Chinese EV maker Nio Inc. said on Thursday that it expects to deliver between 110,000 and 115,000 EVs globally across its three brands in the second quarter of 2026, representing year-over-year growth of approximately 52.7% to 59.6%.
Based on the 29,356 EVs delivered in April, the guidance implies deliveries of between 80,644 and 85,644 in May and June combined.
The midpoint of that range points to a monthly average of roughly 41,600 units for the final two months of the quarter — a marked step up from April, the quarter’s slowest month.
Nio also guided for second-quarter revenue of between 32,777 million yuan ($4.752 billion) and 34,436 million yuan ($4.992 billion), an increase of approximately 72.4% to 81.2% from the same quarter of 2025.
First-Quarter Deliveries
Nio delivered 35,486 vehicles globally in March, a 136.0% year-over-year increase that brought the first-quarter total to 83,465 units — above the 80,000-to-83,000 range the company had guided in early March.
The first-quarter figure marked a 98.3% increase over the 42,094 vehicles delivered a year earlier, though it fell 33.1% short of the record 124,807 delivered in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting the seasonal slowdown around the Lunar New Year.
The deliveries comprised 58,543 vehicles from the premium Nio brand, 13,339 from the family-oriented Onvo, and 11,583 from the smaller Firefly marque.
The ES8 Drives the Numbers
The third-generation Nio ES8 remained the single biggest driver of the group’s deliveries.
The three-row SUV delivered 45,185 units in the first quarter, contributing 54.14% of Nio’s total deliveries over the period.
In April, the ES8 recorded 13,020 retail sales, accounting for roughly 44% of the group’s deliveries for the month and remaining China’s best-selling large SUV for the fifth consecutive month.
The ES8 starts at 406,800 yuan ($59,700), making it one of the most expensive models offered by a domestic Chinese automaker.
Launched at Nio Day 2025 last September,the SUV reached 100,000 deliveries in 215 days — a record for premium vehicles priced above 400,000 yuan in China’s passenger car market — with founder and CEO William Li personally handing over the 100,000th unit in Beijing on April 23, one day before the Beijing Auto Show.
A five-seat version of the ES8 is scheduled to launch in early July, expanding the lineup beyond the current six- and seven-seat configurations.
A New Flagship Imminent
Nio is counting on the ES9, its new flagship SUV positioned above the ES8, to drive second-quarter momentum.
The ES9 goes on sale and begins deliveries on May 27 — five days earlier than the June 1 date management had previously signalled — with pre-sale pricing starting at 528,000 yuan ($77,300) including the battery.
Nio said orders from non-Nio customers were running at more than 1.5 times the equivalent pace of last year’s ES8 launch.
The launch comes during an intensive period of new product activity that Nio is relying on to sustain delivery growth through the rest of the year.
The 2026 Delivery Target
Earlier this year, Nio’s management said it expected delivery growth of 40% to 50% in 2026.
Against the 326,028 units delivered in 2025, that implies full-year 2026 deliveries of between roughly 456,000 and 489,000 vehicles.
As of the end of the first quarter, Nio had achieved between 17.1% and 18.3% of that target.
Based on the 112,821 EVs delivered in the first four months of the year, Nio would need to deliver between 343,179 and 376,179 units from May through December — a monthly average of roughly 42,900 to 47,000 vehicles.
Where Nio Sells
Nio began its international expansion in October 2021 with Norway, later adding Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, before shifting from a direct-sales model to a distributor-led approach for newer markets.
The company ended 2025 in approximately 20 markets including China and has targeted a presence in 40 countries and regions by the end of 2026, led by the urban-focused Firefly brand.
In March, Nio opened its first showroom in the Americas in San José, Costa Rica — its first market in the Western Hemisphere and the first anywhere outside China to launch all three brands simultaneously, offering the Nio ET5 Touring, EL6, and EL8, the Onvo L60, and Firefly’s debut model.
Nio also sells in Singapore and Thailand, both entered through Firefly in early 2026, and maintains a presence in the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
As first reported by EV, Poland is among the next markets Nio will enter this year, alongside Luxembourg and others.
