NIO released its first quarter 2019 earnings report on May 28. Data shows that the company's revenue in the first quarter of 2019 was CNY 1.63 billion (USD 243.1 million), down 52.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2018, and its net loss was CNY 2.62 billion (USD 390.9 million), down 25.1 percent month-on-month and up 71.4 percent year-on-year.

Financial Highlights for the Q1 of 2019

Excluding the share payment fee, the adjusted net loss (non-GAAP) was CNY 2.504 billion (USD 373.1 million), down 25.5 percent month-over-month and up 68.2 percent year-over-year.

In terms of product deliveries, NIO ES8 delivered 3,989 units in the first three months of 2019, down about 4,000 units month-on-month. The company delivered 1,124 ES8 vehicles in April 2019, fewer than expected. NIO said the reduction was mainly affected by the Chinese government's announcement in late March that subsidies were on the decline, the Spring Festival holiday, China's macroeconomic development and Sino-U.S. trade frictions.

The company will release the full contents of NIO's earnings for the first quarter of 2019 tonight. On the morning of May 29, Beijing time, NIO's chairman Li Bin and President QIN Lihong will join the media to answer questions in the earnings report.

NIO will receive USD 1.45 billion

Despite the continued losses, NIO reported good news in its earnings report. In May 2019, NIO signed a framework agreement with Beijing Yi Zhuang International Investment and Development co., LTD (亦庄国际投资发展有限公司), an investment company headquartered in Beijing economic and technological development zone.

The agreement said that NIO will set up a new entity "NIO China" in Beijing economic and technological development zone, and inject specific businesses and assets into "NIO China". Yi Zhuang will invest CNY 10 billion (USD 1.447 billion) in "NIO China" in cash through its designated investment company or other joint investors, in order to acquire the non-controlling shareholders' equity in "NIO China".

In addition, Yi Zhuang will also assist in the construction of "NIO China" or introduce a third party to jointly build NIO China advanced manufacturing base to produce the company's second-generation models. 

NIO Starts ES6's Mass Delivery Next Month

On the same day as the earnings report released, NIO's second large-scale production model ES6 officially rolled off the production line On May 28. The ES6 will be the first commemorative edition and will be delivered to customers in late June.

In terms of ES6, Li Bin announced that orders for this model have exceeded 12,000 units, of which 5,000 have been received after the Automobile Shanghai. According to the NIO's arrangement, ES6 and ES8 will be Co-produced in the JAC-NIO Hefei factory.

"We have three main jobs: selling cars well, improving operational efficiency, and develop new products," Li said.

New Product Development

In April 2019, the Company showcased a preview version of the ET7, its high-performance premium electric sedan, at the Shanghai Auto Show. Recently, the Company made the decision to design and develop the ET series with the future NIO NP2 platform, our next generation product platform featuring Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities, and will provide an update on the launch timeline of the ET series in the future.

Meanwhile, the Company plans to leverage the platform technologies from the ES8 and ES6 to create a new model design and expects to launch the third vehicle model in 2020.

In its outlook for the second quarter of 2019, NIO expects:

1. The company expects to deliver 2,800 to 3,200 units of ES8 and ES6, about 29.8 percent to 19.8 percent less than the first quarter.

2. The total revenue of the company is expected to be CNY 1.13 billion ( USD 169 million) to CNY 1.29 billion ( USD 193 million), down about 30.5 percent to 20.7 percent compared with the first quarter.