Nio Inc. exported 216 vehicles from China in October, its highest monthly total of 2026 and half the 431 it shipped a year earlier, according to data from Chinese auto portal Yiche compiled by EV.
The total rose 22% from 177 in September and was the group’s highest since the record 750 shipped in December 2025. It was equal to 0.63% of the 34,246 vehicles the company delivered in October.
The increase came from the premium Nio brand and from Onvo, not from Firefly, the small-car brand that has carried most of the group’s overseas volume this year.
Nio-brand exports more than doubled to 86 from 41 in September. Onvo’s tripled to 27 from nine, while Firefly’s fell 19% to 103 from 127.
The figures track vehicles leaving China, not registrations abroad. For the Nio brand, October’s 86 equals the gap between the 18,125 deliveries the company reported and the 18,039 retail sales recorded in China in the same data.
Nio Brand
Before October, the Nio brand had exported between 24 and 53 vehicles in every month of 2026.
The rebound still leaves it 67% below the 258 shipped in October 2025. September’s 41 was down 76% from 170 a year earlier.
The ES6 SUV, known as the EL6 in Europe, accounted for 40 of October’s 86, its most since December 2025. The ES9 flagship SUV added 24, by far its highest monthly total, after four in July, five in August and none in September.
Together the two models made up 74% of the brand’s exports in the month. The ET5 Touring wagon followed with eight, against 100 a year earlier, and the ET5 sedan with seven.
The ES9’s rise came as the model reached its first market abroad, although the data do not show where the vehicles were shipped. The SUV has gone on sale in Armenia, its first known market outside China, and co-founder and President Qin Lihong has visited the company’s dealer there, the dealer said in late October.
Through 10 months, the brand has exported 433 vehicles, about 0.2% of its 200,113 deliveries. The ES6 accounts for 180 of them, or 42%, and the ES9 for 33.
Firefly
Firefly’s 103 exports in October followed 127 in September and 134 in August, its high for the year. The brand had not shipped more than 70 in any of the first seven months.
October’s figure was down 40% from 173 a year earlier. It came in a month when Firefly set a second straight delivery record of 7,738 vehicles, which puts exports at 1.3% of the total.
Firefly accounts for 639 of the group’s 1,141 exports this year, or 56%.
The brand opened its first standalone store outside China in Bangkok on October 19. Firefly President Daniel Jin has kept a target of launching in 20 to 30 countries this year.
Onvo
Onvo’s 27 exports were its most since December 2025, when it shipped 136. The three-row L90 made up most of the October total, and a small number of L80s appeared in the export data for the first time.
September’s nine consisted of three L60s and six L90s.
The brand has exported 278 vehicles since its first shipments in November 2025, and 209 of them left China in the first two months.
Onvo sells outside China in Uzbekistan, Costa Rica and Armenia, where the L80 was due to make its first appearance abroad. Nio has pushed the brand’s European launch back to 2028 or 2029.
Pace Against Target
Nio Inc. has exported 1,141 vehicles in the first 10 months of 2026, equal to 0.34% of its 334,547 deliveries.
That is up 23.6% from 923 in the same period of 2025, although the comparison is thin. The data show exports in only four of the first 10 months of last year, and the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, at 1,600, exceeds this year’s total so far.
The year began with 121 exports in January and 47 in February. Shipments recovered to 103 in March, fell to 44 in Apriland doubled to 88 in May.
They stayed below 100 in June, at 72, before reaching 92 in July and 181 in August.
Qin said in March that Nio expected to deliver “several thousand units” outside China in 2026. Exports have averaged 114 a month, a pace that points to about 1,370 for the year.
Reaching 2,000 would take about 430 a month in November and December. The group has reached that level only twice, when exports more than doubled to 431 in October 2025 and when they hit 750 that December, including 389 from Firefly. November 2025 came in at 419.
Founder and CEO William Li set a goal in January of being present in 40 countries and regions by year-end. In September he told staff the task for the next three years was to “focus on core markets”.
Rivals and Europe
Nio’s overseas volume remains small against the industry’s. China’s passenger car exports rose 69% to 928,000 in October, or 35% of manufacturers’ sales against 19% a year earlier, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said.
New energy vehicle exports jumped 144.7% to 582,000, led by BYD with 165,194. XPeng exported 13,326 vehicles in a month when it delivered a record 50,237, and Leapmotor shipped 21,132, according to the association.
In Europe, where Nio’s cars pay combined duties of 30.7%, the group registered 238 vehicles across eight markets in September. October brought its best month ever in Denmark, with 46 Nio-brand registrations, and none in Germany.
A further cost arrives next year. China will cut the export value-added tax rebate for new energy vehicles to 9% from 13%from April 1, 2027.
