SHANGHAI, January 2, 2026, 07:19 ET
NIO said on Thursday it delivered a record 48,135 vehicles in December 2025, up 54.6% from a year earlier, including 31,897 under its NIO brand, 9,154 under its family-oriented Onvo brand and 7,084 under its Firefly line. Fourth-quarter deliveries hit 124,807, up 71.7% year-on-year, while full-year deliveries reached 326,028, taking cumulative deliveries to 997,592 as of Dec. 31, the company said.
The monthly delivery update is a key gauge of demand and execution in China’s crowded electric-vehicle market. Deliveries — vehicles handed to customers — are a proxy for sales and can move expectations around revenue and cash use.
The record month also left NIO closing in on 1 million cumulative deliveries. Founder and CEO William Li told employees that “in just a few days, we will celebrate the rollout of our one-millionth mass-produced vehicle,” according to an internal letter. Li also said the company planned to be present in 40 countries and regions and to add more than 1,000 battery swap stations in 2026. CnEVPost
NIO had forecast fourth-quarter deliveries of 120,000 to 125,000 vehicles in its third-quarter earnings release in November, and the quarter came in within that range.
Still, the mix has shifted. CnEVPost said NIO’s namesake brand delivered 178,806 vehicles in 2025, down 11.13% from a year earlier, while Onvo and Firefly helped push the group total higher.
NIO also pointed to its flagship All-New ES8 sport-utility vehicle, saying cumulative ES8 deliveries topped 40,000 in December and setting a delivery record among battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) priced above 400,000 yuan in China.
That shift matters because the core NIO badge anchors the company’s premium positioning. A weaker main brand can pressure margins if discounts deepen, even as total volume rises.
Battery swapping is NIO’s alternative to plug-in charging, letting drivers replace a depleted battery pack with a charged one in minutes. The approach can cut waiting time, but it requires heavy investment in stations, equipment and spare batteries.
Other China EV makers also posted December figures. XPeng said it delivered 37,508 vehicles in December and 429,445 in 2025, while Li Auto said it delivered 44,246 vehicles in December and 109,194 in the fourth quarter.
Market leader BYD logged its weakest sales growth in five years in 2025 as domestic competition intensified, Reuters reported on Thursday. BYD’s total sales fell 18.3% in December from a year earlier, according to data in a stock filing.
