• An Nio executive teased the upcoming milestone, suggesting ES8 deliveries are maintaining a pace of around 10,000 units a month.
• It took only about 1 month to go from 130,000 to 140,000 deliveries, with the 5-seat version key to sustaining the pace.

Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) is set to bring cumulative deliveries of the third-generation ES8 to 140,000 this week, showing that momentum for the popular large SUV (sport utility vehicle) has continued after the addition of a 5-seat version.

Yang Bo, Nio's head of user operations, teased the upcoming milestone in a Weibo post on Monday, without providing further details.

Cumulative deliveries of the ES8 reached 130,000 on July 22 in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, 305 days after the first delivery. That means the latest 10,000 units will have taken only about 1 month, keeping the delivery pace at around 10,000 units a month.

The 5-seat version has been a key driver of that pace. The variant was launched on July 9 and deliveries began the following day, unlocking demand that had previously been held back.

The 5-seat version starts at 382,800 yuan ($56,400) including the battery pack, about 24,000 yuan, or 5.9%, below the 3-row versions. Under Nio's BaaS (battery as a service) plan, the starting price falls to 274,800 yuan.

Before the 5-seat version was launched, cumulative deliveries of the 6-seat and 7-seat versions had already exceeded 100,000 units. The new variant allows the ES8 to span both the premium large 5-seat SUV segment and the 3-row SUV market.

ES8 deliveries reached 10,288 units in July, up 14.68% from June and returning above the 10,000-unit monthly threshold, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Deliveries of 8,969 units in June had ended a streak of 7 consecutive months above 10,000.

Deutsche Bank analysts previously said some consumers had delayed purchases while waiting for the 5-seat version, a major reason for the ES8's weaker performance in June.

In the first 7 months of the year, ES8 deliveries totaled 88,947 units, up more than 20-fold from a year earlier.

Customer loyalty is another factor supporting the model. A survey released this month by market researcher Land Roads showed the ES8 had an NPS (Net Promoter Score) of 85.3, the highest among battery electric vehicles in China.

The survey also found that 57.3% of ES8 owners placed an order after experiencing the vehicle without comparing it with any other model.

Higher-priced vehicles are helping improve Nio's financial position. The Nio main brand had an average transaction price of 434,600 yuan in July, translating into about 8.7 billion yuan in revenue based on delivery volume.

Together with the ES9 executive flagship, which was launched in May with a starting price of 498,000 yuan, the 2 premium SUVs delivered a combined 16,603 units in July, accounting for 83% of deliveries by the Nio main brand.

Deutsche Bank expects Nio to achieve non-GAAP breakeven in the second quarter, helped by the contribution from higher-margin models.

Nio has yet to announce the date for its second-quarter earnings release. Domestic peer Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) will report second-quarter results on August 24, while Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) will report on August 26.

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