Nio management on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter delivery target of 150,000 vehicles will now include its entry-level Firefly brand, broadening a goal that was previously set only for the Nio and Onvo marques.
At the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call, founder and CEO William Li was asked by Citi analyst Jeff Chung about the ramp-up pace of the new ES8 and Onvo L90 models.
Li responded that “our Q4 target is to achieve an average of 50,000 units deliveries per month for all three brands, which means that in Q4 our quarterly delivery target combining all three brands is 150,000 units.”
He added that demand for the two newly launched models has been stronger than expected.
“It is true that with the launch of the Envoy L90 and also the Nio ES8, we actually see a stronger market demand higher than what we’ve expected before the launch,” Li said.
To meet that demand, Nio is working to accelerate supply chain ramp-ups.
“We’ve been working closely with our supply chain partners to improve and enhance production capacity throughout the value chain and also the supply chain,” Li said.
He noted that “our target is that in October the full supply chain capacity for the Onvo L90 can achieve and reach 15,000 units a month.”
“And for the ES8, as the ramp up of production takes slightly longer, we hope that the full supply chain capacity can achieve 150,000 units in December,” Li added.
The shift marks a step back from earlier guidance.
In June, Nio’s management said the core Nio brand would target about 25,000 deliveries per month in the fourth quarter, or 75,000 units, while Li separately stated that Onvo would aim for a similar level.
That implied a group-wide goal of 150,000 units, excluding Firefly, which had no public target.
As reported earlier this Tuesday — and based on the third quarter guidance provided in the earnings report — the company expects to deliver between 34,678—38,678 EVs in September.
Nio unveiled the third-generation ES8 on August 21, a lower-priced pre-sale model of its first-ever production car. Deliveries in China will begin after its official launch later this month, Li confirmed on Tuesday.
Although the company has not released pre-order figures, Morgan Stanley analysts said last month that reservations may have already surpassed 30,000.
“Constructive feedback underpins the market’s belief that ES8 could go viral as L90 did last month, underpinning a monthly run rate of 40,000-50,000 units for Nio Group from October,” analyst Tim Hsiao wrote.
One day after the pre-launch, Nio co-founder and president Lihong Qin said ES8 pre-orders had already exceeded those of the Onvo L90 within about 12 hours of its unveiling.
The ES8 Executive Premium Edition, offered in six- and seven-seat versions, starts at 416,800 yuan ($58,000) with a 102-kWh battery, or 308,800 yuan under Nio’s Battery-as-a-Service plan.
Customers ordering between the pre-sale and official launch can apply a 5,000 yuan deposit as a 10,000 yuan discount, with additional incentives for existing Nio owners — including the most generous package for original ES8 Founders’ Edition buyers.
