Nio‘s US-listed shares are rising more than 5% on Wednesday after a local media report said the electric vehicle maker had quietly begun production at its third factory in China’s Anhui Province and Deutsche Bank forecast record deliveries in September.
Chinese media outlet Yicai said on Wednesday one of its reporters visited the company’s factory on September 19.
Located less than five miles from Nio’s main plant (F2), the factory was slated to open this month, but the brand has yet to announce its launch.
Nio and the Hefei municipal government announced in April 2021 the start of construction on NeoPark. The F2 plant began production in September 2022, with the ET5 sedan as its inaugural model.
According to the report, “workers, security guards, and suppliers all confirmed that Nio is working overtime to prepare production for the new ES8.”
The third iteration of the SUV was launched last Saturday with deliveries beginning on Sunday across several cities in China.
A factory employee told the reporter that the site “has been in continuous production,” while a supplier confirmed the facility is currently building the ES8 and said he had been asked to increase support as demand rises.
Nio Group — which includes Nio, Onvo and Firefly — aims to deliver 440,000 vehicles in 2025 including 150,000 units in the final quarter of the year.
Yicai said Nio has previously cited a single-shift capacity of 100,000 units for the F3 plant but has given no further statement.
Separately, Deutsche Bank said earlier this Wednesday it estimates Nio will deliver about 35,000 vehicles in September, setting a new monthly record.
Analyst Wang Bin expects roughly 15,000 units each for the Nio and Onvo brands, and about 5,000 for the Firefly sub-brand.
Nio delivered 31,305 vehicles in August, its highest monthly total since its founding 11 years ago, surpassing the record set in December 2024.
Onvo more than doubled deliveries to 16,434 from July, boosted by the launch of the L90.
Firefly rose to 4,346 units as it expanded into European markets. Deliveries for the core Nio brand fell 47.8% year-on-year to 10,525, the steepest drop this year.
The EV maker guided for third-quarter deliveries of 87,000 to 91,000 vehicles, up 40.7% to 47.1% from a year earlier. With 21,017 deliveries in July and 31,305 in August, September volumes are expected to range between 34,678 and 38,678 units.
