Nio‘s Chief Executive Officer William Li said November “will still be tough” with December remaining “uncertain” amid an industry-wide demand slump triggered by subsidy cuts.
The Chinese electric vehicle maker prepares to report November delivery figures on Monday (December 1st) as it remains focused on ramping up production of its two best selling models: the Onvo L90 and the Nio ES8.
Delivery Figures
In October, the Shanghai-headquartered Group delivered 40,397 vehicles across its three brands. The result represented a new record high and the first month above the 40,000 threshold.
Based on the Q4 guidance of 120,000-125,000 vehicles, the company expects to deliver between 79,603 and 84,603 units in November and December combined.
Earlier this year, Li had said that the Nio Group would reach a 50,000-unit monthly rate in the final quarter of the year.
Industry Faces Reality Check on Demand
“Because Nio has some backlog, our situation is relatively better, but November will still be tough, and December remains uncertain,” Li said during a Q&A session with local media outlets in China.
Li said the severity of the demand deterioration caught the industry off guard in October, with new-order volume falling significantly across most manufacturers.
“Before mid-October no one anticipated this. In late October many still hoped for a rebound. In November the industry has confronted reality: new-order volume has fallen significantly, with a severe decline across most companies,” Li said.
The CEO said many competitors remain psychologically unprepared for the downturn.
“Many firms are still unprepared psychologically, expecting a seasonal year-end boost that will not occur,” he said.
Nio‘s chief noted that the market had anticipated strong pull-forward demand as customers rushed to capture subsidies before they decline from January 2026.
“Previously the industry expected a strong year-end pull-forward: customers buying now save RMB 15,000 ($2,100) before losing the subsidy next year. But the impact from subsidy cuts was far beyond expectations,” he said.
Nio Maintains Price Stability Strategy
Despite the challenging demand environment, Li said Nio will maintain pricing discipline. “Our current strategy is to keep prices stable and avoid disorderly changes,” he said.
The CEO emphasized that “the true challenge is demand” in the final quarter of the year.
“Supply pressure is always short-term; the true challenge is demand,” Li said.
Li said Nio‘s existing order backlog for vehicles like the new ES8 provides some cushion against the broader market weakness. “Actually, few models in the market still have sizable backlogs like the new ES8. The real challenge in Q4 is demand,” he said.
For the ES8 specifically, Li said the company is pushing aggressively to maximize deliveries before year-end.
As of Friday, the company’s best selling model has a waiting delivery time of “22-23 weeks” — the Nio App shows. Orders placed today are expected to be delivered in late April 2026.
“Each additional unit delivered this year earns an extra RMB 15,000 ($2,100). Because subsidies next year will decline, we are pushing to deliver aggressively in Q4 and the entire ES8 supply chain is operating under high tension,” he said.
In the same media Q&A session, the chief executive expressed interest in the robotics industry and its potential integration with the battery swapping technology Nio has been developing.
