By ZHOU Shuqi

It has not been a great year so far for China's EV startups. In the first six months of 2023, Li Auto, Nio and Xpeng sold 54,600, 41,400, and 139,100 vehicles respectively.

Among them, Li Auto is the only one increasing its sales target for the second half. It expects to sell over 100,000 vehicles in Q3 and over 120,000 in Q4. If Li Auto's estimates are correct that means 380,000 vehicles this year, well beyond the target of 300,000 vehicles set at the beginning of the year.

Li Auto's misfiring CEO

LI Xiang, the eponymous CEO of Li Auto, previously said that at the beginning of the year, most of his team wanted a target of around 360,000 vehicles, and it was Li himself who insisted on setting it lower.

It wasn't a smart move as a gap soon appeared between orders to suppliers and orders from customers. It takes more than a quarter to increase the production of several key components.

Li said that the current production is 7,500 vehicles per week, and is expected to reach 8,000 next week, rising 11,000 in Q4.

Nio expands sales team

Jiemian News has learned that Nio is recruiting about 1,000 sales staff. Nio has close to 400 sales and service centers in China.

Nio's sales target for this year is 240,000 vehicles. This means that in the next six months, the company needs to sell at least 30,000 vehicles per month, which seems unlikely.

Unlikely, but not impossible. After cutting the prices of all models by 30,000 yuan, sales in June increased by 74 percent.

Xpeng struggles to deliver

Meanwhile, at Xpeng, CEO HE Xiaopeng sent a message to all employees on Monday, predicting a substantial increase in sales in Q4, with a monthly delivery target of over 20,000 units for all models. Xpeng launched the Xiaopeng G6 last month, with prices starting at 209,900 yuan.

However, Xpeng has shown itself to be unable to ensure stable supply chains and deliver on schedule. Waiting time is up to 12 weeks. Due to poor preparation, the launch of the P7i in March did not lead to many deliveries.

If Xpeng sells 30,000 vehicles in Q3 and 60,000 in Q4, sales would be around 130,000 for the year, a slight increase from last year but way short of the target of 200,000 vehicles.