What’s new: Electric vehicle upstart Xpeng Inc. topped domestic rivals with almost 100,000 sales in 2021 despite widening losses.
Xpeng delivered 98,200 vehicles last year, up 263% year-on-year. The figure outpaced Nio Inc.’s 91,400 units and Li Auto Inc.’s 90,500 units, according to the latest company data.
Despite upbeat sales, Xpeng posted a widening 2021 net loss of 4.86 billion yuan ($761 million), nearly 80% more than the previous year. Revenue more than tripled to 21 billion yuan, according to the company’s financial report.
Rival Nio reported a loss of 4 billion yuan, and Li Auto red ink of 321 million yuan. Revenues of Nio reached 36.1 billion yuan, and of Li Auto, 27 billion yuan.
Xpeng’s gross profit margin was 12.5%, compared with 18.2% for Nio and 21.33% for Li Auto.
The context: Xpeng’s widening loss was mainly due to increased research spending and marketing costs, the company said. Xpeng invested 4.1 billion yuan in research and development in 2021, up 138.4% year-on-year. Marketing-related costs rose 81.7% to 5.3 billion yuan.
Xpeng priced its vehicles lower than competitors’. Three of the company’s currently available models cost between 168,900 yuan and 350,000 yuan, lower than the averages for Nio and Li Auto vehicles.
Xpeng Chairman He Xiaopeng said the company is making efforts to push its profit margin above 25% and is negotiating with battery suppliers to control costs.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bob.simison@caixin.com)
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