I left the ICU but haven't landed yet. This is the evaluation of Xiaopeng Automobile's 2023 financial report by many industry insiders.
On March 19th, the latest data disclosed by Xiaopeng Motors showed that in 2023, the company's total revenue was 30.68 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.2%. In terms of delivery volume, Xiaopeng Motors delivered a total of 141600 new cars in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 17%.
Although both revenue and delivery have achieved growth, Xiaopeng Motors has not yet emerged from losses. In 2023, Xiaopeng Automobile's net loss was 10.38 billion yuan, an increase from the loss of 9.14 billion yuan in 2022, with a magnitude of 13.6%; The annual gross profit margin of automobiles is -1.6%.
Effective adjustment but not rid of annual losses
Throughout the year 2023, Xiaopeng Automobile's financial performance improved in the fourth quarter of that year, but was overall under pressure due to the drag of its performance in the first three quarters.
Xiaopeng Automobile Official WeChat
According to the financial report, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Xiaopeng Motors had a gross profit margin of 4.1%, while in the third quarter, the figure was -6.1%, indicating a shift from negative to positive gross profit margin. In 2023, the gross profit margin of Xiaopeng Motors was -1.6%, compared to 9.4% in 2022.
It is reported that although Xiaopeng Motors has adopted discounts and preferential policies for its models to offset year-end sales, the changes in sales structure and the average price of individual cars have improved Xiaopeng Motors' gross profit margin. From the perspective of sales structure, the proportion of Xiaopeng G9 with higher unit prices has increased, from 7% in the third quarter of 2023 to 26% in the fourth quarter.
In terms of bicycle cost, in the fourth quarter of 2023, Xiaopeng Automobile's bicycle cost was 191000 yuan (excluding the impact of deductions), a decrease of 11000 yuan compared to the previous quarter. The reason behind this is that although the new Xiaopeng G9 has a lower price compared to the old model, its gross profit margin has exceeded that of the old G9 due to technological cost reduction. Meanwhile, the continued decline in lithium carbonate prices has also led to a natural cost reduction for Xiaopeng Motors vehicles.
In fact, the above data changes reflect the effectiveness of Xiaopeng Automobile's continuous adjustment for over a year. Starting from October 2022, Xiaopeng Motors has undergone organizational restructuring. Especially after Wang Fengying joined Xiaopeng Motors as the president, she aimed to achieve cost reduction goals by streamlining SKUs, eliminating inefficient stores, merging sales theaters, and optimizing procurement strategies.
Financial report data shows that "saving money" has become one of the key areas of focus for Xiaopeng Motors in 2023. This year, the number of employees at Xiaopeng Motors decreased from 15829 in the same period last year to 13550. Meanwhile, prior to this, Xiaopeng Motors had maintained a "big budget" in research and development. In 2023, Xiaopeng Motors only increased its expenses by 1.2%, and the number of research and development personnel decreased from 6313 in the same period last year to 5401.
Under various measures, although Xiaopeng Automobile's situation has improved, it has not yet fully "emerged". According to financial report data, Xiaopeng Motors had a net loss of 1.35 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to a net loss of 2.36 billion yuan in the same period last year and a net loss of 3.89 billion yuan in the previous quarter. In 2023, Xiaopeng Motors had a net loss of 10.38 billion yuan, while in 2022, its net loss was 9.14 billion yuan, showing an expanding trend of losses.
Xiaopeng Motors Chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng stated that "Xiaopeng Motors has integrated intelligence, powertrain, and vehicle platform into a large intelligent platform, achieving maximum common use among various vehicle models. Platformized research and development and economies of scale not only reduce supply chain and manufacturing costs, but also significantly improve the efficiency of research and development iterations, thereby accelerating Xiaopeng's goal of 25% cost reduction.".
Want to challenge BYD with intelligent driving?
Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2024, Xiaopeng Motors expects its car delivery volume to be between 21000 and 22500 vehicles, an increase of approximately 15.2% to 23.4% year-on-year; The total revenue will range from 5.8 billion to 6.2 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 43.8% to 53.7% year-on-year.
Data shows that from January to February this year, Xiaopeng Motors delivered nearly 12800 new cars. According to the delivery guidelines for the first quarter, Xiaopeng Motors may deliver less than 10000 vehicles in March.
Investors are also cautious about the future sales prospects and profit plans of Xiaopeng Motors. "In addition to focusing on the sales prospects for the first quarter of 2024, investors are also curious about the detailed plans of Xiaopeng Motors' planned 'cheaper' model sub brands to be launched next month," said Qu Ke, an international analyst at China Construction Bank.
He Xiaopeng revealed during the financial report conference call, "During the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, Xiaopeng Motors will officially launch a new brand targeting the 100000 to 150000 yuan level. The first model of the new brand will be launched and delivered in the third quarter of this year."
Photo by journalist Sun Lei (data image)
Gu Hongdi, Honorary Vice Chairman and Co President of Xiaopeng Motors, stated that the new brand will be sold from the C-end first, and after gaining consumer recognition for a few months, it will be sold through channels such as the B-end. "A new brand of car model can only be considered successful if it sells over 10000 units per month. Currently, our production capacity can support this goal," Gu Hongdi said.
It is worth noting that new brands such as Wenjie, Ideal, and NIO have not ventured into the segmented market of 100000 to 150000 yuan, while traditional brands such as BYD and Geely have not formed advantages in intelligent driving. Therefore, the industry believes that He Xiaopeng has successfully found a breakthrough point in the gap - using cost-effectiveness to compete with new power brands and intelligent driving to compete with traditional brands.
The reporter from the Daily Economic News learned that the first model of Xiaopeng Motors' new brand may eliminate LiDAR to reduce the cost of intelligent driving. Meanwhile, according to He Xiaopeng during the financial report conference call, Xiaopeng Motors has excellent cost control capabilities in intelligent driving and is expected to achieve a 50% cost reduction target for intelligent driving by 2024.
However, some argue that consumers who purchase cars in the 150000 yuan price range are more concerned about cost-effectiveness, and their intelligent driving ability has not yet entered the top five decisive factors affecting car purchases. In 2022, Xiaopeng Motors implemented the urban intelligent driving function on the Xiaopeng P5 model, but the actual purchase proportion of the intelligent driving version model is not high.
Sales stores will increase to 600 in the third quarter
In He Xiaopeng's view, from 2024 to 2027, the elimination race of smart electric vehicles officially begins. "Xiaopeng Motors will enter a major product cycle of launching more than 10 new models in the next three years, coupled with globalization and upgrading of models, the total number of SOP models will reach 30." He Xiaopeng said on the financial report conference call.
When talking about the impact of the intensive release of new products plan on old products, He Xiaopeng said that the first thing Wang Fengying did after joining Xiaopeng Motors at the beginning of last year was to solve this problem. "In order to avoid 'infighting', Xiaopeng Motors will try to avoid similar products and have fewer categories of sedans," He Xiaopeng said.
The product planning of Xiaopeng Motors is seen as similar to the product strategy of "having more children and having more fights" implemented by Wang Fengying during her tenure at Great Wall Motors. It is reported that at the beginning of this year, Wang Fengying led the promotion of a new round of organizational restructuring for Xiaopeng Motors, which involved product planning. Industry insiders believe that Xiaopeng Motors may adopt a similar approach to BYD's distribution network to sell these models, which is also what Wang Fengying excels at.
From the perspective of channels, Xiaopeng Motors is also approaching the field that Wang Fengying excels in. It is understood that Xiaopeng Motors launched the "Jupiter Plan" in July last year, releasing franchise authorization for dealers and transferring some of Xiaopeng Motors' direct stores to dealers for operation. As of December 31, 2023, Xiaopeng Automobile has 500 sales stores covering 181 cities.
Photo by journalist Sun Tongtong (source image)
He Xiaopeng stated during the financial report conference call that Xiaopeng Motors completed a round of channel upgrades in 2023, with over 130 stores eliminated and more than 160 dealers introduced through the "Jupiter Plan". Most of the newly added dealer stores have been operating since the end of last year, and it is expected that the cultivation period will take 3-4 months. Starting from April, it will make a significant contribution to overall sales.
In addition, the reporter learned that starting from the second quarter of this year, Xiaopeng Motors will accelerate terminal delivery speed by establishing channel inventory for about half a month. "Xiaopeng Motors will further expand its sales network coverage and accelerate channel sinking. It plans to increase the number of sales stores to 600 by the third quarter of 2024, and continue to expand after the new brand is launched, accelerating sales growth," He Xiaopeng said.
It is worth mentioning that since Wang Fengying joined Xiaopeng Motors, He Xiaopeng has given her full support and authorization in her work, which has made the initial results of Xiaopeng Motors' adjustment apparent. However, such effects may only be the beginning. Whether the reforms led by Wang Fengying can ultimately help Xiaopeng Automobile overcome losses and successfully "land" still requires time and market answers.