Nio Rival Li Auto's March EV Deliveries Jump 125%: What You Need To Know

Li Auto Inc LI on Friday reported a sharp rise in March deliveries as production bounced back after a traditionally slow holiday season and production interruption due to a key facility upgrade.

What Happened: The Beijing, China-based Li Auto said it delivered 11,034 electric vehicles last month, a rise of 31% over February and a jump of 125.2% year-on-year.

The EV maker had last month said the holiday season and an outbreak of the pandemic in Suzhou resulted in supply shortages and hurt production.

Unlike Nio, which currently has three models on sale, Li Auto has grabbed a firm footing in China’s fast-growing electric vehicle race with just one model on sale.

“Our overall production has been affected by the shortage of certain auto parts resulting from the resurging COVID-19 cases recently in the Yangtze Delta region. We continue to take measures to ensure supply and safeguard production, aiming to shorten the waiting time of delivery to our users," Yanan Shen, co-founder and president of Li Auto said.

Li ONE is the company’s first model and it went on sale in November 2019; Li Auto has plans to expand the line-up.

The EV maker said the cumulative deliveries of Li ONE reached 155,804 since the vehicle’s debut in November 2019.

First Quarter Deliveries: The EV maker delivered 31,716 electric vehicles in the first quarter, above the middle point of its previous guidance of between 30,000 and 32,000 vehicles. 

Li Auto said it will unveil the flagship L9 SUV on April 16. 

See Also: Why This Analyst Is Bullish On Tesla, Nio Rival Xpeng

Why It Matters: Investors are closely watching the delivery numbers for China’s homegrown electric vehicle startups as they continue to ramp up deliveries and expand in local as well as overseas markets. 

The ramp up also comes at a time when China is seeing a spike in new Covid cases and significant state induced lockdowns to curb the spread.

Rivals Nio Inc NIO and Xpeng Inc XPEV are expected to release numbers later today.

Price Action: Li Auto shares traded 3.1% higher at $26.61 in the pre-market session on Friday.

Photo: Courtesy of Li Auto