The estimated delivery waiting time for the third-generation Nio ES8 has been shortened for the fourth time in six weeks.
Since mid-January, the wait for the three-row SUV has more than halved.
As of Wednesday, customers who place an order for the SUV from Nio can expect delivery in approximately 6 to 7 weeks, according to the company’s configurator page.
Exactly two weeks ago, the page listed an estimated 8 to 9 weeks.
Upon the new ES8’s launch in late September, the wait time stood at 24-26 weeks — equivalent to half a year.
Calculations in late September showed that Nio needed to deliver roughly 4,000 units per week (about 571 units per day) to clear the backlog in six months.
At this rate, the initial 100,000 orders would be fulfilled by late February or early March.
Delivery Numbers
Between September 21, 2025 — when deliveries commenced — and January 31, 2026, Nio delivered 60,000 ES8s.
In January alone, 17,646 units of the model were registered in China.
It represented 84.5% of the total 20,894 units delivered by the brand in the first month of the year.
As Nio ramped up deliveries from roughly 280 units per day in September to over 800 in December, then scaled back to 735 per day in January, the figures indicate the company rapidly worked through its order backlog.
Nio‘s third factory, where the ES8 is produced, manufactured 43,668 units of the model in 2025, exceeding the company’s target by nearly 3,700 vehicles.
The EV maker has shown it can deliver over 800 units per day at peak, indicating Nio could produce roughly 20,000–25,000 ES8s per month if demand is there.
Supply Chain Shortages
Nio announced on Wednesday that it is facing supply chain disruptions due to a shortage of audio signal processing chips.
According to a post in the Nio app, affected vehicles will ship with a temporary workaround starting March 2.
The temporary solution disables the “Hyper-Immersive” sound field mode, while core audio functionality remains intact.
To soften the impact, Nio is offering affected buyers 20,000 Nio Points (roughly $290) as compensation, with the option to restore full functionality later via a paid hardware retrofit once chip supply stabilizes.
Upcoming Numbers
Nio has not yet provided any update on the number of ES8 deliveries during the past four weeks — including confirmation of reaching a 70,000th unit milestone — which could suggest that February deliveries may have dropped below 10,000 units.
The brand’s upcoming ES9 SUV — which will be unveiled on April 10 — may also be drawing potential ES8 buyers away.
Deliveries will begin on June 1, according to the company’s co-founder and President Qin Lihong, after the launch event takes place in late May.
The ES9 will take over as Nio’s flagship SUV from the ES8, which has held that position since becoming the brand’s first mass-produced vehicle in May 2018.
Some ES8 reservation holders may be canceling orders while switching to the larger and more luxurious ES9, which could explain part of the shortened wait time.
Demand Questions
The 22,258 deliveries in December made the Nio ES8 China’s best-selling SUV in the 400,000 yuan ($58,200) segment by single-month volume.
However, the continued compression of delivery times suggests production is no longer constrained by demand.
The shrinking wait time raises questions about whether ES8 demand is stabilizing after the initial launch frenzy.
The pattern would mirror what happened with other models — such as the flagship sedan ET9 or the Onvo L90.
Sales dropped below 100 units per month just three months after deliveries began, following an initial 810 units in the first full month. The lowest month was reached in January, when only 59 ET9s were delivered.
Additionally, the ES8 is facing competitive pressure in China.
Zeekr launched its 9X SUV just days after the Nio model debuted, and XPeng is preparing to debut the GX premium six-seat SUV, which will be available in both fully electric and extended-range versions.
