NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto Deliveries Set a Record. Tesla Investors Are Relieved.

Combined, the three delivered 76,498 vehicles, a record total for a month and up from 25,212 delivered in October 2022. In September, the number was 66,831.

Investors wanted to see growth. They have been feeling nervous about EV demand for several reasons.

Most recently, auto chip supplier
ON Semiconductor
(ON) said that fourth-quarter sales should come in at about $2 billion. Wall Street was looking for about $2.2 billion. Shares, as a result, have declined 25% for the week.

ON Semi’s weak guidance followed after warnings from
Volkswagen
(VOW.Germany),
Mercedes-Benz
(MBG.Germany),
Ford Motor
(F), and
General Motors
(GM) about weaker-than-expected EV demand.

All that has weighed on shares of EV producers. Coming into Wednesday,
Tesla
(TSLA) stock has fallen 3% for the week. Shares have declined 17% since Tesla reported disappointing third-quarter numbers on Oct. 18.

U.S.-listed shares of NIO were up 0.7% early Wednesday. XPeng and Li shares rose 4.1% and 1.5%, respectively.
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
futures were both down 0.4%. Tesla stock was up 0.7% in premarket trading.

Coming into Wednesday’s trading, NIO stock has fallen 25% over the past 12 months. XPeng and Li shares have fared much better, up about 125% and 132%, respectively. Tesla stock has declined 11% over the past 12 months.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]