China’s Emerging NEV Manufacturer: NIO

In China’s new energy vehicle (NEV=BEV+PHEV+FCEV) market, the presence of emerging manufacturers specializing in NEVs is increasing year by year. This report is the third part of a series, giving a summary of recent trends of NIO.

NIO’s total sales in 2022 increased by 36.3% from the previous year to 49.27 billion CNY, of which vehicle sales rose 37.2% year-on-year to 45.51 billion CNY. The full-year net profit was a deficit of 14.44 billion CNY, greater than the deficit of 4.02 billion CNY in 2021. Sales increased due to increased vehicles sales. On the other hand, the net profit deficit widened due to an increase in R&D costs and a rise in selling, general and administrative expenses associated with business expansion in China and abroad. R&D expenditure in 2022 surged to 10.84 billion CNY, an expansion of 2.4 times compared to the previous year.

Sales from January to March 2023 increased by 7.7% year-on-year to 10.68 billion CNY. Net income was a deficit of 4.74 billion CNY, widening from the deficit of 1.78 billion CNY in the same period last year. Sales from April to June 2023 were 8.77 billion CNY, down 14.8% from the same period last year. Net income was a deficit of approximately 6.06 billion CNY, further expanding from the deficit of 2.76 billion CNY in the same period last year. The expansion of the deficit is due to the economic downturn and intensifying competition in the market and is also thought to be because of increased R&D costs.