China's Nio is worth more than Ford or General Motors

(ATF) China’s electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio now has a higher market value than General Motors, while Xpeng is close to overtaking Ford. But the incoming Biden administration is expected to take steps to try to ensure that Tesla is not the only US-based EV success story.

Chinese electric vehicle makers Nio and Xpeng have seen an extraordinary surge in their US-listed shares this year that has seen their market values match or exceed those of far longer established US auto makers that not only have much bigger sales but also make a profit.

Nasdaq-listed Nio had a market capitalization of just over $66 billion by the afternoon of Thursday December 17, while NYSE-listed General Motors was worth just under $60 billion.

Xpeng, which is listed on the NYSE, had a market cap of $32 billion, which was close to the value of Ford at just under $36 billion.

EVs’ meteoric rise

The rise in value of the Chinese EV firms has been meteoric – Nio listed in the US in 2018, just over a century after the 1916 listing for General Motors, while Xpeng had its IPO this August, 64 years after Ford went public.

The most highly valued EV stock by far is based in America – Tesla, which had a market cap of $611 billion on December 17 – but the incoming Biden administration is expected to take steps to increase the adoption of electric vehicles in the US which could help longer-established US auto firms to join the bonanza.

The planned appointment of Jennifer Granholm as Energy Secretary could help the auto industry veterans as she is a former governor of Michigan, where General Motors and Ford are based.

She helped to secure $1.35 billion in federal funding for companies to make electric cars and batteries in her state and will now take this drive to the national stage.

Biden has pointed out that China currently outpaces the US in EV production, but he has pledged to build 550,000 EV charging stations and create over 1 million jobs by investing in clean energy research.

The Zero Emission Transportation Association, a group of 28 car and utility companies, including Tesla and PG&E, was launched last month to lobby for EV-friendly policies in the US and it can expect to find allies in incoming President Biden, Granholm, and former presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who is expected to serve as Biden’s Transport Secretary.