Covid disruptions caused Nio to lose about 7,000 units of EV production and about 5,000 units of deliveries, according to Bloomberg.
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Nio's deliveries in October did not reach record highs as its helmsman had previously expected, as Covid brought new surprises. So how much has Covid affected the electric vehicle maker's production? A recent report provides the answer.
Covid disruptions caused Nio to lose production of 7,000 electric vehicles and a loss of deliveries of about 5,000, Bloomberg said in a November 2 report, citing people familiar with the matter.
The following is the original text of the report referring to the two figures.
The disruptions have meant a loss of around 7,000 electric vehicles in production, meaning deliveries have dropped by about 5,000.
Figures released by Nio on November 1 show it delivered 10,059 vehicles in October, down 7.5 percent from 10,878 in September.
The Bloomberg report implies that Nio would have been able to produce 7,000 more vehicles and deliver a record high of about 15,000 if not for the surprises brought by Covid.
Nio's previous single-month delivery high came in June of this year, when the company delivered 12,961 vehicles.
The new Covid outbreak and the stricter controls that came with it seem to be something Nio management did not anticipate, as its founder, chairman and CEO William Li said in a conference call after announcing its second-quarter report on September 7 that he believed deliveries would reach record highs in each month of the fourth quarter.
Nio has two plants in Hefei, Anhui province. In a November 1 report, local media outlet 36kr cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that Nio's production has been facing challenges since mid-October.
In line with Covid prevention and control, the JAC-Nio F1 factory originally planned to temporarily shut down production for 3-5 days and use parts inventory to produce in a closed environment, but then the lockdown time was extended, leading to a greater impact on the overall production and delivery pace, according to 36kr.
Nio's F2 plant in NeoPark has also been under closed management recently, with the plant's vehicle assembly line suspended, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Nio acknowledged on November 2 that the report was true, saying Covid was affecting production and delivery schedules. Yesterday, the company said it had resumed production at its plants.
Bloomberg's latest report mentioned that production at Nio's plant was als affected by some parts supply delays.
Nio had tried to run a so-called closed-loop system at the plant -- which requires workers to stay on site and continue production even if a lockdown is in place -- but those efforts failed due to a lack of parts, according to the report.
Nio currently sells six models in China, including three SUVs based on the NT 1.0 platform -- the ES8, ES6 and EC6 -- and three models based on the NT 2.0 platform -- the ES7, ET7 and ET5.
Only the ET5 is produced at Nio's F2 plant in NeoPark, while all other models are produced at the JAC-Nio F1 plant.
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