Chinese automaker Nio reports that Covid constrains May EV sales as rivals XPeng and Li Auto gain ground

June 3, 2022: -Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio delivered over 7,000 vehicles in May, up 4.7% but well below its present production capacity, as Covid-related disruptions continued to limit the manufacturing of the company and delivering vehicles to customers.

Nio said that its manufacturing had been “gradually recovering” in May from coronavirus-related disruptions but that its capacity to deliver vehicles was “still constrained to a particular extent” by lockdowns and additional measures set to limit the spread of renewed Covid variants in some parts of China.

Nio is operating with its suppliers to grow production in June. It expects deliveries to increase as those Covid-related conditions have started to lift.

New orders stay strong, the company said, although it did not supply specific numbers.

In May, not all of China’s electric vehicle makers were hit as hard as Nio. Rival Xpeng said it could produce 10,125 vehicles for the month, up 78% from almost a year, as it continued two-shift production at its factory in mid-May.

XPeng is based in southern China, an area that has fared better amid the current Covid outbreaks than the region around Hefei, where Nio is found, several hundred miles north.

Another rival, Li Auto, said it could deliver approximately 11,500 vehicles in May, up more than 160% from a year ago, despite pandemic-related disruptions at its suppliers in the Yangtze River region to its west.