Chinese EV maker Nio posted its weakest sales month in Germany in three years, matching January 2023, when the brand had only just entered Europe’s largest auto market.
In the first month of 2026, the company sold just one vehicle there, data published on Wednesday by the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) showed.
The company currently has four flagship showrooms in Germany, including the capital Berlin, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg.
Named “NIO Houses,” the showrooms are located in city centers and designed as community-oriented spaces, mirroring the network built in China where customers gather on weekends with their families for workshops and events.
YoY and Sequential Drop
However, demand continues to disappoint.
January registrations plunged from the 18 units delivered in January 2025 and from the 2-year high of 89 vehicles sold during December — which had marked the first sequential increase in five months.
In November, registrations fell for the fourth month in a row, dropping to just nine units — Nio’s lowest monthly total since January 2023, prior to the last month.
Despite the market share growth of EVs in Germany last year, Nio sold a total of 325 vehicles, representing a 18.3% decline from the prior year.
Last month, Nio posted its weakest Norway sales month in three years in January, despite beginning deliveries of its cheaper sub-brand Firefly last August.
The overall Norwegian auto market shrank in January due to EV policy changes.
In Sweden, after registering 60 units in December, Nio sold zero vehicles in January. Last year, it had listed five units in the same month.
Incentives
The brand currently lets customers configure the ET5 Touring, the EL6 and the EL8 SUVs, which are priced from €47,500 ($56,100), €53,500 ($63,200) and €82,900 ($98,000), respectively.
The ET5 sedan, on the other hand, is only available through inventory units. The page currently features 10 units of the model, priced from €49,050 ($58,000), and 11 units of the EL6.
These models were upgraded in China in 2025, and more upgrades have been promised for next year.
However, the company is still selling vehicles produced in 2023 and 2024 across Europe, as it struggles to dispatch inventory units.
Late last year, Nio extended its incentives to its entry-level SUV, the EL6, in Germany. Until the year-end, the company offered a 0% financing rate on purchases of the model.
The same incentives were already available for the ET5 sedan, ET5 Touring station wagon, and, from mid-October, for the EL8 (ES8) large SUV.
These offers are still listed on Nio‘s promotion page for the ET5, ET5 Touring, and EL6 models, with no expiration date specified.
German Market
In January, overall passenger vehicle sales in Germany declined 6.6% year over year to 193,981 units.
However, the share of electric vehicles increased by 23.4% from January 2025, as EVs accounted for 42,692 of the total cars sold last month.
The market share for EVs also increased sequentially, to 22.0% in January from 19.1% in December.
Other Chinese automakers extended their share in the German market last month, from their record deliveries in 2025.
Premium brand Polestar registered its fourth best-selling month in the last two years, after seeing a 57% increase year over year in 2025 registrations.
XPeng, which entered Germany in 2024, saw the same growth tendency, after its sales jumped sevenfold last year.
BYD, the Chinese giant offering both hybrid and fully electric models, saw sales rise eightfold in 2025, surpassing 23,000 vehicles.
In January, it had its fifth strongest sales month in Germany, with a surge over 1,000% year over year.
