Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) maker NIO (NIO 3.12%) said on Monday that its deliveries doubled in October from a year ago, as a recent production increase helped it hit a key milestone for the first time.
NIO delivered 5,055 vehicles to customers in October, breaking the 5,000-delivery mark for the first time as it reaped the benefits of a production capacity increase that it put in place a few weeks earlier.
NIO's sales have been rising steadily since China's coronavirus pandemic faded in the spring. Year to date, the company's deliveries are up 111% from the first 10 months of 2019, as its monthly sales totals recovered in April and have increased since.
NIO delivered 883 EC6s in October, the new model's first full month of sales. Image source: NIO.
NIO's October sales totals included 883 examples of its newest model. The new EC6 is a sportier variant of NIO's best-selling ES6 five-passenger crossover SUV, with a sleek, coupe-like roofline. Deliveries of the EC6 began in late September, after work was completed on an expansion of the company's production line
The company's EVs are currently made at a factory owned by partner Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group, near the industrial city of Hefei in China's Anhui Province. NIO is expected to begin construction of its own factory near Hefei soon, possibly early next year.
Separately, the company said that it will report its third-quarter earnings results before the U.S. markets open on Nov. 17. Analysts expect the results to be good: NIO's sales in the quarter rose 154% from the third quarter of 2019, exceeding the optimistic guidance the company provided in August.
