Insurance registrations for Nio vehicles were 15,400 for May 1-26, already close to the full month of deliveries in April.
Shares of the major electric vehicle (EV) makers traded in Hong Kong jumped in early trading on Friday, ahead of May delivery data releases.
Nio (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866) was up 10.34 percent to HK$42.15 at the time of writing, leading gains among major EV makers.
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV, HKG: 9868) was up 6.13 percent to HK$33.75, Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI, HKG: 2015) gained 3.85% to HK$80.85, Leapmotor (HKG: 9863) rose 3.2 percent to HK$29.05, BYD (HKG: 1211 , OTCMKTS: BYDDY) rose 1.55 percent to HK$222.80.
These EV makers usually announce their delivery figures for the previous month on the first day of each month. The overall performance of China's EV market in May could reverse the weakness seen since the beginning of the year.
Nio delivered 15,620 vehicles in April, up 31.64 percent from March and up 134.60 percent year-on-year, according to figures it announced on May 1.
Between May 1-26, insurance registrations for Nio vehicles were 15,400, already close to the full month of deliveries in April, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Insurance registrations figures are counted differently than deliveries figures, and they differ, but usually not by much.
For most Chinese EV makers, the end of the month usually sees a pulse upward in deliveries.
For Nio, what could have a big impact on May deliveries is the upcoming expiration of the limited- time entitlements for the BaaS (battery as a service) battery rental service.
Nio tweaked BaaS on March 14, offering time-limited entitlements while lowering monthly fees.
Customers who order a Nio vehicle on or before May 31 and chose the BaaS option for their vehicle purchase will be entitled to the following benefits:
For every 4 BaaS bills paid, the next 1 bill is free. This is available for the first owner only and a maximum of 12 billings can be waived for one vehicle.
Customers will be given 60 vouchers for free battery swap services valid for 5 years after taking delivery.
Nio is expected to announce an updated version of this BaaS entitlement tomorrow after it expires, which may be scaled down.
Possibly because potential customers want to take advantage of this expiring entitlement, some Weibo bloggers said Nio has seen delivery centers busier than usual this week.
Some of Nio's delivery centers in Guangzhou and Beijing have been so busy that the battery swap stations there have suspended service, and the EV maker was advising car owners to head to other nearby stations, according to a May 29 Weibo post by auto blogger @董买买.
Nio will report its first-quarter earnings on June 6, when it is expected to provide guidance on its second-quarter deliveries.
Xpeng delivered 9,393 vehicles in April, up 4.07 percent from March and up 32.69 percent year-on-year.
The company had insurance registrations of 6,700 vehicles from May 1-26, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Xpeng guided for second-quarter deliveries of between 29,000 and 32,000 units, representing year-on-year growth of about 25.0 percent to 37.9 percent, when it reported first-quarter earnings on May 21.
The guidance means Xpeng expected it to deliver between 19,607 and 22,607 vehicles in May and June combined.
Xpeng planned to debut the first model of its sub-brand, codenamed Mona, in June and the model is expected to go on sale and start deliveries in the third quarter.
Li Auto delivered 25,787 vehicles in April, up 0.41 percent year-on-year but down 11.03 percent from March. It had 27,200 insurance registrations from May 1-26.
Li Auto guided second-quarter vehicle deliveries to be in the range of 105,000 to 110,000 vehicles in its May 20 earnings report, implying year-on-year growth of 21.3 percent to 27.1 percent.
The guidance means Li Auto expects to deliver a total of 79,213 to 84,213 vehicles in May and June.
BYD sold 313,245 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in April, up 48.96 percent from 210,295 in the same month a year ago and up 3.57 percent from 302,459 in March.
From May 1-26, 209,900 BYD vehicles were registered for insurance in China.
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