Author: APARNA NARAYANAN
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China’s EV makers and their Western counterparts launched an electric offensive at the Shanghai Auto Show, though a sharp slowdown looms in the world’s biggest market for electric vehicles. China EV stocks dipped in Tuesday’s premarket action, after LI stock broke out Tuesday and XPEV stock soared Monday.
Chinese startups Nio (NIO) and XPeng (XPEV), along with Chinese EV giant BYD (BYDDF), are rolling out their latest and greatest electric vehicles (EVs) at the event. Li Auto (LI) may announce its long-awaited plan for EVs powered solely by batteries.
Nio, XPeng and Li Auto are emerging rivals to Tesla (TSLA) in China, the world’s biggest auto market.
Shanghai Auto Show
The biennial Shanghai Auto Show runs from April 18-27. It comes as an EV price war roils China, with both auto stalwarts and startups slashing prices to prop up demand.
Here are some of the most eagerly anticipated EVs scheduled to debut at the auto show:
New Electric Vehicles: BYD Seagull
Some reports suggest that China’s Build Your Dreams (BYD) will officially unveil its much-awaited Seagull at the Shanghai Auto Show.
BYD’s Seagull aims to fill an economy slot, an extremely affordable electric hatchback for city dwellers. It may also use a new type of EV battery.
It’s smaller than BYD’s current smallest car, the Dolphin, with prices projected to start below 100,000 yuan ($15,000). It should go on sale sometime in the current second quarter.
On Sunday, BYD said that the Destroyer 07 hybrid sedan will be unveiled at the auto show. It said last week that the Song L, an all-electric SUV, will be unveiled at the same event.
Meanwhile, the Chinese EV giant’s brand-new, premium Yangwang brand will present the U9 electric supercar at the Shanghai event.
The Yangwang U9 price should run in the RMB 1 million ($145,400) range. The car can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than 3 seconds, BYD has said.
Yangwang (which means “looking up”) also may unveil its U8 off-road SUV at the Shanghai show.
Another new, premium brand called Denza, a joint venture between BYD and German auto giant Daimler, may show off the N7, a sporty, mid-size SUV.
The Denza N7 is set to be released in the first half of 2023.
Also in Denza’s pipeline, the N8, a larger SUV, coming in both all-electric and hybrid-electric versions.
Shares were not active early Tuesday. They rose 2.6% to 29.28 on the stock market Monday. BYD stock cleared an early entry just above the 200-day moving average.
Nio ES6, ET7
On Tuesday, Nio debuted a revamped ES6 SUV, one of its most successful EVs, as well as an updated ET7 sedan.
The new Nio ET7 “brings more than 15 updates and upgrades,” including improved seats and a cellphone wireless charging panel, local media reports said. Including the battery, the new ET7 starts at RMB 458,000 ($66,600). Deliveries start in mid May.
Nio also launched the new ES6, but did not announce specifications or pricing.
Earlier reports said the new ES6 will take design cues from the ET7, including a full-width taillight vs. the split design of the older ES6 it replaces. Deliveries begin in late May.
Sales of the ET7 and the ES6 have slowed as consumers await a needed refresh.
Nio stock eased 1.2% to 9.71 early Tuesday. Shares regained a falling 50-day moving average Monday.
New Electric Vehicles: XPeng G6
The embattled startup revealed the G6, its fifth production model and a mid-size electric crossover. XPeng did not announce specifications or pricing for the new G6.
On Sunday, Xpeng unveiled its next-generation, lower-cost EV architecture, while saying that the G6 will be the first new model to use it.
The G6 is expected to compete against the Tesla Model Y in China, with a sleeker design and updated interior.
The SUV will offer much improved range and more interior space than rival offerings, it added.
With a price tag forecast at RMB 200,000 ($29,250)-300,000, the XPeng G6 is set to target the “affordable luxury” EV segment.
The G6 will need to be successful to make XPeng truly relevant in the market again, Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu said in a recent research note. XPeng’s EV sales have seriously lagged those of its startup rivals.
XPeng spent 2022 in the slow lane. But it is revving up for a comeback in the second half of 2023 as new models ramp up, including the G6, the P7i sedan and a seven-seat MPV, or multipurpose vehicle.
XPEV stock shed 2.7% early Tuesday. Shares gapped up 15.2% to 11.43 Monday, extending their recent rally above the 50-day line.
Li Auto BEVs
The maker of premium hybrid EVs is set to unveil its strategy for all-electric vehicles, also known as battery electric vehicles or BEVs.
Li Auto has thus far revealed little about its BEV strategy, except to say that products will be priced in the RMB 200,000 (roughly $29,000)-$500,000 range.
Thus far, Li Auto has specialized in a type of hybrid EV, which features a gasoline-driven, internal combustion engine for charging the battery. It calls these vehicles (including its L7, L8 and L9) “EREVs,” for extended range EVs.
Li plans a “dual-energy strategy,” meaning it won’t abandon EREVs while shifting to BEVs.
LI stock retreated 2.1% early Tuesday. Shares punched up 6.4% to 26.13 Monday, breaking out from a double-bottom base with a 25.46 buy point, the MarketSmith chart shows.
New Electric Vehicles: Polestar 4
Swedish premium EV startup Polestar (PSNY) will launch the Polestar 4 high-performance SUV on April 18.
Details about the Polestar 4 are sketchy. But it’s sometimes seen as a Model Y rival and CnEVPost has quoted Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath as saying it was designed “to create a new breed of SUV coupe.”
Polestar will present the Polestar 3, launched last month in China and starting at RMB 698,000 ($101,000), at the auto show as well.
The premium EV startup is co-owned by China’s Geely and Sweden’s Volvo.
Volkswagen ID. 7
German auto giant Volkswagen‘s (VWAGY) ID. 7 is set to debut on April 18.
The mid-size sedan is likely to feature a 15-inch infotainment touch screen and a head-up display, for projecting navigation info and vehicle speed. It should offer around 300 miles of driving range, more than its predecessor ID.4.
The ID. 7 is the sixth model in Volkswagen’s ID series of cars, which was built from the ground up to be electric.
Volkswagen already sells the locally made ID. 4 and ID. 6 SUVs, and smaller ID. 3 hatchbacks, in China.
The carmaker has been losing ground to BYD, which seeks to grab the crown as China’s top car brand from Volkswagen this year.
Ford Edge L Hybrid EV
At the Shanghai Auto Show, Ford (F) will launch the Edge L, a large SUV, including a hybrid-electric version. It will also show off various conventionally powered SUVs and trucks, headlined by the debut of the new Ford Bronco in China.
Rival General Motors (GM) has said little about its plans for the auto show. But more than one-third of GM’s more than 20 new launches in China this year will be electric vehicles.
Its Buick brand’s first new-gen, Ultium-branded EV — the Electra E5 — launches in that market Thursday, ahead of the auto show.
The Shanghai Auto Show comes at a pivotal time in China, the world’s largest auto and EV market.
While China EV sales more than doubled in 2022, they are expected to slow to 31% growth this year.
The slowdown follows an end to EV subsidies, which fueled the China EV price war.
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