Nio has delivered its 20,000th ES9. Credit: Nio
- The Nio ES9 completed its 20,000th delivery, 73 days after the first handovers.
- Nio founder William Li handed over the vehicle in person, while top trims still face a 13- to 14-week wait.
Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) completed the 20,000th delivery of its executive flagship ES9 sport utility vehicle (SUV) on Saturday, 73 days after the first handovers.
The EV maker’s founder, chairman and CEO William Li personally delivered the vehicle to the 20,000th owner, Xiao Wenhua, chairman of Huaxiangyuan Tea.
Nio said this set a new delivery record for premium all-electric models in China’s 500,000-yuan ($73,630) segment.
The ES9 was launched in China on May 27, with deliveries starting on May 28. It reached 10,000 deliveries on June 26, meaning the second 10,000 took about 6 weeks.
The SUV starts at 498,000 yuan with a battery pack included, or 390,000 yuan under the BaaS (battery as a service) battery rental scheme.
Demand still outstrips supply. Wait times for the higher trims once stretched to 16 to 17 weeks and now stand at 13 to 14 weeks. The entry version, which does not come with the SkyRide fully active suspension system, has a wait of 3 to 4 weeks.
Basketball Hall of Famer Yao Ming locked in his order on the night of the launch but did not take delivery until August 5, a wait of more than two months. He serves as the model’s chief experience officer.
Deutsche Bank estimated in June that the ES9 had already secured more than 25,000 non-cancelable orders, raising its full-year 2026 delivery forecast for the model to 56,000 units.
Higher-priced models are improving Nio’s financials. The main Nio brand’s average selling price was 434,600 yuan in July, after 443,000 yuan in June.
Deutsche Bank expects Nio to reach non-GAAP breakeven in the second quarter, helped by contributions from high-margin models.
Nio has yet to announce a date for its second-quarter earnings release. Local peer Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will report second-quarter results on August 24.
Nio Inc delivered 35,934 vehicles in July, up 71% year-on-year. In the first 7 months of the year, it delivered 227,057 vehicles, up 68% from a year earlier.
Yao locked in his order on the night the ES9 was launched, but was a few minutes slower than the quickest buyers.
($1 = 6.7904 yuan)
