On the evening of December 5th, NIO released its financial report for the third quarter of 2023. In the third quarter, NIO's business situation improved, with a revenue of 19.07 billion yuan, a month on month increase of 117.4% and a year-on-year increase of 46.6%; The delivery volume of NIO in the third quarter was 55432 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 75.4% and a month on month increase of 135.7%.
In the third quarter of this year, NIO's revenue and delivery volume both reached historic highs, and its gross profit margin rebounded to 8.0%, a significant increase from the 1% in the second quarter of this year; The net loss was 4.56 billion yuan, a decrease of 24.8% compared to the previous period. In addition, as of the end of the third quarter, NIO's cash reserves reached 45.2 billion yuan, an increase of 13.7 billion yuan from the previous quarter; In the third quarter, NIO's R&D expenditure was 3.04 billion yuan, exceeding 3 billion yuan for four consecutive quarters.
After releasing the financial data for the third quarter of this year, NIO Chairman Li Bin revealed during the financial report conference call that a new flagship model will be released on December 23 at NIO Day, which is the crystallization of NIO's various innovative technologies.
With the release of NIO's third quarter financial data, its third quarter financial data along with Zero Run Automobile, Ideal Automobile, and Xiaopeng Automobile have all been released. Overall, the profitability of several new energy car companies is continuously improving, with an ideal gross profit margin of 22.0%, exceeding Tesla's gross profit margin of 17.9% during the same period; Zero Run's gross profit margin is 1.2%, a significant improvement from the second quarter's -5.2%.
Profit differentiation
In the third quarter of this year, the operating conditions of Ideal Automobile, NIO, and Zero Run Automobile all improved.
According to financial report data, in the third quarter of this year, Ideal Automobile's revenue was 34.68 billion yuan, an increase of 271.2% from the same period last year's 9.34 billion yuan, and a month on month increase of 21.0%. During the same period, Ideal Automobile's net profit was 2.81 billion yuan, compared to a net loss of 1.65 billion yuan last year, an increase of 21.8% compared to the previous period. As of September 30th this year, Ideal Automobile's cash reserves reached 88.52 billion yuan.
In terms of gross profit margin, the overall gross profit margin of Ideal Automobile in the third quarter of this year was 22.0%, exceeding Tesla's gross profit margin of 17.9% in the same period. In addition, the quarterly gross profit margin of Ideal Automobile has achieved three consecutive increases this year: 19.2% in the first quarter, 21.8% in the second quarter, and 22.0% in the third quarter.
Although NIO and Zero Run are still losing money, their revenue and gross profit margin are gradually increasing.
Data shows that NIO's net loss in the third quarter was 4.56 billion yuan, a decrease of 24.8% compared to the previous quarter. NIO's gross profit margin rose to 8.0% in the third quarter. In the second quarter of this year, NIO's gross profit margin was 1.0%. The revenue reached 19.07 billion yuan, a month on month increase of 117.4% and a year-on-year increase of 46.6%.
Zero Run Automobile's revenue in the third quarter of this year was 5.656 billion yuan, an increase of 31.9% compared to the same period in 2022 and a month on month increase of 29.4%. During the same period, Zero Run Automobile suffered a loss of 986 million yuan, which narrowed both year-on-year and month on month. In the third quarter of 2022, Zero Run Automobile suffered a loss of 1.34 billion yuan, while in the second quarter of 2023, it suffered a loss of 1.14 billion yuan. Losses continue to narrow, and the gross profit margin of Zero Run Motors has also significantly improved. The gross profit margin of Zero Run Motors in the third quarter was 1.2%, a significant improvement from the same period in 2022 at -8.9% and the second quarter of 2023 at -5.2%. As of the end of September, Zero Run Automobile had a cash reserve of 11.6 billion yuan.
Among the four new car making companies, Xiaopeng Automobile has a negative gross profit margin.
Xiaopeng Automobile's revenue in the third quarter was 8.53 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25% and a month on month increase of 68.5%. However, during the same period, Xiaopeng Automobile's net loss was 3.89 billion yuan, an increase of 63.4% year-on-year and 38.9% month on month. Xiaopeng Automobile's gross profit margin in the third quarter was -2.7%, compared to 13.5% in the same period last year.
As of September 30th this year, Xiaopeng Automobile's cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, and fixed deposits amounted to RMB 36.48 billion.
Delivery quantity and order change
Despite varying business conditions, the delivery volume of cars by the four new car making forces increased significantly in the third quarter of this year.
Among them, Ideal Automobile delivered 105000 vehicles in the third quarter, an increase of 296.3% year-on-year. In the first nine months of this year, Ideal Automobile delivered a total of 244000 vehicles.
NIO ranks second among the four car companies in terms of delivery volume. In the third quarter, NIO delivered a total of 55000 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 75.4%, and the quarterly delivery volume reached a historic high. In the first nine months of this year, NIO delivered approximately 110000 new cars.
The total delivery volume of vehicles by Zero Run Motors in the third quarter of 2023 was 44000 units, an increase of 24.5% year-on-year. In the first nine months, Zero Run Motors delivered a total of 89000 vehicles.
Among the four newly listed automotive companies, Xiaopeng Motors ranks last in terms of quarterly delivery volume and cumulative delivery volume for the first nine months of this year. Xiaopeng Motors delivered a total of 40000 vehicles in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 72.4% compared to the same period last year. However, in the first nine months, Xiaopeng Motors delivered a total of 81000 vehicles, ranking behind the three aforementioned car companies.
It is worth mentioning that in the third quarter, Ideal Automobile was the only company among the four car companies to achieve a delivery target of over 50% for the whole year, reaching 81.4%. Its full year delivery target for 2023 is 300000 vehicles.
Ji Xuehong, Director and Professor of the Automotive Industry Innovation Research Center at North China University of Technology, told Time Finance that this year's intensified competition in the pure electric vehicle market, the impact of fuel vehicle price reductions, and the rise in sales of hybrid models have put significant pressure on companies that only have pure electric vehicles.
"New car manufacturers like NIO and Xiaopeng, which only have pure electric models, find it difficult to enjoy the dividends of the plug-in hybrid car market explosion," said Ji Xuehong.
As of the end of November this year, the cumulative delivery volume of Ideal Automobile for the year has reached 326000 units, achieving the annual target ahead of schedule. NIO, Lingpao Automobile, and Xiaopeng Automobile have delivered 142000, 126000, and 121000 vehicles respectively.
Data source: Automotive companies, Times Financial Cartography
Accelerate change before elimination matches
Industry insiders have stated that although several new car making forces have seen an increase in car deliveries since the beginning of this year, the challenges they face still exist.
"The three years from 2023 to 2025 should be the most crucial knockout stage in the entire industry, and even this knockout stage has a continuous trend of advancement." During the Guangzhou Auto Show recently, Liu Jie, Vice President of Ideal Automobile, told Time Finance and other media, "We have seen some trends recently, and it may even be until the end of next year, and it will be clear which companies can stay on the table in the end."
In fact, among the four newly listed car companies, only Ideal Automobile has achieved a relatively stable sales advantage and profit this year, while the other three car companies are still in a loss making state. Against this background, car companies such as Xiaopeng Automobile are making various attempts.
Among them, Xiaopeng Motors hopes to improve its profitability through a new product structure.
At the Guangzhou Auto Show in November, Xiaopeng Motors made its public debut with its pure electric MPV Xiaopeng X9. Xiaopeng Motors stated that the Xiaopeng X9 is currently the product with the highest gross profit margin in its product portfolio and is expected to drive improved profitability. "The guidance still maintains a positive gross profit margin in the fourth quarter." Xiaopeng Motors stated in its financial report that due to the company's continuous cost reduction and the arrival of new products on the Xiaopeng X9 and 2.0 platforms, it is expected that the gross profit margin in 2024 will significantly increase compared to 2023.
Zero Run Motors will accelerate its international layout in the second half of this year.
On October 26th, multinational car conglomerate Stellantis invested 1.5 billion euros to acquire a 20% stake in Zero Run Motors. It is reported that Stellantis Group will leverage the electric vehicle ecosystem led by Zero Run Automotive Technology to accelerate the electrification process. Zero Run Automotive will leverage Stellantis Group to amplify its self-developed scale advantage and accelerate the development of global markets. Zero Run Motors stated that in the next two years, its five global products will be sold simultaneously in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.
"For the rapidly growing new energy market now, sales are the most important. Therefore, if there is demand in the future, we will still make some concessions." Zero Run Motors said, "Next year's gross profit margin target is between 5% and 10%. With the subsequent release and listing of C10 and C16, we will still strive to produce more than 30000 units per month next year."
NIO has also recently started expanding its battery swapping "social circle". Previously, on November 21st and November 29th, NIO announced cooperation with Changan Automobile and Geely Holding Group to jointly promote the operation of battery swapping business and vehicle development. In the eyes of industry insiders, this is an important attempt by NIO to improve its battery swapping business performance.
It is worth noting that during a conference call on the evening of November 5th, NIO announced that it will open up its mass market brand battery packs and battery swapping stations to its partners. "At present, the charging pile business has basically reached a breakeven point, and some investors are interested in NIO Power's independent financing, which cannot be ruled out," NIO said.
Screenshot source: NIO's Q3 2023 financial report
In addition to exploring cooperation in battery swapping business, NIO has also begun to try to reduce its operating costs. Li Bin stated that NIO will make adjustments to projects that have not been profitable for three years or have not contributed to gross profit growth, such as battery production.
In addition, NIO also confirmed the acquisition of the relevant Jianghuai Automobile factory in its financial report. NIO stated that the company has signed an agreement with Jianghuai Automobile to acquire production equipment and assets from the first and second advanced manufacturing bases, with a total price of approximately 3.16 billion yuan excluding taxes.
Li Bin stated that if NIO's cars were all produced by themselves, the cost would decrease by 10%.