Nio delivers over 20,000 cars in May, mobile app poster hints

May 31, 2024

19 2 minutes read

The only other time Nio has previously seen single-month deliveries exceed 20,000 was in July 2023 with 20,462 units.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) saw strong delivery growth this month, possibly one of its highest single-month deliveries.

The electric vehicle (EV) maker delivered more than 20,000 units in May, a poster on the front page of its mobile app shows.

“Nio delivers 2W in May, live from the vehicle delivery site,” the poster reads. W is the initial letter of the pinyin for the unit of quantity “Wan” (万, or 10,000).

(A screenshot on the front page of the Nio App hints that Nio delivered more than 20,000 cars in May.)

The poster links to a live video stream where a Nio staffer is interviewing new owners at a delivery center.

Nio and its major peers are expected to announce May’s vehicle delivery figures tomorrow.

Nio has only exceeded 20,000 deliveries since its inception in July 2023, when 20,462 vehicles were delivered.

Its latest hints mean that May’s deliveries will be the second highest ever, if not a new record.

Nio delivered 15,620 vehicles in April, up 31.64 percent from March and 134.60 percent year-on-year, according to figures it announced on May 1.

Insurance registrations of Nio vehicles from May 1-26 were 15,400 units, already close to the full month of April deliveries, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.

For most Chinese EV makers, the end of the month usually sees a pulse upward in deliveries.

For Nio, what could have a big impact on May deliveries is the upcoming expiration of the time-limited entitlement for the BaaS (battery as a service) battery rental service, which could prompt wait-and-see potential customers to place orders.

Possibly because potential customers want to take advantage of the expiring entitlement, some Weibo bloggers say Nio has seen delivery centers busier than ever this week.

Some of Nio’s delivery centers in Guangzhou and Beijing have been so busy that the battery swap stations there have suspended service, and the EV maker was advising car owners to head to other nearby stations, according to a May 29 Weibo post by auto blogger @董买买.

Nio will report its first-quarter earnings on June 6, when it is expected to provide guidance on its second-quarter deliveries.

This month’s strong performance may have exceeded many expectations, as some Wall Street analysts have previously suggested that Nio’s sales growth could be lower without new model launches in the first three quarters of 2024.

Ahead of delivery figure announcement, Nio’s shares traded in Hong Kong surged today, up 6.81 percent at press time, and were up 10 percent at one point in early trading.