Nio expects to sell far fewer electric vehicles this quarter than it did in Q4 2023 due to the seasonality of the car industry and the Chinese New Year.
In the company’s Q4 2023 earnings call with the media and investors, Nio founder, chairman, and chief executive William Li revealed that the carmaker delivered 50,045 EVs in the last quarter of 2023, representing a 25% increase year over year. It ended 2023 having delivered a total of 160,038 vehicles, 30.7% more than it did in 2022.
During January and February this year, Nio delivered 18,187 vehicles and is starting to deliver 2024 models this month. It expects to end Q1 deliveries to land between 31,000 and 33,000 units, a 38.1% decrease from the previous quarter.
Nio reported a net loss of 5.37 billion yuan ($745.9 million) for the fourth quarter, widening by 17.8% from the previous quarter.
Read: We Can’t Say If Nio’s Alps DOM Is Better Than A Tesla Model Y, But It Sure Looks Like One
Analysts believe the ongoing price war among EV makers in China will hurt Nio’s sales in the coming months. Unlike its rivals, Nio has not cut the prices of its vehicles and continues to sell each of them with starting prices of over 300,000 yuan (~$41,600), exclusively targeting the premium market. Nio will start deliveries of its flagship ET9 sedan in Q1 of 2025.
Li added that Nio’s long-awaited mass-market brand will debut in the second quarter. Nio is known to be working on two sub-brands, codenamed Alps and Firefly, that will sell more affordable vehicles. Li did not specify which of these two brands will soon debut but said its first mass-market model will be launched in Q3 with volume deliveries to begin in Q4. Reports suggest the Firefly brand will sell vehicles between 100,000 yuan (~$13,900) and 200,000 yuan (~$27,800), while the Alps brand will offer models between 200,000 yuan (~$27,800) and 300,000 yuan (~$41,600).
