XPeng Shares Rise Sharply; Strong Sales Expected for Its Mona M03 Model

By Jiahui Huang

Chinese electric-vehicle maker XPeng's shares surged in Hong Kong on encouraging signs for early sales of its newly launched Mona M03 model.

Its shares rose 8.0% to 38.45 Hong Kong dollars, the equivalent of 4.93 U.S. dollars, by midday Friday.

Analysts think XPeng's overall sales will be boosted by the Mona M03, following a weekly sales and ranking of emerging Chinese EV makers on Weibo. The ranking, which is often calculated based on weekly insurance sales, is widely used by industry insiders as well as other carmakers.

It showed that XPeng sold 4,300 units in the week ended Sept. 15, well above the weekly sales of up to 2,000 units in the weeks before the company launched the Mona M03 in late August.

XPeng didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Almost half of the new sales came from M03," BOCOM International analyst Angus Chan said.

The Mona M03 has successfully reached the mass market, Nomura analyst Joel Ying said, and added that "the sales momentum looks promising."

Since its founding in 2014, XPeng has made a name for itself as one of China's top EV makers, but it has yet to turn a profit.

Solid sales for the Mona M03 may further boost investors' expectations that it can turn profitable in the near future, especially given its advancements in autonomous driving and double-digit gross profit margins in recent quarters.

XPeng's next new model, the P7+, is expected to have an advanced driver-assistance system similar to Tesla's. The company expects it will be rolled out in the fourth quarter.

Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2024 01:12 ET (05:12 GMT)

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