Auto-First | Liu Tianming
Xiaopeng Automobile, which is at the top of the sales list of new car-making forces, lags behind Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile in terms of operating performance.
According to the financial report released by Xiaopeng Automobile on the evening of March 28, the total operating income of 2021 was 20.988 billion yuan, an increase of 259.1% year-on-year, the net profit was a loss of 4.86 billion yuan, an increase of 78% year-on-year, and the overall gross profit margin was 12.5%, an increase of 7.9 percentage points over the same period last year.
Among them, the automobile business achieved operating income of 20.041 billion yuan, an increase of 261.3% year-on-year, and service and other operating income was 946 million yuan, an increase of 217.44% over the same period last year. The rapid growth of auto business revenue stems from the increase in sales of Xiaopeng Motors, and in the whole year of 2021, Xiaopeng Motors delivered a total of 98,200 new cars, an increase of 360% year-on-year, ranking first in the sales list of new car-making forces.
Although Xiaopeng Automobile is the largest brand in a single year among the head enterprises of the new car-making forces, its average bicycle price, profitability and gross profit margin of the car lag behind Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile.
In 2021, NIO delivered 91,000 new cars, achieved operating income of 33.17 billion yuan in automobile sales, and an average bicycle sales revenue of 364,500 yuan. Ideal Automobile delivered 90,500 new cars in the whole year, achieved operating income of 26.13 billion yuan in automobile sales, and an average bicycle sales income of 288,700 yuan. In contrast, the average bicycle income of Xiaopeng Automobile is only 204,100 yuan, which is significantly lower than that of Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile.
Not only is the average bicycle revenue inferior to that of Weilai Automobile and Ideal Automobile, but the gross profit margin of Xiaopeng Automobile is also at the bottom of the head of the new car-making forces. In 2021, the gross profit margin of Xiaopeng Automobile was 12.5%, and the profit margin of automobile was 11.5%, while the gross profit margin of WEILAI Automobile and Ideal Automobile was above 18%, 18.9% and 21.3% respectively, and the automobile profit margin was more than 20%, 20.1% and 20.6% respectively.
Improving gross profit margin has become the top priority of Xiaopeng Motors. He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xiaopeng Motors, said at the 2021 earnings performance conference that Xiaopeng Motors' medium- and long-term goal is to increase the overall gross profit margin to more than 25%, and rely on the scale of the new platform, highly integrated design and ultra-large integrated die casting and other advanced manufacturing technologies to achieve good cost control.
In terms of profitability, Xiaopeng Automobile's annual net profit loss expanded by 78% over the same period last year to 4.86 billion yuan. In contrast, weilai automobile net profit loss of 4.016 billion yuan, compared with the same period last year showed a narrowing trend, ideal automobile net profit loss of 320 million yuan, loss showed a year-on-year growth trend.
In fact, the high R&D investment of Xiaopeng Automobile is also one of the reasons for the expansion of net profit losses. According to the annual report, the annual research and development expenditure in 2021 was 4.11 billion yuan, an increase of 138.4% year-on-year. Xiaopeng Automobile pointed out that the substantial increase in R&D investment was mainly due to the increase in salary payments caused by the increase in R&D personnel, as well as the increase in R&D expenditure related to new models and new technologies.
In contrast, Weilai Automobile's R&D investment in 2021 is 4.592 billion yuan, and the smaller Peng Automobile is slightly higher. The R&D investment of the ideal automobile is 3.29 billion yuan, which is significantly lower than that of Xiaopeng Automobile and Weilai Automobile.
Xiaopeng Automobile's high investment in research and development is for follow-up product launches and iterations of autonomous driving assistance systems. He Xiaopeng said at the financial report communication meeting that Xiaopeng Automobile will launch two new model platforms in 2023, namely the C-class car platform and the B-class car platform, and will launch the first model under the new platform.
At the same time, XPILOT4.0 will be launched in 2023, which can achieve intelligent assisted driving at high speed and in all scenarios in the city, and at least 4 models support XPILOT4.0.
In addition to increasing investment in research and development, Xiaopeng Automobile is also stepping up the layout of channel networks and charging networks. By the end of 2021, Xiaopeng Automobile has opened 357 stores in 129 cities across the country. It should be known that by the end of 2020, Xiaopeng Automobile's sales and service channels only cover 69 cities, with only 160 sales stores and only 54 service outlets.
While the construction of domestic channels is accelerating, Xiaopeng Automobile is also actively exploring overseas markets. In February this year, Xiaopeng Motors reached a cooperation with two leading European dealers, and Europe's first direct-operated experience store has opened in Stockholm, Sweden.
In the construction of the charging network, Xiaopeng Automobile has also fully accelerated. By the end of 2021, Xiaopeng Automobile's brand super charging stations will be expanded to 772 seats, covering 308 cities. In one year, Xiaopeng Super Charging Station expanded by 613 seats, and supercharger stations were laid out in 254 cities.
By January this year, Xiaopeng Automobile brand super charging stations have achieved full coverage in 337 cities across the country, becoming the first pure electric vehicle manufacturing enterprise in the industry to complete this milestone, and the total number of super charging stations has also increased to 813.
For the first quarter performance, Xiaopeng Automobile expects product deliveries to be between approximately 33,500 units and 34,000 units, up approximately 151.1% to 154.9% year-on-year. According to the production and sales data disclosed by Xiaopeng Automobile, a total of 19,100 new cars were delivered from January to February this year. To meet delivery expectations, Xiaopeng Motors needs to deliver between 14,400 and 14,900 new vehicles in March. Xiaopeng Motors expects total revenue in the first quarter to be between RMB7.2 billion and RMB7.3 billion, up approximately 144.0% to 147.4% year-on-year.
Whether it is the recent completion of 100,000 new cars off the production line of Xiaopeng P7, or the realization of national coverage of super charging stations, the young Xiaopeng Automobile has refreshed one industry record after another, and good market feedback has also helped it to climb to the top of the list of new car-making forces. However, compared with other new car-making forces, Xiaopeng Automobile lacks product positioning and the premium brought by the brand, and falls into the trap of low bicycle revenue, low gross profit and high sales cost.