(Yicai Global) Aug. 24 -- Xpeng’s Hong Kong-traded shares plunged as much as 14.2 percent today after the Chinese electric car startup said it expects third-quarter shipments to tumble up to 16 percent from the second quarter, well below market expectations.

Xpeng’s Hong Kong share price [HKG:9868] closed down 12.1 percent at HKD72.85 (USD9). Earlier in the day it plummeted to HKD71.15, the lowest since it went public in the special administrative region in July last year. In New York, its stock [NYSE:XPEV] slumped 10.8 percent to end the day at USD18.73 yesterday.

Deliveries in the three months ending Sept. 30 are expected to fall between 10 percent and 16 percent quarter-on-quarter to between 29,000 and 31,000 units, the Guangzhou, southern Guangdong based carmaker said in its latest earnings results published yesterday.

Seeing as 11,500 autos were sold in July, this means that shipments are set to be under 10,000 units in both August and September, US financial services firm Morgan Stanley said. This is way below expectations, it added.

Third-quarter revenue is likely to be between CNY6.8 billion (USD990 million) and CNY7.2 billion, Xpeng said. This is below the CNY7.4 billion logged in the second quarter.

Higher battery costs are eating into the firm’s profit margin despite higher sales prices. The margin dipped to 9.1 percent in the second quarter compared to 10.4 percent in the first quarter and 11 percent a year ago.

The firm’s losses expanded 60 percent to CNY2.7 billion (USD393 million) in the second quarter from the previous quarter.

However, despite the grim outlook, Xpeng remained the country’s best-performing NEV maker in terms of deliveries in the three months ended June 30, for the fourth straight quarter, handing over 34,422 units, the same amount as in the first three months, the report said.

"Two new models will be released next year to quickly drive up sales," Chairman and founder He Xiaopeng said at the earnings call. A new B-class model will be unveiled in the first half 2023 to take on US rival Tesla’s Model Y.

Editor: Kim Taylor