brand (8,028 units). These brands had relatively low bases during the same period last year and are now starting to gain momentum. Denza (11,993 units) was relatively stable, with a year-on-year increase of 20.1%, showing a steady upward trend.

There were also some players with little change. ZEEKR (17,626 units) had a slight decline, and IM (6,108 units) had almost no year-on-year change. In addition, Jishi (1,358 units) still hovered around the 1,000-unit mark.

However, this landscape is obviously not the final outcome.

Remember the rankings at the beginning of the year? At that time, XPeng had just overtaken Li Auto, Leapmotor was quietly gaining momentum behind Li Auto, and NIO was struggling in the exploration of a multi-brand strategy. Now, Leapmotor has climbed all the way to the first place and led the rankings for six consecutive months, while NIO has become a dark horse, and Li Auto has dropped to sixth.

The most interesting thing about this industry is that there are no eternal winners or losers. In September, a large number of new cars will be launched, including the Li i6, AITO M7, new XPeng P7, and new NIO ES8. These star models will all make their moves, and the landscape of new energy vehicle startups is bound to be shaken up again.

"Leapmotor, AITO, and XPeng" Remain in the Top Three, but Each Faces Challenges

The top three in August were still "Leapmotor, AITO, and XPeng."

Leapmotor delivered 57,000 vehicles in August, breaking its own record and further consolidating its position as the sales champion among new energy vehicle startups.

In terms of sales structure, Leapmotor doesn't rely on a single big hit. Instead, it covers the high-cost-performance market between 60,000 and 200,000 yuan: The C10 and C11, two mid-sized SUVs, have a solid foothold in the mainstream market. The B01, a pure-electric sedan, has established itself in the entry-level market, and the B10, a compact SUV, focuses on both domestic and international markets.

Leapmotor also has another characteristic: Its marketing style is relatively pragmatic. "When some new energy vehicle startups are caught up in various public opinion storms, Leapmotor's low-key strategy of 'not being the first to stand out' and 'not marketing if not good at it' not only saves costs but also avoids some unnecessary controversies," said Ma Ming, an automotive industry insider.

This layout and strategy have given Leapmotor a certain ability to resist risks during market fluctuations, but they have also brought challenges: How can the brand move upmarket? It's relatively easy for a brand to expand from the high end to the low end, but it's more difficult to do the opposite. Most of Leapmotor's best-selling models are priced in the low tens of thousands of yuan.

It is understood that Leapmotor is preparing its D-series models, a brand-new product line mainly targeting the 300,000-yuan market. It also plans to enter the MPV market, competing with the Li MEGA.

In response, Ma Ming said that Leapmotor's core strategy is still to do well in the "alternative market," offering consumers good configurations at half the price to meet the demand for alternatives to luxury cars. However, the majority of the MPV market is occupied by high-end products priced above 300,000 yuan. Whether the "alternative logic" will work remains unknown.

AITO delivered 40,000 vehicles in August, holding on to the second place. However, the slight month-on-month decline indicates that its growth momentum has slowed down.

Source: AITO's official Weibo account

However, AITO accounted for 90% of Hongmeng Smart Mobility's (44,579 units) sales, nearly 5 percentage points higher than in July. Its high-end models have made outstanding contributions.

As of the time of publication, Zhijie and Xiangjie had not announced their August delivery volumes. Hongmeng Smart Mobility only announced the pre-order volumes of some models: The pre-orders for the Xiangjie S9T exceeded 20,000 units within 24 hours of opening, and the pre-orders for the Shangjie H5 exceeded 50,000 units within 18 hours of the pre-sale.

The value of AITO's sales lies in its performance in the high-end market: The AITO M9 delivered 10,067 units, becoming the sales champion in the market segment above 500,000 yuan; the AITO M8 delivered 21,537 units, taking the top spot in the 400,000-yuan market segment. These two models contributed nearly 80% of AITO's sales.

In addition to these two models, the new AITO M7, which will be launched in September, has been highly anticipated. Li Xiao, a channel insider, analyzed that based on the currently revealed information, the new M7 may adopt a strategy of "lowering prices and increasing configurations." However, the launch time has been uncertain because it needs to consider the coordination with other brands' products. "Under this 'big family'-style brand management, AITO needs to maintain its advantage in the high-end market while also making room for its sister brands such as Zhijie and Xiangjie."

Currently, AITO focuses on high-end SUVs, Zhijie specializes in sedans, and Xiangjie targets the entry-level market. This differentiated positioning has, to a certain extent, avoided direct competition. However, as the product line expands, the difficulty of internal coordination will also increase.

XPeng delivered 37,000 vehicles in August, firmly holding on to the third place.

In terms of sales structure, after undergoing adjustments in the second quarter, the delivery volume of the XPeng Mona M03 has rebounded in the past two months and is still the absolute mainstay.

XPeng's key challenge is how to establish a foothold in the market above 200,000 yuan. Therefore, the recently launched new XPeng P7 (with an official guide price of 219,800 - 301,800 yuan) is highly anticipated. It should be noted that the old P7 was once XPeng's star product, with monthly sales reaching 7,000 - 9,000 units at one point. However, by 2024, the average monthly sales had dropped to the 1,000-unit level.

Judging from the pre-order situation, XPeng's strategy of requiring a 99-yuan deposit for the new P7 was quite smart, with the number of orders exceeding 10,000 within seven minutes. However, a booming pre-order volume does not necessarily mean final sales success. The performance of the new P7 will determine XPeng's ranking in the fourth quarter and is even more crucial for its brand upmarket and profitability.

Major Reshuffle in the Second Tier: NIO's Comeback and Li Auto's Decline

Compared with the stable top-tier landscape, the competition in the second tier can be described as "fierce and thrilling."

NIO's performance in August was indeed unexpected. It delivered 31,000 vehicles and rose from sixth to fourth place, returning to the mainstream camp.

Looking at the sub-brands, LeDao delivered 16,434 units, making the greatest contribution. NIO focused on LeDao this month, and the main brand only delivered 10,525 units, a month-on-month decline. Firefly delivered 4,346 units, a small but growing number.

In terms of models, NIO's comeback can be attributed to the LeDao L90. An investor who follows NIO analyzed that the L90 sold well for two reasons: its relatively low price and timely delivery.

The starting price of the L90 is 265,800 yuan, and the starting price under the BaaS (Battery as a Service) rental plan is only 179,800 yuan, which is more cost-effective than the Li i8 (starting at 339,800 yuan) and the AITO M8 EV (pre-sale price starting at 378,000 yuan) launched around the same time. In addition, the sufficient inventory of the L90 has improved NIO's previous problem of long delivery cycles for many models.

The brand marketing strategies between models are also quite delicate. Li Xiao said that since the LeDao L90 and the Li i8 were launched close to each other in time, some of the promotional slogans of the L90 were targeted at the i8. When the top - of - the - line L90 has a similar configuration to the entry - level i8 but at a lower price, it depends on whether consumers are willing to pay an additional premium for the Li brand.

The LeDao L90 succeeded with its cost - effective strategy. But just when the outside world thought that NIO and LeDao would play a high - low combination, NIO played another card - the new NIO ES8 also wants to make a move in the higher - end market with a "cost - effective" strategy: The starting price is 416,800 yuan, and only 308,800 yuan under the BaaS model. Even without considering the latter model, it is more than 80,000 yuan cheaper than the old model.

This model is NIO's biggest bet for September's sales. However, the above - mentioned investor emphasized that even if the new ES8 is a sales success, NIO still has some problems to solve.

Source: NIO's official Weibo account

"Survival is the first step. The next urgent issue is how to price the product line. The impact on the owners of the old ES8 is relatively small, but it's 'awkward' for the owners who bought the ES6 for more than 300,000 yuan." In his view, NIO needs to adjust its entire pricing system.

Xiaomi delivered over 30,000 vehicles in August, ranking fifth. Behind the seemingly stable figures, a brand that has only recently entered the automotive industry is experiencing various growing pains. Recently, there has been a lot of public opinion about Xiaomi Auto, including cancellations of pre - orders for the Ultra, requirements for early payment of the balance, and disputes over delivery.

Ma Ming believes that the direct reason is that the price of the Ultra model in the second - hand market has dropped, which has shaken the confidence of users who have placed orders but have not picked up their cars. In this situation, the response strategies may be distorted, such as "requiring early payment of the balance."

At the root, he believes that Xiaomi lacks experience in selling high - priced products. From the initial sales strategy to the contingency plans for unexpected situations, it seems ill - prepared. "The supply chain complexity, user psychology, and after - sales service systems of automobiles are completely different from those of mobile phones."

The deeper problem lies in production capacity. As of the end of July, Xiaomi had over 400,000 unfulfilled orders. According to the current production capacity, some users will have to wait more than a year to pick up their cars. The official website shows that the delivery cycle for the standard version of the YU7 is 55 - 58 weeks, and the top - of - the - line Max version also has to wait 41 - 44 weeks.

A certain waiting period can be a selling point, but a too - long period means uncertainties. Xiaomi Auto's most urgent task at present is to focus on increasing production capacity and shortening the delivery cycle to avoid more uncertainties due to long waiting periods.

In the long run, Xiaomi is still one of the new energy vehicle startups with the most certain development prospects. However, in the short term, various potential problems may still be exposed, and Xiaomi needs to solve them one by one.

Li Auto delivered 28,529 vehicles in August, dropping from fourth to sixth place. This is the second consecutive month of sales decline for Li Auto.

Li Auto's main problem is that its L - series products are in the replacement period, the performance of the Li i8 is not satisfactory, and a series of recent public opinion storms have had some impact on the entire brand.

"In August, when the Li i8 was not going smoothly and the future of the Li i6 was uncertain, it must have been Li Auto's most passive time." An investor who follows Li Auto said that judging from the performance of the Li MEGA, Li Auto has the ability to correct mistakes.

On September 1st, Li Auto announced that the monthly delivery of the Li MEGA exceeded 3,000 units, achieving the double - champion status in the sales of MPVs above 500,000 yuan and pure - electric vehicles above 500,000 yuan for two consecutive months. In the high - end MPV market segment, the MEGA has indeed found its own position. However, this high - end model is not enough to reverse Li Auto's overall situation.

Li Auto's hopes are basically pinned on the Li i6, which will be launched in September. Li Xiang posted on Weibo and set specific goals for pure - electric models: The monthly sales of the Li i8 will stabilize at 6,000 units, and the monthly sales of the Li i6 will stabilize at 9,000 - 10,000 units. Including the MEGA, the overall monthly sales of pure - electric models will stabilize at 18,000 - 20,000 units. The goal is to "secure the fifth place and strive for the third place" in the high - end pure - electric vehicle market.

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