XPeng and NIO Stocks Fall. December Is a Critical Month for Sales.

A NIO et9 is displayed during the 21st Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition on April 23, 2025. (Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

• XPeng, NIO, and Li Auto delivered more than 106,000 vehicles combined in November, a 6% increase from a year ago.
• XPeng and NIO anticipate record December deliveries of approximately 50,000 and 46,000 vehicles, respectively.
• Chinese EV market growth, with 1.2 million sales projected for the trio in 2025, intensifies competition for Tesla.

Chinese electric-vehicle makers are banking on a big December to hit their quarterly goals. Investors, it seems, would have preferred a more balanced sales pattern heading into the end of the year.

XPeng on Monday announced November deliveries of 36,728 vehicles, up 19% year over year. NIO delivered 36,275 vehicles in the month, up 76% year over year, while Li Auto delivered 33,181 vehicles, down 32%.

Combined, deliveries for the three topped 106,000 vehicles, up 6% year over year. For all of 2025, the trio has delivered more than one million vehicles, up 31% year over year.

China’s largest EV maker, BYD, delivered 474,921 electrified passenger vehicles in November, including 237,540 all-electric models. Total sales fell 6% from a year ago, but all-electric sales jumped 20%. BYD exported an impressive 131,661 vehicles, a record, up 325% from a year ago, and accounting for 27% of total monthly sales.

All-electric car sales remain solid and are expected to remain so. Based on fourth-quarter guidance from NIO, XPeng, and Li, given when reporting their quarterly numbers in recent weeks, XPeng expects to deliver almost 50,000 vehicles in December. NIO expects to deliver about 46,000 vehicles. Both would be monthly records for the companies and up 36% and 47% from December 2024, respectively.

Changing EV policies can drive a flurry of year-end buying. December is typically a good month for Chinese EV sales.

Still, investors appeared nervous about whether the fourth-quarter guidance could be met. XPeng’s U.S.-listed stock fell 2.6% on Monday, closing at $21.35. NIO shares fell 5.8% to $5.18.

Starting points help explain the stock reactions. Expectations about XPeng and NIO have been relatively high. Coming into Monday, XPeng and NIO shares had risen 85% and 26% this year, respectively.

Li shares had fallen 23% in 2025. Sales have been falling. Based on recent guidance, Li expects to deliver about 40,000 vehicles in December, down 32% year over year. Li’s stock fell 2.5% to $17.94. BYD shares rose 0.5% in overseas trading, leaving them up 10% year to date.

China is the world’s largest market for all-electric cars, so what happens there affects Tesla , as well as the Chinese car companies. Sales at NIO, Li, and XPeng should be roughly 1.2 million cars in 2025, up almost 30% year over year.

That growth also means more competition for Tesla. Its Chinese sales could decline year over year for the first time. Through October, Tesla had sold about 464,000 cars in China, down about 7% year over year.

Tesla stock lost three cents, or 0.01%, closing at $430.14, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com