The top electric car manufacturer in China, Nio, anticipates sales to increase by double digits from 2022 to 2023 in the hopes that the company would no longer be in the red by the end of the fourth quarter.
This week, when the New York-listed business reported its financial results for 2022, Nio CEO William Li disclosed the estimates.
In 2022, the Shanghai-based business supplied 122,486 electric vehicles, a 34 percent increase from the previous year.
Although the first quarter would be challenging because the new models won’t be available until the second quarter, Li expressed hope that the 2022 figure can be doubled this year.
In China’s smart EV industry, Nio has established itself as the most aggressive premium brand.
According to Li, who cited data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, it acquired a 54.8 percent market share in the fourth quarter of 2022 in the EV segment with prices starting at 300,000 yuan ($43,437) and a 75.8 percent market share in the segment with prices above 400,000 yuan.
According to Li, Nio will release five new models this year based on its second-generation platform, four of which will hit the market in the first half and enhance its sales beginning in the third quarter.
Also, the automaker plans to add 1,000 battery-swapping stations this year, bringing the total to 2,300.
To “further improve the holistic user experience and consistently develop our competitive advantages in critical areas,” new models and a larger infrastructure network are being used.”
William Li ( CEO )
All Chinese EV startups are currently in the negative despite the strong sales.
Sales of vehicles brought in 45.51 billion yuan for Nio in 2022, a 37.2 percent rise from the year before.
Due mostly to a 50 percent increase in cost of sales, its vehicle margin was 13.7 percent in 2022, 6.4 percentage points lower than in 2021.
Sales of vehicles contributed to a 36.3 percent increase in total revenue for the company in 2022, to 49.27 billion yuan.
However, because of an increase in its cost of sales, expenses for research and development, as well as general and administrative costs, its net loss increased to 14.44 billion yuan from 4.02 billion yuan in 2021.
Nio also mentioned its business in Europe, which it entered in 2021 with Norway as its first stop. In 2022, it expanded into four other European countries including Germany and Sweden.
But Nio’s deliveries in Europe will be lower than 10,000 units this year because of “much lower infrastructure construction”, Li said.
“So far we have only 11 battery-swapping stations, much less than our planned figure,” he said.
