Source: Xinhua| 2019-03-06 15:47:49|Editor: zh

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SHANGHAI, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai-based electric vehicle designer and manufacturer NIO Inc. reported expanded revenue yet a net loss in 2018, according to its financial report released on Wednesday.

NIO achieved revenue of 3.44 billion yuan (about 499.7 million U.S. dollars) in the fourth quarter of 2018, surging by 133.8 percent from the third quarter of 2018.

The company's vehicle sales hit 4.85 billion yuan for the whole year of 2018, accounting for 98 percent of total revenue in 2018.

NIO began to deliver the ES8, a seven-seater high-performance premium electric SUV, in June 2018. A total of 11,348 ES8 units were delivered within the year. The company launched its second model, the ES6, a five-seater high-performance premium electric SUV, in December 2018.

However, the company accumulated a loss of up to 9.6 billion yuan in 2018, up 93.7 percent from the previous year.

NIO is a pioneer in China's premium electric vehicle market. Founded in November 2014, the company has operated R&D centers in Beijing, San Jose, Munich and London. NIO became listed on the New York Stock Exchange last September.

NIO announced in the report that it will terminate the plan of setting up a manufacturing plant in Shanghai, which was inked in a framework agreement and memorandums in 2017, as it believes that the existing NIO/JAC plant in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, has the capacity and flexibility to support its market penetration and growth plans for the next two to three years.

William Li, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of NIO, said in the report that in 2019 NIO will focus on the market penetration for its ES6 and ES8 variant products and services.