Following the first decline in sales of the new energy passenger vehicle market in July in the past two years, the Chinese new energy passenger vehicle market in August did not stop falling, and even the decline further expanded. Under the circumstances that the new energy passenger vehicle market is in a downturn, what kind of answer has NIO made in August?

Total sales in August: 2796 units

With the gradual climb of the NIO ES6 production capacity, the delivery of new cars from NIO is also steadily increasing. According to data from the CPCA, the sales volume of NIO in August was 2,796 units, an increase of 116% year-on-year and an increase of 86.1% from the previous month. Among them, the sales volume of NIO ES8 was 460 units, down 64.5% year-on-year and 5.5% month-on-month; the sales volume of NIO ES6 was 2336 units, with this excellent sales result, NIO ES6 become the highest-selling model among the Chinese new forces EV makers in August. From January to August, the cumulative sales volume of NIO was 11,779 units, an increase of 348.7% year-on-year, occupying the NO.1 position Chinese EV maker new forces in the last 8 months.

Although the cumulative sales of NIO is currently ranked first, it will still be difficult to challenge the delivery target of 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles in 2019. Perhaps in order to further boost sales and enhance user experience, NIO declared in September that all the first owners of NIO ES8 and ES6 (including existing owners and new purchasers) are enjoying on the basis of a lifetime free warranty without a deadline or unlimited mileage, as well as free lifetime service since August 24, 2019.

Qi Lihong, co-founder and president of NIO

In addition, as Chinese new energy vehicle subsidies have fallen sharply and new car sales have fallen short of expectations, NIO has also faced significant pressure on capital. In order to alleviate the financial pressure and survive better, on the one hand, NIO is undergoing internal staff adjustment, the internal mail revealed by the previous show that NIO plans to lay off 1,200 people by the end of September this year, and adjust the total number of employee to 7,500. In this regard, NIO co-founder and president Qin Lihong said: “We are losing weight, we hope to lose fat, not amputation. If necessary, the company can be also a little thinner, we want to make sure that the company survives in any climate.”

On the other hand, NIO is also raising new funds. On September 5, NIO announced that NIO intends to issue a new round of convertible bonds of US$200 million, the bonds are mainly issued by Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of NIO, and Tencent Group. Each of them subscribes for $100 million and the bond offering is expected to be completed by the end of September.