Chinese EV maker Nio forecasts surge in deliveries after first quarterly profit


Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio has forecast a surge of up to 97 per cent in first-quarter deliveries, underscoring the turnaround after posting its first-ever quarterly profit and defying a slowdown that has hit most of its domestic rivals.

Nio, ranked the 15th bestselling Chinese EV maker last year, set a delivery guidance of 80,000 to 83,000 vehicles for the first quarter of 2026, representing a year-on-year surge of between 90 per cent and 97 per cent.

The growth projection bucked the trend of most Chinese peers in the first two months of 2026, when halved purchase tax incentives weighed on sales. BYD, China’s largest EV maker, saw sales volume fall 35.8 per cent year on year, while Leapmotor, the bestseller among smaller players, recorded a 19 per cent rise over the same period.

“Our in-house core smart EV technologies continued to reach mass production and deployment, enhancing product competitiveness while delivering meaningful cost efficiencies,” said William Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, in an exchange filing on Tuesday night.

A series of new promotions in March for both its Nio and Onvo brands and a significant reduction in customer waiting times were expected to help boost deliveries in March, Deutsche Bank analyst Wang Bin said in a note.

Nio’s growth projection bucks the trend of most Chinese peers in the first two months of 2026. Photo: AFP
Nio’s growth projection bucks the trend of most Chinese peers in the first two months of 2026. Photo: AFP

The company also projected revenue for the January quarter to be between 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) and 25.2 billion yuan, an increase of between 103 per cent and 109 per cent from a year earlier.

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