NIO， full of ambition， has finally entered the monthly sales bracket of over 30，000 units after the first full delivery month of its Le Dao L90. In August， the company delivered 31，305 new vehicles， a year-on-year increase of 55.2%， reaching a new historical high.
Interestingly， at the end of August， NIO held a “Face-to-Face with Users: Brother Bin Invites You to Chat” event. During the event， Li Bin， NIO’s CEO， was subjected to a five-minute “tirade” from a loyal long-term owner.
Looking back at the August sales figures， Li Bin can finally stand tall.
Of course， NIO is not the only one experiencing a surge. Xpeng Motors was the first to report its performance， delivering 37，709 vehicles in August， a year-on-year increase of 169%. Leapmotor had a particularly bountiful month， with deliveries reaching 57，066 units in August， an 88% year-on-year increase. Having held the top spot for five consecutive months， Leapmotor is transitioning from a dark horse to a consistent winner.
Overall， most of the new EV startups saw a significant boost in August. Compared to Xpeng and Leapmotor， NIO’s hard-won victory felt even more significant.
01 Sales Soar， Profitability Next Priority
Examining NIO’s sales breakdown， the newly launched Le Dao L90 emerged as the absolute主力， delivering 10，575 units in its first full month of sales. It also holds the record for being NIO’s fastest model to achieve over 10，000 monthly sales. The Le Dao brand’s total deliveries reached 16，434 units.
Additionally， NIO’s main brand delivered 10，525 vehicles， a figure comparable to the Le Dao L90’s single-model performance. The Firefly model saw deliveries of 4，346 units. As of now， NIO’s cumulative deliveries across its entire ecosystem are approaching 840，000 units.
Crossing the 30，000 monthly sales mark carries immense significance for Li Bin and NIO at this juncture.
Just before the sales figures were released， on the opening day of the Chengdu Auto Show， NIO announced a crucial adjustment to its pricing strategy for 2025. The scale and impact of this price adjustment are virtually unprecedented in NIO’s decade-long history.
In essence， all NIO models will now come standard with a 100kWh battery when purchased outright， while the retail price of the vehicle remains unchanged. This means that for the price previously paid for a 75kWh battery， customers can now obtain a vehicle with a 100kWh battery. The 75kWh battery will no longer be available for outright purchase， only for leasing.
This move， effectively a price reduction of 38，000 yuan for the 75kWh models (as the battery upgrade price remains the same)， means the entry-level price for models like the ET5/ET5T has dropped from 336，000 yuan to 298，000 yuan. Under the Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) plan， these vehicles can be driven away for as little as 190，000 yuan.
Coupled with the earlier reduction of over 80，000 yuan in the pre-sale price of the NIO ES8， this led to a wave of criticism from existing customers. However， during a subsequent face-to-face user communication session， Li Bin directly addressed the price adjustments， not beating around the bush， and frankly admitting that the decision was made to ensure the company’s survival. He emphasized that only by selling cars and achieving sales volume can the company even consider “development.”
Li Bin stated， “My undeniable responsibility is to manage NIO well and ensure its survival. This is the greatest responsibility to our 800，000 users. I honestly cannot imagine what would happen if NIO could not continue operating. It wouldn’t be just one or two cars， or tens of thousands of cars， but over 800，000 vehicles.”
He stressed that making the company successful is the ultimate responsibility to the 800，000 users， and that in the course of operations， it’s impossible to cater to every individual user’s interests， necessitating decisions that are most reasonable overall.
“During this process， although some users are dissatisfied with me， and perhaps previously trusted me， they certainly have different views now and have certainly criticized me. However， someone has to manage these over 800，000 users.”
Li Bin also revealed that many users currently acknowledge NIO’s vehicles， services， and technology but hesitate to purchase due to concerns about NIO’s potential demise， estimating this to be the reason for 30%-40% of lost sales.
In other words， achieving profitability would dispel many doubts and rumors， bolster user confidence， and resolve numerous issues.
Fortunately， the sales data proves that Li Bin made a difficult but correct decision. Especially for potential buyers who were on the fence， he has arguably transformed from “Binzi” (an informal nickname) to “Bin Shen” (a revered figure). In fact， Li Bin achieved the surge from 20，000 to 30，000 monthly sales with just two strategic moves:
The first was the Le Dao L90， which has already made a significant impact in the market. The second was the updated NIO ES8.
When Li Bin recently announced that the pre-sale price and BaaS plan for the third-generation ES8 were entering the 300，000 yuan bracket， the overwhelming applause from the audience included gasps of astonishment from automotive industry professionals and even some surprise from new and existing NIO owners.
Historically， NIO positioned itself as a premium brand， benchmarking against Mercedes-Benz and BMW， with prices even higher than these established German luxury automakers. However， the market can now clearly perceive NIO’s strategic adjustments.
Rather than calling it a compromise， it’s more accurately described as a pragmatic approach to the current market， which has entered a phase of intense competition within a saturated market. Li Bin has always understood that prioritizing survival is paramount， far more important than superficial qualities like style or prestige.
02 The “Soul-Searching” Questions from Owners
As Li Bin himself stated， taking such actions makes it very easy to draw criticism.
At the same user face-to-face offline communication event， a rare confrontation occurred between the head of an automaker and its users. One long-term NIO owner from Suzhou raised critical questions that struck at the core of the company’s operations， holding Li Bin captive for a full five minutes.
The owner explained that they were an early adopter of NIO’s first and second-generation vehicles. After recommending second-generation models to friends， they encountered numerous issues primarily concerning corporate credibility， product iteration， and user rights.
Firstly， there was a crisis of trust and a lack of information transparency. After recommending a friend to purchase a product， a price reduction occurred shortly thereafter. However， when inquiring with sales staff about potential price adjustments or new model releases before purchasing， they were told no such changes were imminent， only for the price to drop immediately after taking delivery. This resulted in losses of tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand yuan for recent buyers. The owner felt that NIO had severe deficiencies in transparency throughout its pre-sales， sales， and after-sales processes， with sales staff withholding information about impending price changes.
Furthermore， on first-generation models (equipped with the 8155 chip)， promised map upgrades and feature parity with the 2.0 system had not been delivered for a year. The promised “highway battery swap” feature had not been delivered in four years. This indicated a “develop one generation， abandon one generation” phenomenon in software development， where resources for developing advanced driver-assistance systems for first-generation vehicles were diverted to the second-generation platform， and then further to the third-generation platform before the second-generation features were fully delivered.
Li Bin responded that the price reduction was not intentional concealment: “The front-line colleagues were not fully aware of the product iteration pace. If they had known， they certainly would not have concealed it.” He pledged to improve communication and training for front-line staff to reduce user misunderstandings.
He also emphasized that the intelligent electric vehicle industry is evolving at a rapid pace， and to cope with competitive pressures and the need for information confidentiality， companies genuinely cannot disclose all product details. “This is a common challenge faced by the entire industry，” Li Bin stated.
Regarding whether the price reduction ultimately “betrayed” loyal customers， Li Bin admitted that the pricing process was agonizing， and he was aware that the new pricing would negatively impact some existing users. However， he felt it was necessary to make a decision that was beneficial for NIO as a whole. He revealed that many long-term users actually advised the company not to be overly concerned about the feelings of existing customers， emphasizing that NIO’s survival was the top priority.
Addressing the disputes over resource allocation， Li Bin was candid: “In terms of resource allocation， NIO indeed prioritizes new models and models with a larger user base.” He explained that earlier models were significantly limited by hardware， making it difficult to implement high-impact feature updates. However， he stressed that “safety feature updates will always continue to be prioritized，” and that the company has not abandoned its older customers.
He further cited examples， stating that although the update frequency for the first-generation vehicles might be lower， the baseline functionality is continuously maintained， and the actual delivery of features like the Navigate on Pilot even exceeded initial expectations.
Secondly， the issue of NIO’s plummeting resale value was raised. The owner pointed out that the trade-in value for founder edition models was only around 70，000 to 80，000 yuan， and for newer models， it was only 80，000 to 100，000 yuan， which was even lower than that of the now-defunct HiPhi.
Li Bin responded that the rapid iteration cycle in the intelligent electric vehicle industry indeed has an unavoidable impact on vehicle resale values. He stated that NIO is committed to enhancing product performance and user experience to strengthen its market competitiveness.
The perceived weakening of communication channels also led to dissatisfaction. Owners reported that NIO’s once seamless feedback mechanisms had become inefficient， and the feeling of “consumers having nowhere to voice their feedback” was creating a widening distance between them and the brand.
Li BIn countered by saying that communication channels have always remained open， and users can provide feedback directly through the in-car system. He personally reviews feedback every Tuesday and drives problem resolution， with priority given to requests from a larger user base.
Throughout the entire communication session， Li Bin seemed to have a response for every question， and he maintained a remarkably candid attitude. It’s clear that to survive， Li Bin is willing to endure criticism.
However， the underlying issue behind the diverging perspectives between NIO and its customers is a broader phenomenon: when the pace of technological advancement outstrips user expectations， balancing corporate development with user rights is not just a challenge for NIO but for many new energy vehicle manufacturers.
As one owner aptly put it during the session， “We all hope NIO survives， but we also hope our own rights are protected.” Simultaneously， Li Bin acknowledged that the market will no longer afford NIO opportunities to operate at a loss.
“Now， when people talk about NIO， they talk about its products and technology， which we do well. What are the doubts people have about us now? It’s operational sustainability. The media and the public are not very tolerant of losses. Tesla could afford to lose money for 16 years; do you think the market would give us that kind of leeway?”
However， fortunately， the sales performance in August brings Li Bin closer to profitability.
