Chinese EV manufacturer Nio Inc – ADR (NYSE: NIO) announced record monthly deliveries in December, which underline the strong momentum the company is experiencing.
What happened: Nio’s deliveries increased 121% year-over-year to 7,007 vehicles in December, the company said in a statement on Sunday. Total unit deliveries covered 2,009 ES8S, 2,493 ES6s and 2,505 units of their newly launched EC6s.
Sequentially, deliveries increased 32.43% of the 5,291 vehicles delivered in November.
The company noted that it reported a two-fold increase over the previous year for the ninth consecutive month.
“2020 has been a challenging year for the whole world. In this context, NIO reached consecutive records along the way and closed the year on a high, with remarkable deliveries in December of more than 7,000 vehicles,” said William Bin Li, founder, president and CEO of NIO at a launch.
For the fourth quarter, the company delivered 17,353 vehicles, representing an increase of 111% year on year.
The company’s previous forecast estimated that quarterly deliveries would be 16,500 to 17,000 units.
The growing recognition of Nio’s premium brand, competitive and attractive products and services and an expanding sales network contributed to the strong performance, the company said in the statement.
Nio noted that its battery-as-a-service scheme has been popular with its customers since its launch. After adding the option to supply a 100 kilowatt-hour battery, BaaS penetration reached about 40% of its new orders in December.
In 2020, the company delivered 43,728 vehicles, an increase of 112.6% year on year.
Related link: Ni to match vehicle prices until January 10, as China plans to cut 20% EV subsidy in 2021
Because it’s important: Nio, being an EV startup locally developed in China, has slowly and continuously increased its share of the Chinese market. The company has been striving to grow as a strong challenger for Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) in China.
Nio’s domestic rival Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ: LI) reported monthly deliveries on Fridays of 6,126 Li ONEs, representing an increase of 31.9% month on month and a gain of 529.6% year on year.
Tesla, which reports figures by quarter but not by month, said on Saturday its fourth quarter deliveries reached 180,570, an increase of 29.6% in the quarter and 61.2% greater than the previous year.
What is the next: The 2020 Nio Day scheduled for January 9 is the next catalyst for the EV maker.
Nio confirmed that in the fourth Nio Day he will launch a new sedan model, while sharing the latest developments in autonomous driving and other essential technologies.
“Aspirated by the spirit of ‘Always Forward’, the theme of the next NIO Day, we will continue to invest in intelligent EV technologies, accelerating our development of new products, expanding our sales and service network and striving for the best holistic experiences for our growing community users in 2021 and beyond, “said Nio.
The price action: Nio’s stock, which hit a record high of $ 57.20 on November 24, has since retreated amid fears of unsustainable appreciation and regulatory repression in China.
The action managed to recover some of the momentum lost in the last sessions.
Updating deliveries can support the positive side of the race until 9 January.
Thursday, the stock closed at $ 48.74, up 0.74%.
Related link: Why Nio has a chance to become the ‘Tesla of China’
Photo courtesy of Nio
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