It has taken approximately 7 years and 7 months since the first Founder’s Edition ES8 rolled off the line in 2018. NIO’s 1 millionth mass-production vehicle officially rolled off the production line at its Hefei F2 Factory in Anhui Province. The milestone vehicle is a Starry Green all-new ES8. It has taken approximately 7 years and 7 months since the first Founder’s Edition ES8 rolled off the line in 2018, making NIO the third new automaker to achieve this million-unit milestone, following Li Auto and Leapmotor. At the event, NIO announced the donation of this vehicle to the Anhui Mozi Quantum Technology Foundation. Additionally, the company launched the ET9 Millionth Unit Limited Edition. A Look Back at NIO’s Production Milestones: May 27, 2018: The 1st mass-production model (an ES8) rolled off the line. April 7, 2021: The 100,000th vehicle rolled off the line. April 26, 2022: The 200,000th vehicle rolled off the line. December 12, 2022: The 300,000th vehicle rolled off the line. September 8, 2023: The 400,000th vehicle rolled off the line. May 9, 2024: The 500,000th vehicle rolled off the line. October 11, 2024: The 600,000th vehicle rolled off the line. May 10, 2025: The 700,000th vehicle rolled off the line. July 24, 2025: The 800,000th vehicle rolled off the line. January 6, 2026: The 1,000,000th vehicle rolled off the line. In the recently concluded year of 2025, NIO delivered a total of 326,028 new vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 46.9%. All three of its brands—NIO, ONVO, and Firefly—achieved breakthroughs in delivery volume. NIO’s CEO, William Li, stated: “The 1 millionth vehicle is a new starting point. NIO is entering its third phase of development, with high-quality growth as the core objective.” Following the event, NIO organized a small media roundtable where its executive team shared several core strategic goals for this new phase. Regarding product planning, the company revealed that the 2026 model year vehicles will see a comprehensive transition to the third-generation platform. Furthermore, the NIO brand will introduce new products in the high-end mid-to-large vehicle segment this year. The Ledao brand also has product updates and the launch of the L80 model planned, focusing its efforts on the mid-to-high-end large vehicle segment. Concerning the new NIO ES9, William Li disclosed that new models will be launched in Q2 and Q3 this year. The ES9 will be larger than the ES8 and will incorporate all the technologies featured in the ET9. The production trial vehicles have recently been approved. In terms of brand and channel development, NIO aims to continuously increase market share across segments through the differentiated positioning of its main NIO brand, the family-oriented Ledao brand, and the premium compact Firefly brand, maintaining an annual sales growth rate of 40%-50%. Li revealed that the three brands are preparing to target lower-tier markets to drive sales volume, with plans to launch integrated “Sky Stores” housing all three brands. The first batch of these stores is expected to begin operation around the Chinese New Year. On the technology front, NIO will continue its strategic focus on the “12 Full-Stack Technologies” to ensure technological and product leadership. The company’s cumulative investment in R&D has exceeded 65 billion yuan, with over 18 billion yuan invested in its battery swap and charging infrastructure. For its charging network, NIO targets to surpass 10,000 charging stations and 10,000 battery swap stations by 2030. The fifth-generation battery swap station will begin large-scale deployment in early April this year. When asked about achieving profitability in Q4 2025, William Li expressed strong confidence. He mentioned that over 40,000 units of the all-new ES8 were delivered in the quarter, which carries a high gross margin, contributing several billion yuan in additional gross profit. With good cost control, Li is confident in the results, although the final figures are not yet released. It is worth noting that on the same day, NIO signed a “Framework Agreement on Co-building a Collaborative Innovation Platform for Automotive Industry Development” with Chery Automobile and JAC Motors, and finalized an industrial cooperation project for vehicle-chip collaboration with Lumissil Microelectronics.