- Nio rolled out a 10,000 yuan ($1,450) Nebula Red color option for its flagship ES8 SUV to attract more buyers.
- The move follows Nio Inc's weekly orders hitting a new high for 2026 after aggressive promotions.
Nio Inc announced Thursday the introduction of a new color option for its third-generation ES8 SUV (sport utility vehicle) to maintain the model's sales momentum.
The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker rolled out the M42 Nebula Red paint option today for 10,000 yuan ($1,450), drawing inspiration from the Orion Nebula.
Showroom cars featuring the new exterior color have arrived at 201 Nio stores across China, the company said.
The addition of the new exterior color comes as the third-generation ES8 drives a historic financial turnaround for Nio.
The company reported on Tuesday that it achieved an operating profit of 807.3 million yuan under GAAP standards in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking its first quarterly profitability. This was primarily driven by robust deliveries of the high-margin ES8 model.
Despite seasonal headwinds from the Chinese New Year holiday, retail sales of the flagship SUV, which starts at 406,800 yuan, still reached 11,260 units in February.
The recovery of new ES8 orders has been strong following the end of the Chinese New Year holiday in late February, Nio's co-founder and president said in a media communication on Wednesday.
The company currently expects to reach the 80,000th delivery of the third-generation ES8 later this month, implying that customer orders for the large SUV remain robust.
Nio's weekly order intake in early March hit a new high for 2026 so far, largely benefiting from a series of aggressive promotional measures launched recently, according to Deutsche Bank.
The new promotions targeting the ES8 are likely due to a significant shortening of customer wait times, which dropped from 13 to 14 weeks in February to 4 to 5 weeks in March, Deutsche Bank noted in a research note on March 4.
On March 9, the delivery wait time for the third-generation ES8 in China further shortened to 3-4 weeks, daily monitoring by CnEVPost showed.
While boosting short-term sales, Nio is preparing to launch the all-new flagship SUV model ES9 in the second quarter of 2026 to consolidate its position in the premium market.
($1 = 6.879 yuan)
