Chinese EV maker Nio forecasts sales boom in third quarter as demand for smart battery-powered cars recovers

Chinese EV start-up Nio predicts its third-quarter deliveries will soar by as much as 80 per cent as it becomes the latest major electric-car builder on the mainland to benefit from a release of pent-up demand.

The Shanghai-based company said in a statement after publishing its second-quarter earnings that it would hand 55,000 to 57,000 vehicles to Chinese customers between July and September, up by at least 74 per cent from the same period a year ago. The top end of the forecast would translate to an annual increase of 80.3 per cent and a 142 per cent quarterly surge.

The company’s sales suffered as it kept the prices of its intelligent vehicles almost unchanged while rivals went head-to-head in a bruising price war in the first five months of 2023.

But Nio has bounced back since June, when the price competition among premium EV makers came to an end, unleashing a wave of demand from customers who had sat out the bargains bonanza in the hopes that steeper discounts were on the way.