Li Xiang One’s hybrid SUV is on display at the 18th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition at China Export and Export Construction Center on November 23, 2020 in China.
Li Zhihao | China Vision Group Getty Images
BEIJING – As 2021 begins, a January slide delivery puts Chinese automaker Li Auto in third place behind its startup rivals Nio and Xpeng.
Li Auto said on its late Monday Nasdaq listing, Eastern Time, delivered 5,379 Li One SUVs in January. That’s down from 6,126 in December and lower than 7,225 at Nio and 6,015 delivered at Xpeng for January.
Li Auto also announced the establishment of a new research and development center in Shanghai for autonomous driving and other technologies related to electric vehicles.
Shares of Li Auto dominated its peers in U.S. trade fell Tuesday, down 5.7% against a loss of around 4.6% for Xpeng and 2.1% for Nio. Tesla shares rose 3.9%.
Competition for high-end electric SUVs increased in January with Tesla announcing that it would begin delivering its China-made Model Y at a price close to the price of cars from Nio and Li Auto. Tesla delivered 180,570 electric cars worldwide in the last three months of 2020 alone.
The Li One SUV is Li Auto’s first and only model to date. It was the best-selling high-end electric SUV in 2020 and even made it into the top 10 list for high-end SUVs overall, along with Nio, according to the Cargo Association -China travel.
Morgan Stanley analysts said the Li One SUV stands out for its fuel tank that can charge the battery and extend the driving range from 620 kilometers (385 miles) to 800 kilometers. total.
One of the biggest concerns of Chinese consumers about buying an electric car is whether it runs out of battery power too quickly, with no nearby charging station or long charging times.
January delivery of 5,379 Li One SUVs still marked a fourfold increase from the same period a year ago, and cumulative delivery has exceeded 38,900 since the vehicle was launched in December 2019, according to Li Auto.
That’s less than half of the more than 82,800 vehicles Nio said were delivered at the end of January. Nio has three SUV models on the market, and they plan to start delivering a sedan next year.