Nio CEO Says EV Maker 'Still Pretty Stressed Overall' But Not Because Of Competition

Nio Inc NIO does not worry as much about competition as it does about whether its decisions will show results in the future, the cnEVpost reported on Sunday, citing the Chinese electric vehicle maker’s founder and CEO William Li.

What Happened: Li, who was speaking at the China Auto Chongqing Summit 2021, said that despite doing well the electric vehicle maker was struggling to close the gap with bigger legacy automakers.  

 "We're still pretty stressed overall, not because of the competition in the market, but from our thinking about whether the outlook, the pace, the direction is right for the future," Li said, as per cnEVpost.

The Shanghai-headquartered company, seen as a Tesla Inc TSLA rival, has positioned itself as a premium electric vehicle maker since being founded in 2014.

See Also: Nio's May Deliveries Slip Sequentially Amid Volatile Chip Supply

Li said he still sees Nio as a first-year student despite some recognition from the capital market and expectations from the media and the industry.

"We are still in fact a very small company in terms of deliveries," Li said. 

Li also called for the global auto industry to establish a chip coordination group to better manage supply and demand to tackle the ongoing semiconductor shortage that has been going on for nearly a year now, as per a separate cnEVpost report. 

Why It Matters: Nio delivered 6,711 vehicles in May in China, up about 95.3% year-over-year. In comparison, Tesla sold 33,463 China-made electric cars during the month, including exports, as per China Passenger Car Association data.

In comparison, General Motors Co GM and its joint ventures delivered more than 780,000 vehicles in China in the first quarter of 2021, up 69%. GM only reports quarterly delivery numbers. Nio delivered 20,060 in the first quarter of 2021. 

Price Action: Nio shares closed 6.83% higher at $45.7 on Friday.

Read Next: Warren Buffett-Backed BYD Records 126% YoY Jump In May EV Sales; Outdoes Nio, Xpeng, Li Auto Sales Combined

Click here to check out Benzinga's EV Hub for the latest electric vehicles news.

Photo: Courtesy of Nio Inc.

Posted In: NewsRetail SalesTechMediaChinaelectric vehiclesEVsWilliam Li
We simplify the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...