NIO’s first-quarter deliveries jump 423% on a year over year basis

NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO) said on Thursday that its deliveries posted another significant increase in the first quarter of 2021.

NIO shares were reported more than 6% up in premarket trading on Thursday. Including the price action, the stock is now exchanging hands at £30 per share. In comparison, it had started the year 2021 at a higher £38.79 per share and touched a high of £45.58 per share in February. If you want to invest in the stock market online, you’ll need a reliable stockbroker – here’s a comparison of the top few to make selection easier for you.

NIO halted production at its Hefei plant for five working days

In its press release earlier today, NIO said it delivered 7,257 electric vehicles in March 2021. This included 3,152 ES6 models, 2,567 EC6 models, and 1,529 ES8 models. The monthly deliveries translate to a massive 373% increase on a year over year basis.

For Q1 of 2021 as a whole, the Chinese car manufacturer delivered 20,060 electric vehicles, representing an even broader 423% annualised increase. The announcement comes a week after NIO had intimated that its target of 20,000 to 20,500 deliveries in the first quarter was unlikely to be met.

The global chip shortage attributed partially to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 129 million people worldwide and caused over 2.8 million deaths also made the Shanghai-headquartered company to halt production at its Hefei plant for five working days, starting from Monday. NIO said last week:

“The overall supply constraint of semiconductors has impacted the company’s production volume in March.”

NIO slashed its guidance for quarterly deliveries last week

The challenges resulted in NIO lowering its quarterly deliveries forecast to roughly 19,500 units instead. In the prior quarter (Q4), NIO earned £686.25 million, selling 17,353 vehicles at an average selling price of £39,546. Last year in August, the Chinese company had expressed plans of expanding to Europe.

In separate news from China, electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng also said on Thursday that its net loss in the fourth quarter contracted by 42% on a year over year basis as the world’s biggest car market saw robust demand for EVs in recent months.

NIO Inc performed massively upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of more than 1,000%. At the time of writing, the Chinese carmaker has a market capitalisation of £44.47 billion.