Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Nio’s second brand, Onvo, announced on Friday that cumulative deliveries of its debut model, the L60, have reached 20,000 units in under 100 days since deliveries began.
Based on the company’s official delivery figures for September, October, and November, Onvo had delivered 10,233 units as of the last day of November. This suggests that 9,767 units were delivered between December 1 and December 27. The brand is on track to exceed 10,000 deliveries in a single month for the first time, the highly anticipated target
Deliveries in China began on September 28, with 832 units delivered before the end of the month. In October, Onvo delivered 4,319 L60 vehicles, followed by a 17% increase in November, with 5,082 units delivered.
Final December delivery figures are expected to be released on January 1.
Last Sunday, Nio’s founder and CEO, William Li, commented on the company’s inventory management approach, stating it does not build large inventories during initial launches to inflate delivery figures.
“However, we are also aware that many companies, from a marketing perspective, may build up inventory for a large launch in the first month to deliver more. We don’t do that often,” Li stated. “While we have done it for one or two models, it is not our usual practice. For me, this is a normal ramp-up process.
Battery Supply Challenges
Onvo, the sub-brand launched by Nio in September, did not meet its October delivery target of 5,000 units.
Earlier this month, Citi analyst Jeff Chung revealed—citing Nio management—that Onvo’s standard-range L60 variants, which rely on 60 kWh lithium iron phosphate batteries from BYD’s FinDreams Battery division, were constrained by supply limits. BYD could only provide between 5,000 and 6,000 battery units per month in both October and November.
When asked by EV for confirmation and an update on the battery supply issue, Li confirmed it and revealed that the company has now added a new supplier to ensure that the ambitious production targets are met.
“For Onvo’s delivery, our production plan before October used BYD battery packs for initial rollouts. By November, CATL’s ramp-up was completed, and mass production began, including the start of deliveries in December with 85 kWh CATL battery packs,” Li said. “Overall, by December, we will have three battery suppliers. So, in the future, batteries will certainly no longer be a major issue.”
Li said that Onvo initially relied on BYD’s battery arm to supply all the 60kWh battery packs needed for the SUV’s standard range variant. Nio’s founded did not disclose the name of the new 60kWh battery supplier.
In his note, the analyst Jeff Chung said CATL would begin supplying 85Kwh batteries at an initial volume of 6,000 to 8,000 units per month with capacity expected to increase to 14,000 units per month.
Nio primarily sources the batteries for its models from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL), with capacities of 75 kWh and 100 kWh. The company recently introduced a 150 kWh semi-solid-state battery developed in collaboration with the startup WeLion New Energy Technology.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
