Sales of Nio’s new ES6 SUV model doubled in August following a lackluster first full month on the market, trade figures show.

Why it’s important: Despite the growth, Nio will almost certainly miss its original annual sales target of 40,000 units as the embattled electric vehicle maker had achieved only 20% of the goal at the end of July.

Nio CFO Louis Hsieh scaled back the company annual goal during the company’s first quarter earnings call in late May. He did not reveal an adjusted target number given the uncertainty in subsidy cut, US trade tensions, and weakening demand. The full-year target might be given months after ES6 was launched, he said at the time.

The company is reportedly ready to cut the target by at least 12% to 35,000 units in second-quarter financial results later this month.

Details: Nio doubled sales of its ES6 five-seater SUV in August to 2,336 from 1,066 the month before, according to figures from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

The ES6 was the only model from a young EV maker in the association’s top 10 best-selling luxury SUV model ranking for the month.

The CPCA figures differ slightly from the company’s official delivery numbers. Nio reported ES6 sales of 1,086 units for June and July. Deliveries began in late June.

Nio had secured over 12,000 ES6 pre-orders as of the end of May, the company wrote in its first-quarter financial report.

However, this includes refundable deposit orders, and according to Nio President Qin Lihong, the actual purchase rate for the first commercial model, the ES8, was about 50% last year.

The ES8 also ranked 10 th in the best-selling luxury model ranking from January to August with 7,586 units sold, some 300 units more than the company’s official data for the end of July

in the best-selling luxury model ranking from January to August with 7,586 units sold, some 300 units more than the company’s official data for the end of July Nio declined to comment when contacted by TechNode on Tuesday.

Context: The impacts of Beijing’s subsidy cuts are still ongoing in China’s new energy vehicle market, which had maintained long-term high double-digit expansion up until June.