Nio‘s sub-brand Onvo said on Monday it delivered 11,794 vehicles in November, a 32% decline from October’s record 17,342 units, as Chinese government subsidy cuts dampened demand for its two models.
The Group’s founder and Chief Executive Officer William Li admitted the subsidy impact during the company’s third-quarter earnings call last week, noting that the company “did see the impact coming from the phase-out and the termination of the trade-in and replacement subsidies since October.”
Nio trimmed its fourth quarter delivery guidance last week from 150,000 units to a range of 120,000—125,000 vehicles.
Li explained that “our Onvo L60 and L90 are majorly affected by this cancellation as they are also relatively low price segment and are more sensitive to such changes.”
The subsidy termination is affecting the entire Chinese automotive industry.
“In Q4 for the entire industry, we may not see the year-end sales spike that we normally expect towards the end of the year,” Li said, adding that “the overall market demand has been affected because of the cancellation of the trade-in subsidy.”
Li noted a key difference in how automakers are responding to various policy changes. “Car companies, including Nio, provide the guarantee for the purchasing tax exemptions to users waiting up for their cars next year.”
“Yet no car company is going to provide the guarantee for the trade-in and replacement subsidy,” he explained, referring to purchase tax exemptions that will be further reduced for new energy vehicles in 2026.
Despite the headwinds, Li maintained confidence in the group’s financial targets. “We still have the confidence in achieving quarterly breakeven in Q4, and this is still our financial target towards the end of the year,” he said.
Li noted that strong demand for higher-margin products like the redesigned ES8 from the flagship Nio brand would help offset Onvo‘s softness.
“The order intake on the Onvo has been affected because of the cancellation of the trade-in subsidy, yet the overall impact on the gross profit is limited,” he said, adding that the company maintains “ample order backlog and also new order intake” for premium models.
Average Selling Price Remains Elevated
Despite the volume decline, Onvo has maintained an average selling price near 260,000 yuan ($36,500) as deliveries of the higher-priced L90 three-row SUV continue to boost transaction values.
According to data presented at the Guangzhou Auto Show last month, Onvo‘s average selling price surged from approximately 195,800 yuan in July to 252,200 yuan in August following the August launch of the L90.
The metric reached a record 260,500 yuan in September before declining slightly to 258,200 yuan in October as L60 deliveries represented a larger share of the mix.
The L90, which Nio officially launched in late July at a starting price of 265,800 yuan —14,100 yuan below its pre-sale price of 279,900 yuan — costs roughly 28% more than the L60’s base price of 206,900 yuan for outright purchase.
The L60 is also available for 149,900 yuan under Nio’s Battery as a Service rental program.
Total Deliveries
The November deliveries contributed to Nio Group’s total of 36,275 vehicles for the month, up 76.3% year-over-year.
Onvo‘s 11,794 units represented 32.5% of the group’s total, with the flagship Nio brand accounting for 18,393 vehicles and the new Firefly urban mobility brand delivering 6,088 units.
Cumulative deliveries across all three Nio Group brands reached 949,457 vehicles as of November 30, positioning the company to surpass 1 million total deliveries between late December and early January.
