Nio‘s third factory produced 43,668 units of the third-generation ES8 in 2025, exceeding the company’s production target by nearly 3,700 vehicles, according to images shared on Chinese social media on Wednesday.
Photos posted on Weibo by automotive blogger 德因爱开车 showed members of Nio‘s manufacturing team celebrating alongside the final ES8 produced in 2025 as it rolled off the OK line — the final quality inspection station — with a board displaying the cumulative production figure.
“As of December 31, cumulative production of the all-new ES8 has reached 43,668 units,” the blogger wrote. “This reflects the production capacity achieved by Nio‘s new F3 factory. Everything is progressing according to plan, which is the best possible arrangement.”
Nio‘s management had said in September it expected to produce 40,000 units of the flagship SUV this year.
Delivery Milestone
Earlier this week, Nio delivered the 40,000th unit of the new ES8, just 100 days after handing over the first one on September 21.
The 50,000th unit is expected to be delivered in China next week as the production ramp-up continues.
The company delivered 10,000 ES8 vehicles in the last 11 days of December, translating to a monthly run rate of approximately 27,000 units — more than tripling the pace from earlier in the ramp-up.
Separately, Nio said Wednesday that ES8 deliveries in Shanghai — the best-selling city for the brand — have reached 5,000 units.
F3 Factory
The F3 plant is located less than five miles from Nio‘s main F2 factory in Hefei. Chinese media outlet Yicai reported last September that one of its reporters visited the facility on September 19.
However, Nio did not announce the official opening of the third plant.
Nio and the Hefei municipal government announced in April 2021 the start of construction on NeoPark. The F2 plant began production in September 2022.
Supply Chain Constraints
The ES8, for which 2025 production capacity sold out within minutes of orders opening, has a substantial backlog with delivery waiting times reaching six months.
“We didn’t originally expect the ES8 to be this popular again this year, so we started placing more conservative orders with battery suppliers,” Li said in September.
Earlier this month, Li said battery supply had become the primary bottleneck limiting ES8 deliveries. The constraint was expected to ease in January as production capacity exceeds vehicle output.
However, the company notified customers that a clip shortage was affecting the rear-seat entertainment system on the new ES8.
Starting December 22, Nio adopted a “modified technical solution” to ensure deliveries were not delayed.
Orders placed Wednesday have an estimated waiting time of 20 to 21 weeks, indicating vehicles are expected to be delivered by mid-to-late May 2026.
Delivery Figures
According to data from China’s Passenger Car Association, Nio delivered 2,803 ES8 vehicles in September.
Deliveries 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, suggesting the company is on track to achieve close to 20,000 vehicle deliveries in December alone — nearly doubling from the prior month.
The exact number of ES8s delivered in December will be disclosed next week by China’s Passenger Car Association.
