Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio reported RMB 6.64 billion (USD 1.02 billion) in revenue in the fourth quarter of last year, up 133.2% year-on-year (YoY), and reduced its net loss to RMB 1.39 billion (USD 212.8 million), according to its earnings release on Monday.
“Nio concluded a transformational 2020 with a new quarterly delivery record of 17,353 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2020,” said founder and CEO William Bin Li. “The strong momentum has continued in 2021 as we achieved a historic monthly delivery of 7,225 vehicles in January and a resilient delivery of 5,578 vehicles in February, representing strong 352% and 689% year-over-year growth, respectively.” Li, however, warned in the earnings call on Tuesday morning that production in the second quarter could be “limited to about 7,500 units” per month due to supply shortage of chips and batteries.
Chief financial officer Wei Feng pointed out that the company achieved positive cash flow from operating activities for the fourth quarter and the full fiscal year of 2020. “With steadily increasing deliveries, stable average selling price, improving material cost, and manufacturing efficiency, our vehicle margin reached 17.2% in the fourth quarter,” he said.
Beijing-based Li Auto, which delivered 14,464 vehicles in the final 3 months of the year, already reported a non-GAAP net income of RMB 115.4 million (USD 17.7 million) for the fourth quarter.
Nio expects to deliver between 20,000 and 20,500 vehicles in the first quarter of this year. The positive outlook is in line with the ongoing boom in the Chinese EV market where a total of 179,000 new energy vehicles—both pure and hybrid—were sold in the first month of the year, up 238.5% year-on-year, according to data released by China’s Association of Automobile Manufacturers on February 9.
The sector recently attracted new players with internet giant Baidu, which teamed up with Geely. The partners expect their first vehicle to be ready in about three years.