The Chinese manufacturer Nio has stopped the production of its electric cars. According to Nio, the background to this is that the company’s suppliers in several places such as Jilin, Shanghai and Jiangsu have stopped production due to the effects of the pandemic.
The company informed its customers of this via the company’s own app. Since the covid outbreak in March, supply chains have been under pressure, it said. “Due to these factors, NIO’s vehicle production has been suspended,” the statement said, quoted by the Chinese portal CN EV Post. “There will be a delay in the delivery of vehicles for many customers in the near future, and we ask for your understanding.”
Nio does not yet specify how many customers will be affected and how long the delay will be – as it is currently not even clear how long the production stop will last, it is also difficult to estimate.
In February, the last full month before the Covid outbreak in China, Nio was able to build 6,131 vehicles, which is equivalent to about 220 vehicles a day. However, the lower numbers were also because the Chinese New Year fell in February. In January, the number stood just over 300 vehicles a day.
Nio said it was working with suppliers to resume production as soon as possible. Subsequently, deliveries are also expected to resume quickly, but Covid requirements of local authorities are to be met at all times.
Although Nio has its headquarters in Shanghai, a metropolis particularly affected by the lockdown, production is located in Hefei in Anhui province. There has been no lockdown in Hefei so far; the problem is a lack of components from suppliers in affected regions.
Probably the best-known example of a production stoppage due to the Covid 19 requirements is Tesla with its Giga Shanghai: after a brief interruption in mid-March, production was up and running again – but the factory had to be closed again from 28 March. It is not known when the assembly lines at the Gigafactory Shanghai will start up again. Tesla cannot produce around 2,000 Model 3 and Model y per day.
cnevpost.com, marketwatch.com
Keyword: Nio forced to pause production due to supply line issues