Nio marks a successful end of 2020

Chinese electric car manufacturer Nio has presented its financial figures for Q4 2020 and the full year. In the final quarter, Nio was able to increase sales and deliveries significantly. However, Nio no longer mentions the European launch actually planned for 2021 in its annual report outlook.

Total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2020 was the equivalent of approximately 850 million euros, an increase of 133.2 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 and 46.7 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2020. Net loss was €177 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, a decrease of 51.5 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2019 and an increase of 32.6 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2020.

Nio delivered 17,353 electric cars in the fourth quarter of 2020 – compared to 8,224 deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2019 and 12,206 in the third quarter of 2020. Nio delivered 43,728 electric cars in full-year 2020, more than double the 20,565 delivered in 2019.

For the full year 2020, Nio’s revenue was the equivalent of €2.08 billion (+107.8 per cent compared to 2019), and its loss was €677.4 million (53 per cent less than 2019).

Nio delivered 7,225 vehicles in January 2021 and 5,578 vehicles in February 2021, up 352 and 689 per cent, respectively, compared to the previous year’s respective months. These are all registrations of the various SUV models. The ET7 electric sedan has been unveiled and is already available for order in China, but is not scheduled for delivery until the first quarter of 2022.

For Nio CEO William Bin Li, the record fourth-quarter deliveries and positive start to the year sign that the company’s “transformation” is on track. “Supported by competitive product offerings, outstanding services and innovative business models, we have gained increasing user awareness and expect to deliver 20,000 to 20,500 vehicles in the first quarter of 2021,” he said.

Chief Financial Officer Steven Wei Feng added, “Looking ahead, backed by our continued technological innovation, strengthening financial performance and unwavering determination to deliver the best user experience, we are confident that the company will be competitive in the long term.”

Nio had cast some doubt on its own future a year ago when announcing its 2019 financials. “Continued operations are dependent on the company’s ability to obtain sufficient external equity or debt financing,” it was said at the time. That has been accomplished, with Nio raising billions in funding as recently as January 2021.

Earlier indications were that Nio also plans to sell in Europe this year and is also looking to expand its presence globally. As William Bin Li indicated in the conference call after the company announced its financial results, the company plans to open 20 new Nio Houses and 120 Nio Spaces this year. At the end of 2020, the company had 23 Houses and 303 Spaces in 121 Chinese cities. In 2020, Nio still said that the first European Nio House could open in Copenhagen. However, Nio does not mention the European launch in the annual report – not even in the outlook.

nio.com (business report), gasgoo.com (Nio Houses)