Orders for Nio‘s third-generation ES8 sport-utility vehicle have already outstripped this year’s 40,000-unit production capacity, Chinese outlet LatePost reported on Sunday.
The ES8, a large six- and seven-seat SUV, was officially launched on Saturday in Hangzhou with prices starting at 406,800 yuan ($56,000), or 298,800 yuan under the company’s battery-as-a-service rental program.
People close to senior management told Chinese outlet LatePost that lock-in orders received during the launch evening had already exceeded Nio’s 2025 production cap, adding that “the actual situation exceeds this figure by quite a lot.”
At a media Q&A session on early Sunday, Nio founder and CEO William Li acknowledged that demand for the ES8 was stronger than expected.
A separate 36-hour report published by local industry platform CarFansChina reported that total ES8 lock-in orders may have reached 47,000 to 50,000.
According to the survey, each dealership logged 80 to 85 firm orders — equivalent to 80% to 90% of store traffic — while overall showroom inflows rose 50% to 70% compared with the pre-sale period.
The report noted that most customers had seen the vehicle during pre-launch display and test-drive events, with the final pricing convincing many to confirm orders on launch night.
Shenzhen’s Shum Yip Upper Hills Tower 1 store achieved the highest sales performance in the city, while Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Hefei ranked as top regions nationally.
CarFansChina said buyers were predominantly male (70%) and aged between 30 and 50, with family users forming the core customer base.
Dealers reported that potential buyers were focused exclusively on three-row SUVs and carried relatively high budgets.
Configuration preferences leaned heavily toward the six-seat version, which accounted for more than 95% of orders, compared with a rapidly declining share for the seven-seat model.
About 60% of customers selected the Luxury trim and 40% opted for the Signature version, while nearly 90% chose the BaaS plan. Black exteriors and brown interiors were the most popular color combinations.
Deliveries of the new ES8 began on Sunday, a day after its launch event in Hangzhou.
The first units of the model were delivered in Beijing by the founder and CEO William Li.
The co-founder and President Lihong Qin handed over the first ES8 vehicles in Hangzhou.
Deliveries began less than 24 hours after the model was launched at the company’s annual event — ‘Nio Day’ — which gathered seven thousand customers in Hangzhou, China.
“This pricing was not considered from the perspective of a price war, but it positions the Nio brand, and the three brands’ price ranges [Nio, Onvo and Firefly] have also become clearer,” Li stated on Sunday.
“Don’t worry that we are not making money — there is still a reasonable gross margin,” Nio‘s chief added.
