Nio, Li Auto and Xpeng deliveries rebound in May as Chinese smart EV makers recover from Covid lockdown setback

Li Auto’s EV deliveries in May more than doubled to 11,496, the biggest increase among China’s Tesla challengers

Vehicle production resumed partially after supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-related lockdown

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Technicians work on a vehicle production line at Nio’s plant in Hefei, east China’s Anhui province. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:30am, 2 Jun 2022Updated: 1:27am, 2 Jun 2022

Deliveries of smart electric cars (EVs) among China’s Tesla challengers – Nio, Li auto and Xpeng – rebounded in May, as their production recovered from the Covid-related supply chain disruption.

The recovery came even as deliveries to customers were somewhat constrained by the preventive measures imposed by the authorities to stem the spread of the highly-infectious Omicron strain of Covid-19. Shanghai only lifted its lockdown on Wednesday after two months, with the city reopening for business and residents going about their normal activity.

“While the two-month lockdown in Shanghai affected every carmaker in China, smart EV start-ups seemed to have built an adequate inventory of components which helped them offset the negative impact from the anti-pandemic curbs,” said David Zhang, a researcher at the North China University of Technology.

Nio’s deliveries rose 38 per cent, month on month, to 7,024 in May, rebounding from a six-month low in April.

Li Auto’s deliveries in May more than doubled to 11,496 units from a month earlier. Photo: Bloomberg

The Shanghai-based carmaker said vehicle production has been gradually recovering, although it provided no further details. In March, it was forced to halt its assembly line in Hefei, the capital of eastern Anhui province, for five days amid a global shortage of automotive chips.

“Nio plans to accelerate deliveries from June, in light of the recent supportive developments in the Covid-19 situation and strong order inflow,” it said on Wednesday.