By Jiahui Huang


NIO's net loss widened in the third quarter as revenue fell, dragged by lower selling prices amid an intense price war in China's electric-vehicle market.

The Shanghai-based automaker on Wednesday reported a net loss of 5.14 billion yuan, equivalent to $710 million, widening from 4.63 billion yuan a year earlier. Revenue declined 2.1% to 18.67 billion yuan.

The results missed the consensus estimates of a 4.75 billion yuan loss on revenue of 19.14 billion yuan, according to a Visible Alpha poll.

The company's gross margin rose to 10.7% in the third quarter from 8.0% a year ago. Vehicle margins climbed to 13.1% from 11.0%. NIO attributed the improvement to lower material cost per unit despite a decline in average selling prices due to changes in the product mix.

By comparison, EV rivals XPeng and Li Auto reported gross margins of 15.3% and 21.5%, respectively, for the quarter.

Many Chinese automakers have resorted to aggressive price cuts this year to gain market share, boosting sales volume but hurting top and bottom lines for some.

Fellow EV maker XPeng on Tuesday reported a slight revenue beat in the third quarter, thanks to its new models and advanced self-driving technology.

NIO, one of the leading players in China's EV market, has shown strong sales momentum since April. However, the company earlier this month reported slightly lower sales in October compared with September, a rare outcome for a month in which most Chinese EV makers reported robust growth on overall strong demand in the auto market.

The soft October sales also came despite the company launching its first model under the Onvo subbrand in late September with a lower-than-expected price tag that analysts said could drive demand. Its weaker-than-expected results for the third quarter, pressured by lower car prices, may raise questions about its path to profitability.

For the fourth quarter, the EV maker guided for vehicle deliveries of between 72,000 units and 75,000 units, up 44%-50% from a year earlier. It expects revenue to rise 15% to 19%, reaching between 19.68 billion yuan and 20.38 billion yuan.

NIO's American depositary receipts were recently 3.7% lower in premarket trading following the results.


Write to Jiahui Huang at jiahui.huang@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-20-24 0648ET