Nio Sustains Sales Momentum In November, Launches Third SUV

Nio Inc – ADR NIO, often called as China's Tesla IncTSLA, churned in strong November deliveries, sending its shares higher.

Separately, Bloomberg reported Nio is unveiling a third SUV.

Sales Recovery Intact

The electric vehicle maker said it delivered 2,528 vehicles in November, nearly flat with October's 2,526.

November marked the fourth consecutive month of expanding deliveries following a dismal performance in the summer, when deliveries took a tumble on a host of factors, including weaker domestic macroeconomic condition and a cut in EV subsidies.

The turnaround was echoed in comments by William Li, Nio's founder, chairman and CEO, who suggested in late November EV sales in China are on the road to recovery.

Nio said it delivered 2,067 ES6s in November, a decline from 2,220 deliveries in October. The 5-seater premium EV SUV was launched on June 18. The company managed to boost sales of its older model, the 7-seater ES8, by more than 50% to 461.

"Our strong sales performance was also attributable to the competitiveness of our ES6 among all premium electric SUVs and the passionate endorsement by our existing users," Li said. "As we continue to build more cost-effective NIO Spaces and improve the performance of the existing ones, we are confident in our deliveries going forward."

Accent On Innovation, Service

Despite issues with respect to cash position and an unfavourable macroeconomic and geopolitical environment for EV sales in China, Nio's focus on product innovation and service is apparently helping.

In early September, Nio announced a collaboration with Intel Corporation's INTC Mobileye for driverless consumer cars in China. The company attributed the strong delivery results in November to an expansion in its sales network. At November end, the company opened 37 NIO Spaces in total.

"Together with 21 NIO Houses, we have expanded our sales network coverage to 41 cities," the company said.

New SUV

Nio is introducing a third SUV, a streamlined model, according to Bloomberg. The newest model is meant to revive sagging EV sales in China.

The EV SUV coupe reportedly comes with a panoramic-view window and will be pitched against vehicles such as Tesla's Model Y and Mercedes Benz GLC Coupe.

Nio ADRs traded higher by 4.1% to $2.52 at time of publication.

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Photo courtesy of Nio.