NIO Q1 2025 Earnings Report: Complete Summary of Key Q&A Points

Tonight, NIO officially released its Q1 2025 earnings report.

During the Q&A session of the earnings call, NIO management addressed numerous questions. Below is a comprehensive summary of the key points:

• Based on the guidance of 72,000-75,000 units, overall June sales are expected to be between 25,000 and 28,000 units. This is because the main sales models (5566) entered their first full delivery month in June. Following the delivery of the all-new ES8 in Q4, the NIO brand has the potential to reach a monthly sales level of 25,000 units. This represents an increase of approximately 20% compared to the steady-state level of 20,000 units last year. Gross margin is also expected to improve significantly, with the goal of ensuring the NIO brand gross margin exceeds 20% in Q4.

• Aim to achieve a 15% improvement in R&D efficiency in Q2. The target for Q4 is to control R&D expenses within the range of RMB 2.0 to 2.5 billion, representing a decrease of 20%-25% compared to Q1 and Q4 last year.

• In the long term, ONVO will also switch to using self-developed intelligent driving chips.

• Adjustments were made to ONVO’s sales and core management team in April, but this did not impact L60 sales. ONVO orders steadily recovered in late April, and May deliveries increased by over 40% compared to April. From January to April this year, the L60 consistently ranked within the top three in the RMB 200,000-300,000 pure electric vehicle market. Rankings are expected to improve further in May and June.

• Confident that L60 sales can return to the monthly level of 10,000 units. Aim for the three ONVO products to achieve a combined monthly sales target of 25,000 units in Q4.

• Self-developed chips bring an optimization of approximately CNY 10,000 per vehicle in cost. Combined with factors like product transitions and self-developed chip cost optimization, the gross margin per vehicle for the NIO brand is expected to return to around 15% in Q2. The comprehensive gross margin target for all three brands combined is to return to double-digit levels in Q2.

• Market feedback for the all-new 5566 models has been mostly positive since launch. These new models use a 400V platform, but when combined with the battery swap and charging network, they can ensure a good user experience. There are no plans to upgrade to a 900V platform in the short term.

• The L90 is a large three-row SUV, and the L80 is a large five-seat SUV, both primarily targeting the family market.

• The delivery target for Q4 is 50,000 units. The third factory will officially start production in September. Some production lines will operate on a double-shift system, and there will be no capacity bottleneck issues.

• Adjusting the European market strategy, shifting from a direct sales model to a model of “seeking local partners in each country.” Cooperation agreements have already been reached with over 10 partners across 15 markets. The Fierfly brand will enter multiple European and other international markets. Aggressive sales targets are not set for the short term; the focus is on strategic market positioning.