New car-making forces saw a surge in sales in the first half of the year, one step closer to profitability

Now it is July, and the new car-making forces have submitted their sales data for the first half of the year.

From January to June, NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto ranked the top three in sales among new car manufacturers, with deliveries of 41,956, 30,783 and 30,154 vehicles, respectively, up 198.15%, 458.16% and 212.0% year-on-year.

Following closely behind are Leapmotor, which was frequently rumored to be bankrupt last year, Nezha, and WM Motor, which ranked third last year. The three companies are in the second tier of new car-making forces in sales with 21,744, 21,104 and 15,665 vehicles respectively.

In the first half of the year, NIO sold more than 40,000 vehicles, with deliveries nearly tripling. Considering its average transaction price is similar to that of BBA, NIO's sales, which have successfully entered the high-end market, are extremely valuable.

Ideal, which once fell out of the top three in sales, returned to the top three with the new Ideal ONE launched at the end of May, but still lost to Xpeng, which has a wider range of models. In addition, Xpeng will also launch the mid-term facelift G3i and the new model P5 in the second half of the year, so there is still room for significant improvement in sales.

However, even in the first echelon of new car-making forces, they have not yet escaped the dilemma of continuing to "burn money". The financial report for the first quarter of 2021 showed that NIO had a net loss of 4.875 billion yuan and Xpeng had a net loss of 786 million yuan.

The industry generally believes that new car manufacturers can only achieve profitability if their annual sales exceed 100,000 vehicles.

In this regard, Citibank analyst Jeff Chung predicts that NIO's annual deliveries this year will reach 93,000 vehicles. It is rumored that Ideal will also set an annual sales target of 100,000 vehicles and link it to employees' year-end bonuses. However, considering that the annual sales volume is only 30,000, this is obviously not easy.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers predicts that the sales of new energy vehicles will reach 2 million in 2021, which is a huge opportunity for new car manufacturers. But at the same time, "Wei, Xiao, and Li Auto" are also facing challenges from Tesla, traditional car companies, and technology companies. The official entry of "catfish" Huawei in the first half of the year has introduced uncertainty to the industry, and the automotive industry is still subject to great uncertainty.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.