(Yicai Global) March 9 -- Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng narrowed its net loss in the fourth quarter of last year on growing deliveries, with the Xpeng P7 sedan released last year making up an increasing share.

Xpeng’s net loss fell 42 percent to CNY787.4 million (USD120.9 million) in the three months ended Dec. 31, from CNY1.35 billion (USD207.3 million) a year earlier, the Guangzhou-based company said in an earnings report issued before the New York market opened yesterday. Revenue surged four and a half times to CNY2.85 billion.

“We closed 2020 on a strong note with a record number of total deliveries in the fourth quarter,” founder and Chairman He Xiaopeng said in the report.

The company delivered 12,964 vehicles in the quarter, a fourfold increase on a year ago and a 51 percent gain from the third quarter. P7 deliveries jumped 37 percent from the prior quarter to 8,527.

But Xpeng forecast a drop in sales to about 12,500 this quarter, which is less than the 20,000 to 20,500 vehicles compatriot rival Nio expects to shift. Revenue may come in at CNY2.6 billion in the three months through March 31, a more than sixfold year-on-year gain. 

2020 Earnings

For the full year, the automaker’s loss shrank 20 percent to USD419 million from USD523 million in 2019. Revenue more than doubled to USD896 million. Gross profit margin, which deducts the cost of goods sold from sales, turned positive for the first time at 4.6 percent due to the better product mix, lower material costs, and improved manufacturing efficiency.

Xpeng delivered more than 27,000 vehicles last year, a more than twofold increase from a year earlier, with the P7  making up over half of the total at nearly 15,100. 

“Our relentless focus on providing highly differentiated Smart EV products to our customers and expanding our sales and service network supported our achievements in 2020 and empowers our sustainable future growth,” said He, who is also chief executive.

New York-listed Xpeng [NYSE: XPEV] closed 4 percent lower at USD26.92 yesterday, after climbing as much as 9.4 percent. The broader NYSE Composite was little changed, gaining 0.2 percent. In pre-market trading today, Xpeng was up 5.1 percent as of 5.24 a.m. local time.

Xpeng's main rivals, Nio and Li Auto, have also recently published their 2020 earnings. Nio narrowed its loss by more than half to CNY5.3 billion, while Li Auto cut its by almost 94 percent to CNY151.7 million (USD23.2 million). Nio's revenue more than doubled to CNY16.3 billion (USD2.5 billion), whereas that of Li Auto was CNY9.5 billion. The latter just started delivering its first model in December 2019.

New Models

Xpeng, which also sells the G3 sport-utility vehicle, will release its third model in the second half of this year. Deliveries should begin in the fourth quarter. The next model after that should come along in 2022, equipped with a next-generation autopilot system, He said during an earnings conference call.

Established in 2014, Xpeng had 160 sales outlets in China at the end of December. Fifty-four service centers covered 69 cities. It also operated almost 160 charging stations across more than 50 cities, according to He.

Editor: Emmi Laine