In the second quarter of 2023, Chinese electric car manufacturer Xpeng reported an upturn in sales compared to the preceding quarter, although accompanied by increased losses. The company’s focus is now on a projected rebound in the current quarter, with Xpeng forecasting a substantial surge in deliveries and sales.
Xpeng’s sales for the period spanning April to June reached 5.06 billion yuan (approximately 636 million euros), marking a 25.5 percent increase from the first quarter of 2023. However, this figure also represents a 31.9 percent decline compared to the same interval in 2022.
This shift in performance can be traced back to Xpeng’s financial struggles following a restructuring phase in the prior year. Despite a previous lack of success in the first quarter of this year, the recently unveiled Q2 results indicate a measure of stability, with a renewed uptick in revenue. Nonetheless, the company is yet to regain its former performance level.
Although Xpeng continues to operate in the negative, the company’s second quarter financials unveiled a net loss of 2.8 billion yuan (approximately 352 million euros). This loss exceeds the 2.34 billion yuan reported in the first quarter of 2023, as well as the 2.7 billion yuan in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Xpeng managed to marginally enhance its sales figures. With 23,205 electric vehicles delivered in Q2 2023, the tally represents a 27.3 percent growth compared to the initial three months of the year. In contrast, the same quarter in the previous year saw the delivery of 34,422 Xpeng electric cars. The anticipated turnaround could manifest in the third quarter, with the company already announcing 11,008 vehicle deliveries for July 2023. If this pace is maintained, Xpeng is poised to surpass 30,000 vehicle deliveries to customers in the current quarter. The company’s business outlook is even more optimistic, projecting “39,000 to 41,000 deliveries” for Q3, alongside sales of 8.5 to 9 billion yuan.
Chairman and CEO of Xpeng, He Xiaopeng, stated, “XPENG G6, our first strategic model built on SEPA 2.0, has quickly become one of the best-selling models following its official launch in June, turbocharging our sales growth momentum. I believe the success of the G6 is just the beginning and moving forward, a wider range of SEPA2.0-enabled models will be brought to our customers.”
Dr. Hongdi Brian Gu, Honorary Vice Chairman and Co-President of Xpeng, added, “Benefitting from the new products and supported by more efficient sales channels, our vehicle deliveries have posted sequential growth for six consecutive months. With the G6 and other new products accelerating sales growth, we expect gross margin to gradually recover while operating efficiency continues to improve and free cash flow to substantially improve.”
The company’s annual report also highlighted a cooperation agreement signed between the Volkswagen brand and Xpeng in China in late July. He Xiaopeng emphasized, “Along with our unwavering commitment to advancing technology innovation over the past 9 years since our establishment, we’ve created meaningful breakthroughs in commercializing our industry-leading full-stack EV platform and smart technologies, both developed in-house. This is clearly evidenced by the increasing ADAS adoption among our customers and our strategic partnership with Volkswagen, a world-leading carmaker.”
