On Saturday, Xpeng Inc (XPEV) outshone homegrown peer Nio Inc (NIO) for a second straight month in electric vehicle deliveries, helping it speed past its ace rival for the full-year volumes.

What Happened

The Guangzhou, China-based Xpeng delivered 16,000 electric vehicles in December, a jump of 181% over last year and a rise of 2.47% over November. In comparison, Nio managed to deliver a little over 10,000 electric vehicles in December, a decline of 3.6% over November and a year-on-year jump of 49.7%.

For the calendar year, Xpeng delivered 98,155 electric vehicles in 2021, much higher than China’s electric vehicle maker Nio’s 91,429 deliveries last year. Both Xpeng and Nio successfully reached the 10,000 delivery milestone in December despite semiconductor shortages.

Excluding the month of October, when Nio delivered only 3,667 electric vehicles due to production being disrupted by a plant upgrade, December would have been a fourth straight month of over 10,000 electric vehicle deliveries for the maker of sports utility vehicles and sedans. 

The monthly delivery split for the Shanghai-headquartered Nio was 2,782 six-seater and seven-seater ES8 SUVs, 4,939 five-seater ES6s, and 2,768 five-seater EC6 coupe models. For Xpeng, which currently sells only three models, the split was 7,459 P7 smart sports sedans, 5,030 P5 smart family sedans, and 3,511 G3 and G3i smart SUVs.

Smashes Q4 Expectations

Xpeng delivered 41,751 electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, a jump of 222% year-over-year, smashing its own expectations of between 34,500 and 36,500 electric vehicles In contrast, during the fourth quarter ending Dec. 31, Nio deliveries rose 44.3% year-over-year to 25,034 electric vehicles.

Why it Matters

Xpeng’s back-to-back deliveries in the past three months has helped it closed the year on a high note. Just last month, Xpeng bolted ahead of local rivals Nio and Li Auto Inc (LI) in monthly deliveries. 

The development also follows China’s plan to cut subsidies on new energy vehicles by 30% this year. China had earlier said that NEV subsidies are expected to decline each year by 10%, 20%, and 30%, from 2020-2022.

Notwithstanding, sales for Nio and rivals including Xpeng Inc and Li Auto Inc are expected to continue rising as the Chinese EV makers compete with global electric vehicle leader Tesla Inc (TSLA).

Nio had said earlier that it is waiving off the current subsidy amount for buyers who place orders this year but only receive deliveries in 2022.  Xpeng followed up with a similar move last week, offering those who make deposits before midnight on Jan. 10, 2022, to continue to enjoy 2021’s high subsidies.

Price Action

Nio shares closed 2.3% lower at $31.68 a share on Friday.