NIO positively surprised us in February, achieving a relatively solid electric vehicle sales result and a high rate of growth year-over-year.
The Chinese premium EV start-up reports that its total vehicle deliveries amounted to 12,157 last month, which is 98 percent more than a year ago.
The overwhelming majority of NIO sales are in China.
Such a monthly result in the short month of February and after Tesla's price reductions (which affected many competitors) is quite promising.
NIO reports also that its crossover/SUV sales amounted to 5,037 units (down 18 percent year-over-year), while electric sedan sales amounted to 7,120 (new models). NIO does not provide a breakdown between the individual models anymore.
NIO EV deliveries last month:
- Crossover/SUVs (EC6, ES6, EC7, ES7, ES8): 5,037 (down 18% year-over-year)
- Sedans (ET5, ET7): 7,120 (new)
- Total: 12,157 (up 98% year-over-year)
NIO car sales – February 2023
So far this year, NIO delivered more than 20,000 electric vehicles, which is 31 percent more than a year ago.
NIO EV deliveries year-to-date:
- Crossover/SUVs (EC6, ES6, EC7, ES7, ES8) YTD: 7,227 (down 54% year-over-year)
- Sedans (ET5, ET7) YTD: 13,436 (new)
- Total YTD: 20,663 (up 31% year-over-year)
For reference, in 12 months of 2022, NIO sold more than 122,000 electric cars globally:
Cumulatively, NIO sold 310,219 electric cars (the 300,000th car was produced on December 12).
It's worth noting that NIO is in a transition period from NT 1.0 platform (EC6, ES6, ES8) to the new NT 2.0 platform (ES7 in Europe known as EL7, ET5, ET7, new ES8, and EC7 from May). According to the Chinese media, NIO discounts some of the older NT 1.0 models.
NIO also reports that, as of February 28, its network of battery swap stations includes 1,331 stations and some 350 fast charging stations (1,261 individual stalls).
The plan is to install additional 1,000 battery swap stations in 2023 for a total of over 2,300 by the end of the year.
The battery swap infrastructure is used not only for long-distance travel but also to upgrade vehicles from a lower battery capacity to a higher battery capacity. According to CnEVPost, NIO is currently encouraging customers in China to switch from a 70-kilowatt-hour (kWh) or 75-kWh battery to a 100-kWh unit at a discount.
In this business model, batteries belong to NIO, while users have to pay a monthly fee to use their cars.
