On September 6, the NIO released its financial performance report for the first half of 2024.

According to the financial report data, NIO's revenue for the first half of 2024 was 17.45 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 98.9% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 76.1%. Sales volume was 57373 units, a year-on-year increase of 143.9% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 90.9%. The gross margin of the vehicles was 12.2%, a year-on-year increase of 6 percentage points and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 3 percentage points.

At the same time, the net loss for the second quarter of 2024 was 5.046 billion yuan (0.6944 billion US dollars), and the adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) was 4.5352 billion yuan (0.6241 billion US dollars), a decrease of 16.7% compared to the second quarter of 2023 and a decrease of 7.5% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

Li Bin, Chairman and CEO of NIO, said that from a long-term perspective, with the release of new products and the update of existing products, NIO's monthly sales in China can reach 300,000 to 400,000 units and achieve an operating target of 25% gross margin.

It is reported that in addition to the second brand LeTour, NIO will launch the Firefly series of boutique small cars in the price range of over 100,000 yuan to meet the demand for second family cars.

Regarding the first model of the LeTour sub-brand, L60, Li Bin said that the current pricing has some room for concessions, but the relationship between delivery volume and gross profit still needs to be balanced.

Sales have continuously exceeded 20,000 units, and the loss of the battery swapping business has narrowed.

According to the financial report, Nio's sales volume has exceeded 20,000 units for four consecutive months since May this year. As of the end of August, Nio has delivered a total of 577,694 new cars.

Among them, the sales revenue of automobiles is RMB 15.6796 billion (approximately USD 2.1576 billion), an increase of 118.2% compared to the second quarter of 2023, and an increase of 87.1% compared to the first quarter of 2024. The gross margin has also increased from 6.2% in the same period last year to 12.2%.

Li Bin stated that Nio's core competitive advantages in technology, products, services, and communities are gradually gaining popularity, and it is expected that the total delivery volume in the third quarter will reach a new high, further consolidating and expanding market share.

In addition to automobiles, other sales revenue was RMB 1.7663 billion (approximately USD 0.2431 billion), an increase of 11.3% compared to the previous year and an increase of 15.6% compared to the first quarter of 2024. This includes other business income apart from automobile sales, such as spare parts and accessories sales, vehicle after-sales services, and providing energy solutions.

According to the financial report, as of September 5th, Nio has built 2,561 battery swap stations worldwide and provided users with over 52 million battery swap services. Previously, Nio announced the "Every County Charging Accessible" plan, which aims to build Nio charging piles and battery swap stations in every county in the country, and strive to achieve nationwide charging coverage by June 30, 2025. Nio has also launched the "Charging Partner" program, opening up cooperation for charging and swapping stations to the whole society.

At the earnings conference, Li Bin stated that as the number of paid users increases with the increase in car sales, Nio's revenue and profits from battery swaps have also increased. These two factors have significantly narrowed Nio's losses in other businesses.

He added, "Currently, the average number of daily battery swaps per station is between 30 and 40. If the daily battery swaps per station exceed 60 and are charged at the supercharging rate, the revenue and expenses of a single station can balance. With the increase in sales and the listing of the sub-brand LeDart, this business segment will achieve revenue balance or even profitability, which I don't think will take too long."

It is understood that the R&D expenses in the second quarter of 2024 were RMB 3.2185 billion (approximately USD 0.4429 billion), a decrease of 3.8% compared to the second quarter of 2023, and an increase of 12.4% compared to the first quarter of 2024, accounting for approximately 18.4% of its total revenue.

At the 'NIO IN 2024 NIO Innovative Technology Day' held on July 27th, NIO announced the successful mass production trial of the self-developed 5nm advanced intelligent driving chip 'NVIDIA NX9031', and also released the vehicle-wide operating system 'SkyOS·天枢' built for AI.

At the earnings conference, Li Bin stated that all NIO models are equipped with NOP Plus as standard, with a total scale now exceeding 0.3 million. 'We are gradually rolling out end-to-end driving models. The end-to-end intelligent AEB active safety system has now been launched, covering 6.7 times more scenes than traditional AEB.'

LeDao's first car is targeted to be delivered in quantities of 0.02 million units, and the third factory will be completed and put into production next year.

In May of this year, NIO's second brand 'ONVO LeDao' was officially launched. In August, the first batch of LeDao L60 production cars rolled off the production line at NIO's Second New Factory, and will soon be launched for delivery in September. Unlike the positioning of NIO for the high-end and commercial market, LeDao is positioned as a brand for mainstream family market users.

It is understood that as an independent sub-brand, LeDao will not share sales channels and stores with NIO, and will set up a separate store and channel system. At the earnings conference, Li Bin explained that the standard for opening LeDao stores is fast and efficient, with low investment for each store. The average decoration cost per store will not exceed 1 million, and the choice of store location will also be different from NIO's. Personnel allocation will also be based on order volume and delivery volume, with the most compact rhythm of deployment.

LeDao L60's pre-sale price is 0.2199 million yuan, internally defined by NIO as a model targeting the Model Y. Compared to the latter, the L60's pricing is 0.03 million yuan lower, with Li Bin stating that there is still some pricing flexibility.

Li Bin added: 'When it officially launches on September 15th, the pricing will definitely be even lower. The main delivery volume of LeDao L60 will be concentrated in the fourth quarter, with the total delivery goal currently at around 0.02 million units, and will increase to a monthly delivery of 0.01 million units by December. After production capacity reaches our expectations, the overall gross margin will be maintained at around 15%.'

It is reported that LeDao is already in double-shift production in NIO's two factories, and NIO is also building its third factory. According to Li Bin's estimates, the third factory will be officially completed and put into operation in the third quarter of next year.

According to reports, in addition to the second brand LeDuo, NIO will also launch the Firefly series of boutique cars in the price range of several tens of thousands of yuan, serving the needs of the second family car, covering the price range from 0.1 million to above 0.3 million, and serving different consumer groups with demand for battery swapping.

Data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 50% in July for the first time. Li Bin believes that this data will continue to grow rapidly and will exceed 80% in about two years. 'The third brand Firefly is progressing smoothly and will be officially delivered in 2025.'

Li Bin said that NIO ET9 is still under development according to plan, and overseas business will continue to focus on five countries in Europe. As LeDuo and Firefly are more suitable for entering the global market, NIO's plan to expand globally next year will become more active.