Nio announced on Monday that it has reached 40,000 deliveries of the new ES8, just 100 days after handing over the first one on September 21.
The Shanghai-headquartered EV maker has delivered 10,000 ES8 vehicles in the last 11 days, as it ramps up production of its flagship SUV.
The 10,000 deliveries over 11 days translates to a monthly run rate of approximately 27,000 units, more than tripling the pace from earlier in the ramp-up.
Previously, Nio had taken 19 days to deliver the same number of vehicles.
Reacting to the achievement on Weibo, founder and CEO William Li wrote that the model became “the fastest model priced above RMB 400,000 [$56,900] in China to surpass 40,000 deliveries.”
The milestone confirms executive remarks in November that ES8 production could reach 15,000 units — as mentioned by co-founder and President Lihong Qin — and even 20,000 units — according to Marketing Vice-President Kang Kai.
Production Capacity
The model, for which production capacity sold out in 2025 within the first minutes of its launch, has a substantial backlog, with delivery waiting times reaching six months.
By September, the company’s CEO said it expected to produce 40,000 units in 2025, noting that producing more would be difficult due to supply chain constraints.
“We didn’t originally expect the ES8 to be this popular again this year, so we started placing more conservative orders with battery suppliers,” William Li noted then.
Despite efforts to increase the production capacity of the new iteration, supply chain disruptions continue to pose challenges for the EV maker.
Earlier this month, Li said battery supply had become the primary bottleneck limiting ES8 deliveries.
By then, the chief executive noted the constraint was expected to ease in January as production capacity exceeds vehicle output.
Just a few weeks later, however, the company said in a notice to customers that a clip shortage was affecting the rear-seat entertainment system on the new ES8.
Starting December 22, the company adopted a “modified technical solution” to ensure that deliveries were not delayed.
Orders placed on Monday have an estimated waiting time of 20 to 21 weeks, indicating the vehicles are expected to be delivered by mid-to-late May 2026.
ES8 Deliveries
According to data from China’s Passenger Car Association, Nio delivered 2,803 ES8 vehicles in September.
Deliveries then rose sharply to 6,703 units in October and 10,677 units in November, representing a 59.3% month-over-month increase.
In total, Nio delivered 20,182 ES8 units in the past three months, which suggests that the company is on track to achieve close to 20,000 vehicle deliveries in December alone — doubling from the prior month.
The model contributed to Nio‘s record figures in the past months, alongside the sub-brand Onvo’s L90, also a three-row SUV.
Ambitious Targets
Nio initially said it aimed to double its annual deliveries from 2024 to 2025, suggesting deliveries of about 443,000 vehicles this year.
It has since then trimmed the guidance twice: first in August, as it said it expected deliveries in the final quarter to reach 150,000 units across its three brands, way below the needed figures to reach that number.
Then, in the latest earnings report, the quarterly target was adjusted to between 120,000 and 125,000 units, which implies 2025 deliveries will fall between 321,000 and 326,000 vehicles.
Nio delivered 277,893 vehicles until November 30, which represents 85.2% to 86.6% of the revised target, but only 62.7% of the initial one.
To reach the lower end of the target, Nio would have to deliver 43,107 vehicles in December across the three brands — a new record for the group after October.
To increase demand for other models in its lineup, the company has launched several limited editions, which include the ET5 Touring, the ET9 flagship sedan, Onvo’s two SUVs, and the Firefly EV.
