NIO March Deliveries Top Guidance
NIO March deliveries topped Q1 guidance on April 1, 2026, boosting Q1 shipments and reshaping short-term trader positioning amid weaker Chinese EV volumes.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- NIO March deliveries hit 35,486, pushing Q1 shipments to 83,465 and exceeding prior guidance.
- Li Auto reported 41,053 March deliveries after easing production bottlenecks.
- Chinese electrified-vehicle shipments fell about 12.0% year-over-year in March, framing cross-market comparisons.
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NIO Inc. (NIO) said on April 1, 2026, that its March deliveries exceeded its first-quarter guidance, lifting total shipments for the quarter and signaling a month-to-month rebound despite a year-over-year decline in overall Chinese electrified-vehicle deliveries.
NIO Exceeds First-Quarter Guidance
NIO delivered 35,486 vehicles in March 2026, including 22,490 NIO-brand cars, 6,877 ONVO vehicles, and 6,119 FIREFLY units. This represented a 136.0% year-over-year increase from 15,039 and a 70.6% rise from February. The strong March performance pushed NIO’s first-quarter deliveries to 83,465 vehicles, a 98.3% increase from the prior year, and brought cumulative deliveries to 1,081,057 as of March 31, 2026. This total surpassed the company’s prior Q1 guidance range of 80,000 to 83,000 vehicles issued with its March earnings.
The delivery mix shows that core NIO models accounted for most of the volume, helping the company recover faster than many domestic competitors even as the broader market softened.
Li Auto’s Recovery and Industry Peers
Li Auto Inc. reported March deliveries of 41,053 vehicles, a 12.0% year-over-year increase from 36,674, according to a Form 6-K filed on April 1. Cumulative deliveries reached 1,635,357 as of March 31, 2026. The company said its Li i6 model exceeded 24,000 units in March as production bottlenecks eased. Li Auto plans to launch an all-new Li L9 in the second quarter.
XPeng delivered 27,415 vehicles in March, an 80.0% month-over-month increase but down from 33,205 a year earlier. Its first-quarter deliveries totaled 62,682, down from 94,008 in the prior-year period. XPeng has outlined a three-year Latin America strategy that includes introducing pure electric vehicles to Mexico in 2027.
Chinese electrified-vehicle deliveries, including plug-in hybrids, totaled about 400,000 vehicles in March 2026, a 12.0% year-over-year decline. This figure includes production from the largest domestic manufacturers.
Tesla Inc. (TSLA) is scheduled to report its first-quarter deliveries on April 2, with consensus estimates ranging from roughly 365,645 to 368,900 vehicles. This implies a sequential decline of about 11.8% to 12.5% from the prior quarter and a year-over-year increase near 8.6% to 9.6%. Tesla’s report will provide a key comparison point for demand between U.S. and Chinese electric-vehicle makers.
"Li Auto delivered 41,053 vehicles in March 2026, with cumulative deliveries reaching 1,635,357 as of March 31, 2026," the company said in its Form 6-K.
