Nio's Record Run Continues As Deliveries Spike 121% In December; EV Maker Confirms Sedan Launch On 'Nio Day'

Chinese EV maker Nio Inc – ADR NIO announced record monthly deliveries for December that underlined the strong momentum the company is experiencing.

What Happened: Nio's deliveries climbed 121% year-over-year to 7,007 vehicles in December, the company said in a release Sunday. The total unit deliveries comprised 2,009 ES8S, 2,493 ES6s and 2,505 units of its newly-launched EC6s.

Sequentially, deliveries increased 32.43% from the 5,291 vehicles delivered in November.

The company noted that it reported two-fold year-over-year growth for the ninth consecutive month.

"2020 has been a challenging year for the whole world. Against this backdrop, NIO has achieved consecutive record-highs along the way, and closed the year on a high note with remarkable December deliveries of over 7,000 vehicles," said William Bin Li, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO in a release.

For the fourth quarter, the company delivered 17,353 vehicles, representing a 111% year-over-year increase.

The company's earlier guidance had estimated quarterly deliveries would be 16,500 to 17,000 units.

Growing recognition of Nio's premium brand, competitive and compelling products and services, and an expanding sales network contributed to the strong performance, the company said in the release.

Nio noted that its battery-as-a-service scheme has been popular among its customers since its launch. After adding an option of providing a 100-kilowatt-hour battery pack, penetration of BaaS reached about 40% of its new orders in December.

In 2020, the company delivered 43,728 vehicles, a 112.6% year-over-year increase.

Related Link: Nio To Match Vehicle Prices Through Jan. 10 As China Plans 20% EV Subsidy Cut In 2021

Why It's Important: Nio, being a homegrown EV startup in China, has slowly and steadily grown mindshare as well as market share in the hot-and-happening Chinese market. The company has pushed ahead to grow as a strong challenger to Tesla Inc TSLA in China.

Nio's domestic rival Li Auto Inc. LI reported Friday monthly deliveries of 6,126 Li ONEs, representing a 31.9% month-over-month increase and a 529.6% year-over-year gain.

Tesla, which reports numbers by quarter but not by month, said Saturday that its fourth-quarter deliveries came in at 180,570, up 29.6% quarter-over-quarter and 61.2% higher than a year ago.

What's Next: The 2020 Nio Day scheduled for Jan. 9 is the next upcoming catalyst for the EV maker.

Nio confirmed that at the fourth Nio Day it will launch a new sedan model, while also sharing the latest developments in autonomous driving and other core technologies.

"Aspired by the spirit of 'Always Forward,' the theme of the upcoming NIO Day, we will continue investing in the smart EV technologies, accelerating our new products development, broadening our sales and service network, and striving for the best holistic experiences for our growing user community in 2021 and beyond," Nio said.

The Price Action: Nio shares, which hit an all-time high of $57.20 on Nov. 24, have pulled back since then amid fears of unsustainable valuation and a regulatory clampdown in China.

The stock has managed to regain some of its lost momentum in the past couple of sessions.

The deliveries update could lend support to the upside in the run up to the Jan. 9th Nio Day.

Thursday, the stock closed at $48.74, up 0.74%.

Related Link: Why Nio Has A Shot At Becoming The 'Tesla Of China'

Photo courtesy Nio