NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 04:12 ET — Premarket
Shares of China’s NIO Inc were little changed in early premarket trading on Wednesday after climbing 3% in the previous session, as traders weighed fresh signs Beijing will keep leaning on consumer support into 2026.
The focus is on policy, not company headlines. For EV makers, demand in China can turn quickly on rebates, financing incentives and price cuts — and investors have been hunting for visibility into early-2026 orders.
The timing matters, too. Year-end trading can be thin, and China-linked American depositary shares (ADSs) often swing more than usual when macro news hits the tape.
In a New Year message carried by state media, President Xi Jinping said China would push more proactive macro policies in 2026, including measures to support consumption and investment. The report said Beijing has allocated 62.5 billion yuan from special treasury-bond proceeds to local governments for a consumer goods trade-in program next year.
The trade-in plan includes support for cars as well as home appliances and some digital products. Buyers scrapping old cars and purchasing new energy vehicles (NEVs) — China’s term for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid models — can get a subsidy equal to 12% of the purchase price, capped at 20,000 yuan, while replacements with NEVs qualify for an 8% subsidy capped at 15,000 yuan, according to the state planner and finance ministry. Officials also said they would crack down on fraudulent claims and fabricated transactions tied to the scheme.
NIO’s New York–listed ADSs rose 3% to $5.50 in Tuesday’s regular session, extending a four-day run of gains. Trading volume topped 78 million shares, well above its 50-day average, and the stock remains about 31% below its 52-week high of $8.02, according to MarketWatch data.
On Tuesday, the stock opened at $5.54, traded as high as $5.79 and as low as $5.50, and closed at $5.50, according to StockAnalysis.com data. Traders have been watching the $5.80 area after the recent rebound from December lows.
U.S.-listed Chinese EV peers also held firm in late trade. XPeng was up about 3.7% and Li Auto rose about 0.6% at last check, keeping the spotlight on the whole China EV complex rather than a single name.
Globally, the EV tape has been mixed heading into early January. Tesla is expected to report fourth-quarter and full-year production and delivery figures on Friday, and “the fall will be driven largely by sales in North America and Europe,” Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu said in a note cited by Reuters. Reuters
For NIO, the next test is whether the subsidy headlines translate into stronger near-term demand once local rollouts kick in. The group is still contending with intense competition and discounting across China’s EV market.
Investors are also watching the next round of monthly delivery updates from Chinese EV makers, which often set the tone for sentiment at the start of a new month, alongside any additional policy details from Beijing.
