On September 5, Nio Inc. released its financial report for the second quarter of 2024, revealing that the company achieved revenue of 17.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 98.9% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 76.1%. During this period, the company's adjusted net loss narrowed to 4.535 billion yuan, compared to a net loss of 5.446 billion yuan in the same period last year.

In terms of revenue composition, vehicle sales amounted to 15.68 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 118.2%. Correspondingly, Nio's delivery volume grew significantly, reaching 57,400 units in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 143.9% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 90.9%, setting a new record for a single quarter.

With the rise in sales, the gross margin for vehicles also improved. In the second quarter, Nio's vehicle gross margin reached 12.2%, up 6 percentage points year-on-year and 3 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. The overall gross margin for the company stood at 9.7%, a substantial increase of 8.7 percentage points compared to the previous year. Nio mentioned in its report that the improvement in gross margin was primarily driven by a decrease in unit material costs.

During the second quarter, Nio's research and development expenses totaled 3.22 billion yuan, down 3.8% year-on-year but up 12.4% quarter-on-quarter. The financial report indicated that after excluding stock-based compensation costs, R&D expenses decreased by 1.9% year-on-year while rising 8.7% quarter-on-quarter. The quarter-on-quarter increase was attributed to rising costs associated with the design and development of new products and technologies, as well as increased costs for R&D personnel.

To date, Nio has invested a cumulative total of 50 billion yuan in research and development, resulting in breakthroughs in core technologies such as intelligent driving chips, complete vehicle operating systems, and smart chassis. This includes the successful tape-out of its first automotive-grade 5nm intelligent driving chip, the Shenji NX9031, which was publicly revealed at NIO IN 2024, and the full release of the SkyOS·Tianshu, a complete vehicle operating system.

During the earnings call, Nio Chairman Li Bin revealed that the company plans to launch three brands covering a price range from 140,000 to 800,000 yuan, with the third brand, named “Firefly,” set to debut in 2025. Additionally, Li mentioned that to meet the demand for its product lineup from 2025 to 2026, Nio has begun implementing a two-shift production schedule at its F2 factory and expects to achieve this capacity between late September and October. According to reporters from The Paper, Nio also plans to build a new “F3” factory in Nanjing.

Li Bin predicts that the market penetration rate of new energy vehicles will exceed 80% in the next two years.

Furthermore, Nio’s sub-brand, Le Dao Automotive, plans to launch its first model, the L60, on September 19. The official price is expected to be below the pre-sale price of 219,900 yuan, although the company will not adopt an excessively aggressive pricing strategy.

With the support of the Le Dao L60, Nio anticipates that its delivery volume for the third quarter of 2024 will fall between 61,000 and 63,000 units, with revenue projected to reach between 19.16 billion and 19.67 billion yuan.