TMTPOST--Li Auto, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) company, has recently published its weekly sales report, reporting that the company sold 12,800 units from July 22 to July 28, maintaining its position as the top NEV brand for 14 consecutive weeks.

Huawei-backed AITO followed in second place with 10,500 units sold last week. NIO ranked third with 5,400 units sold, while Xiaomi came in fifth with 3,900 units sold. Arcfox secured the tenth position with 1,500 units sold last week.

Li Auto’s practice of publicly releasing weekly sales data for other brands has met with strong criticism from the industry. NIO, another leading Chinese NEV maker, has frowned upon Li Auto’s practice. 

On July 27, during the "NIO IN 2024 NIO Innovation Tech Day," Qin Lihong, the co-founder and president of NIO, openly questioned the validity of Li Auto's weekly sales rankings. Qin raised two main concerns: first, the data is not approved by NIO; second, NIO has not authorized the release of its sales figures.

“Who has given another car company the permission to use our brand for promotion? Can you remove us from the list? We understand the public's interest in us, but this is like a school forbidding the posting of test score rankings. Relevant authorities should address these issues,” Qin remarked.

“Only four or five people within NIO know the weekly sales figures,” said Li Bin, the founder and CEO of NIO. Generally, listed companies release sales data quarterly, as Tesla does. However, amid the cut-throat competition in China’s market, it has become an unwritten rule for NEV companies to publish monthly sales on the first day of each month. Not releasing this data usually implies poor performance.

Li further commented that releasing monthly sales figures is already quite challenging for many NEV makers. “If we secure the top spot, we would never release weekly rankings,” he added.

Li Auto took the initiative to release weekly sales reports in April last year and has continued for over a year. There were two interruptions: once due to external criticism and once by choice.

On July 11, 2023, Li Auto released its weekly sales report as usual. The report indicated that XPeng Motors sold 1,200 units from July 3 to July 9, even though XPeng’s G6 was in a hot sales period, with over 35,000 orders during the 20-day pre-sale period, averaging 12,000 orders per week. Li Auto’s report showing only 1,200 units sold in a week deeply embarrassed XPeng.

In response, two XPeng executives immediately questioned the credibility of Li Auto's weekly report, saying that the data related to XPeng was false.

Huang Honglin, the general manager of product marketing at XPeng, criticized the report on social media, urging people to resort to official information and dismissing unreliable sources. He emphasized that the automotive industry is about long-term success, not opportunistic strategies.

At that time, Liu Yilin, the senior director of autonomous driving products at XPeng, also said that there was no need to release daily or weekly sales figures and recommended crosschecking with official monthly data for accuracy.

Before these criticisms from XPeng executives, Li Xiang, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Li Auto, had already addressed the issue in May, 2023. He mentioned that due to reports from competitors, they had to temporarily stop releasing actual insurance registration data after May. However, two weeks later, Li Auto resumed publishing the weekly reports.

The second pause in Li Auto’s weekly report publication occurred in late March this year, this time voluntarily. It coincided with the lackluster performance of the Li MEGA and AITO overtaking Li Auto in sales. However, Li Auto resumed publishing weekly reports on May 7, 2024, with the report showing 5,300 units sold from April 29 to May 5, maintaining its top position among NEV brands, with AITO in second place at 4,800 units.

Li Auto explained that this move led to many customers inquiring about sales figures in stores, as sales data is crucial for customers’ purchasing decisions.

Li Auto explained that during the pause, varying market sales data emerged, necessitating clarification. To ensure consistent external communication, they decided to resume publishing the sales reports.

The latest sales report from Li Auto did not specify the data source, only mentioning that the sales figures differed from the monthly delivery statistics. Previously, Li disclosed that the data came from terminal retail data provided by China Automotive Data, specifically insurance registration data, which all car companies purchase.

This implies that since the data comes from a third-party authoritative institution, the sales figures in Li Auto’s weekly reports are likely reliable. However, while many car brands have access to this data, only Li Auto publicly releases it. As some netizens have pointed out, Li Auto might stop publishing the reports only if it no longer holds the top spot.

Li Auto has previously explained that one reason for releasing weekly reports is to correct any misinformation and prevent data falsification. Currently, the Passenger Car Association and the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers are the authoritative bodies publicly releasing automaker sales rankings.

The main difference between the sales data from the Passenger Car Association and insurance registration data is that the former comes from manufacturer reports, which may include production data or delivery data. These reports often account for dealership inventory and in-transit vehicles, leading to discrepancies with actual delivery figures.

Li Auto has noted that weekly reports help customers discern whether automaker-reported sales data is inflated. If a manufacturer’s self-reported figures significantly deviate from insurance registration data, it indicates inventory pressure, meaning vehicles counted as sold are not yet delivered to customers.

Despite providing more accurate sales data, Li Auto’s unwavering commitment to weekly reports is seen by many as overly competitive. Industry experts argue that releasing sales data weekly exacerbates market competition and reflects intense rivalry within the automotive sector.

Ma Lin, the director of public relations at NIO, commented on social media, directly addressing Li Xiang and suggesting that the weekly reports signify a low-level competitive practice. He emphasized that the mission of Chinese car manufacturers should be achieving technological breakthroughs through research and development.

Ma also pointed out that audited monthly delivery figures released by companies can reflect a company’s performance more accurately, helping consumers make informed decisions. He warned that weekly sales reports could disrupt normal business operations.

Ma’s comments followed a Politburo meeting on July 30, where it was stressed to strengthen industry self-discipline and prevent unhealthy competition. In the automotive industry, this is seen as a move to curb excessive competition.

However, keen-eyed netizens noted that NIO has also previously created various sales rankings with specific criteria, such as "pure electric SUV insurance registration rankings" and "luxury mid-size SUV insurance registration rankings," often placing NIO at the top.

With the government emphasizing the prevention of unhealthy competition, will automakers voluntarily stop publishing sales reports? Only time will tell.