It is still losing money after 9 years of establishment, and according to last year's delivery data, it is equivalent to a loss of nearly 120,000 yuan for every car soldAlthough it is still in the first echelon camp of the new forces, the gap with the ideal monthly delivery has become wider and widerLast month, it even completed the largest layoff since its establishment.
I have to say that NIO, which has just celebrated its ninth birthday, still has a lot of problems at first glance, and there are still some struggles in its life, and there are not a few people who are optimistic about it. So much so that Qin Lihong, president of Weilai, had to come forward to refute the rumors in person, saying that Weilai would not go bankrupt, and there was absolutely no possibility of bankruptcy.
It is true that NIO still has many problems and difficulties, but facing up to its problems does not mean that we must deliberately cover up the light it emits. In particular, a series of "good things" that have happened to NIO in recent days have declared in a sense:9-year-old NIO may be about to stand up!
Objectively look at NIO's third-quarter financial report
Behind the continuous losses, there are many positive "improvements".
How to interpret the same financial report, we must first look at the perspective and mood of the official. If you have a preconceived impression of NIO's continuous huge losses, then perhaps you will only see the amount of its operating loss and net loss in the financial report.
It is undeniable that in the recently released financial report of NIO for the third quarter of 2023, including "an operating loss of 48.."43.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 252%；Net loss of 4556.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 108%。"It's a bit scary to have data like that. But while scary, you can't deliberately ignore both sets of loss data, both of which fell by more than 20% month-on-month.
What's more, in this third-quarter financial report, there are many obvious positive "good" indicators.
First of all, it is NIO that has shown a strong ability to recover blood, and its cash flow is growing significantly.
According to the financial report, as of September 30, 2023, cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments and time deposits amounted to RMB45.2 billion. Compared with the second quarter, it increased by 13.7 billion yuan.
In addition to the completion of the issuance of convertible senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of US$1.1 billion, the increase in gross profit margin of automobiles is also a key factor. It is reported that NIO's gross profit margin has increased from 6 in the second quarter2% sharply** to 11%, which in turn drove NIO's gross profit to increase by 16509% to 1523.3 billion yuan.
Second, NIO hit two all-time highs in revenue and delivery in the third quarter of this year.
According to the financial report, NIO's automobile sales revenue in the third quarter of this year was 174and 8.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 459%, an increase of 142 month-on-month3%；Total revenue was 19066.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 466%, an increase of 117 month-on-month4%, a record high in single-quarter revenue.
In terms of deliveries, NIO delivered 55,432 vehicles in the third quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 754 %, also setting a new record for quarterly deliveries. Compared with the explosive growth of a certain month, the new record of quarterly delivery can better explain the stability of a new energy vehicle company.
In addition, according to Li Bin, according to the retail sales data of the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, in the third quarter of 2023, (NIO) ranked first in China's pure electric vehicle market of more than 300,000 units, with a market share of 45%.
Many positive indicators show that Weilai has completely eased from the downturn in the second quarter, although it is still wearing the hat of continuous losses, but it is exciting enough, which further confirms Qin Lihong's sentence "Weilai will not go out of business, and there is no possibility of bankruptcy." ”
The "battery swap alliance" is expanding rapidly
The former "burden" has become a "fragrant dumpling"?
In addition to the exciting third-quarter financial report, NIO also released a "big move" during its 9th birthday:NIO has officially announced the start of battery swap cooperation with Changan and Geely. This move means that NIO Power's battery swap system is about to move from To C to serving both ends of B and C at the same time.
Once upon a time, due to the large amount of capital investment required for the layout of battery swap services, this project was once considered to be the "burden" of NIO and the "original sin" of its continuous burning of money.
At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Qin Lihong, president of Weilai Automobile, said that the cost of a single battery swap station is about 3 million yuan, and if this is calculated, the fixed cost investment of all 2,000 battery swap stations of NIO will reach 6 billion yuan. Previously, it was also reported that in 2022 NIO 144Among the net loss of 3.7 billion yuan, the construction cost of the battery swap station is one of the largest expenses.
However, with the addition of Chang'an and Geely, as well as the news that there are latecomers talking, the former "burden" seems to have suddenly turned into "fragrant and sweet". Its rapidly expanding "battery swap alliance" has instantly brought people more imagination.
In fact, regarding battery swapping, NIO has always adhered to long-termism. It's just that when its profit model and scale effect gradually emerged, it has begun to be accepted by more car companies, including Changan and Geely.
The first is profitability. According to Li Bin, in addition to transforming from C-end to service B+C, NIO has many ways to cooperate with foreign countries. For example, a partner can build a battery swap station, hand it over to NIO to operate, purchase NIO's battery swap station products, and the partner holds the battery swap station, which then enters NIO's network and hands it over to NIO for operation. For another example, there are investors who are interested in NIO Power's spin-off financing, and NIO is also actively engaging with them.
In addition to the visible profits, what really makes NIO stand up is that the scale effect of its battery swap layout is emerging. According to statistics, by the end of September, NIO had 1,929 battery swap stations, including 572 high-speed battery swap stations. NIO's battery swap network has basically taken shape and is still expanding.
From its official debut at NIO Day in 2017, it has been widely deployed six years later, and new fissions have begun to appear. From the controversial "baggage" to the "sweet and sweet" that continues to attract car companies to cooperate, you have to admire Li Bin's vision and persistence.
It's about to get rid of OEM completely
Nine-year-old NIO learned to "walk independently".
Last Friday, the latest production declaration information of all models of NIO was on the official website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology**. According to the declaration information, the tail labels of all models of Weilai Automobile have all been changed from the earlier "JAC Weilai" to "Weilai". The appearance of this declaration information also means that the rear logo of NIO will be replaced with the word "NIO" in the future.
Combined with the acquisition of the production equipment and assets of the first advanced manufacturing base and the second advanced manufacturing base of JAC Automobile disclosed in the third quarter financial report of NIO, coupled with the fact that NIO Automotive Technology (Anhui)** appeared in the credit information management system of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it is basically confirmed that NIO has obtained independent automobile production qualifications.
The reason why NIO did not give official confirmation and announcement on this matter is probably related to the fact that NIO previously renewed the OEM agreement with JAC until 2024. According to Li Bin, the OEM agreement with JAC is still in effect, and the production of models is progressing as usualIf you make it all in-house, the cost will drop by about 10%.
It is not difficult to see that NIO has won the production qualification and completely got rid of the OEM, or it is a certainty. Undoubtedly, this is a 9th birthday gift from NIO, and it is also a key step for it to truly complete "independent walking" and be able to transform.
Bidding farewell to foundry, in addition to the benefits of cost reduction in Li Bin's mouth, can also be free from the limitations of the foundry model, gain more initiative, and help improve production efficiency. In addition, thanks to the scale, it is also conducive to the further reduction of NIO's losses and the enhancement of the competitiveness of its products in the market.
If you want to completely support yourself, you must first learn to "walk independently", and NIO must have thought it through and successfully taken that step.
Ma said:
NIO's recent "good things" can be described as one after another, although it is still wearing the hat of continuous losses, but it is also constantly releasing light. For its revenue and delivery hit a new quarterly high, the rapid expansion of the "battery swap alliance", and the departure from OEM, it is really worth talking about positive benefits.
However, for NIO, there are still many problems and difficulties that need to be solved. Coupled with the current overall environment, the competition is becoming more and more fierce, and the car building track has even been upgraded from long-distance running to long-distance obstacle race, and the test is also escalating at the same time. But in any case, as we said at the beginning, confronting its problems does not mean that we have to deliberately obscure the light it emits. The future of NIO will ultimately depend on it to create step by step.