Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startups Nio, WM Motor, and Xpeng Motors ranked as the top three EV startups by units sold in 2019, but all of them have failed to reach their targeted sales for 2019, according to data compiled by local tech media outlet 36Kr.
Tencent-backed EV maker Nio outperformed other competitors by selling 20,565 units in 2019. Its 5-seater ES6 premium electric SUV, released in June 2019, sold 11,433 units, while the carmaker’s first production model, the 7-seater ES8 SUV, sold 9,132. Baidu-backed WM Motor only sold 16,810 units of its first production vehicle, the EX5, while Alibaba-backed Xpeng delivered 16,608 units of its also first SUV, the G3.
However, none of these EV startups met their 2019 sales targets. Xpeng did the best, fulfilling about 41% of its 40,000 units target. Nio, which expected to sell between 40,000 and 50,000 units by the end of 2019, only reached about 20% its goal, while WM reached just 16% of its 100,000-unit target.
China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) sales have slumped 4% year-on-year to about 1.2 million units in 2019, representing the first decline in 10 years. After the government announced a 50% reduction in NEV subsidies in June, sales of NEVs contracted for six consecutive months, reaching a 27.4% decrease in December compared to the same month in 2018. NEVs include EVs along with other cars powered by renewable energies, like hydrogen fuel and electric hybrids.
China’s local EV startups have also taken a hit as Tesla started delivering its China-made Model 3 last month. The US-based EV maker said in a recent statement that the Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai has started producing Model 3 at a run-rate of 3,000 vehicles per week. It has also announced the launch of the Model Y project, the company’s fifth car to hit the road, which will be assembled in the new Shangai factory.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.