The company expects to hand over 61,000 to 63,000 EVs to customers in the three months to September 30, versus the previous record of 57,373 units in the preceding quarter, according to its stock exchange filing in Hong Kong on Thursday. It sold 23,250 units in the June quarter last year.

The Shanghai-based carmaker provided the bullish guidance after losses narrowed 2.7 per cent to 5.05 billion yuan (US$711.6 million), in line with market consensus among analysts tracked by Bloomberg. Revenue surged 76 per cent to 17.4 billion yuan, also matching expectations.

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‘Overtaking on a bend’: how China’s EV industry charged ahead to dominate the global market

‘Overtaking on a bend’: how China’s EV industry charged ahead to dominate the global market

Vehicle margin – the gap between the selling price and tangible costs such as raw materials, labour and logistics – widened to 12.2 per cent from 9.2 per cent in the preceding quarter, it added. Most of Nio’s models are priced above 300,000 yuan.

“Nio’s core competitive advantages in technology, product, service and community are earning increasing recognition from users, driving the sales performance,” co-founder and CEO William Li said. The record delivery target will further solidify its market share, he added.

Some 878,000 pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars were sold in mainland China in July, accounting for 51.1 per cent of total vehicle deliveries, according to the China Passenger Car Association. It was the first time new-energy vehicles outsold petrol cars in the world’s largest automobile market.