NIO Suspends EV Production Due to COVID-19 Lockdowns

Image: NIO

Chinese Tesla rival NIO is now facing a factory shutdown in China, causing delays to current orders that will be passed to consumers, as stated by the company in a notice to customers.

NIO warned customers over the weekend about upcoming delivery delays due to the automaker pausing production amidst the ongoing COVID-19 surge, according to MarketWatch.

Restrictions from the surge in China have caused disruptions to NIO and its supply chain, which the automaker says will result in delays for consumers.

In a statement sent to customers through the company’s mobile app, NIO said, “There will be a delay in the delivery of vehicles for many customers in the near future, and we ask for your understanding.” NIO continued, “Since March, due to reasons to do with the epidemic, the company’s supplier partners in several places including Jilin, Shanghai and Jiangsu suspended production one after the other and have yet to recover. Due to the impact of this Nio has had to halt car production.”

Other automakers including Tesla and Volkswagen have also been forced to temporarily pause factory operations, while NIO’s stock has dropped by about 37 percent since the year began.

NIO announced price increases set to come by May 10, for which the automaker is citing a “rise in global raw material prices.”

NIO rival Tesla also raised its prices citing inflationary pressure hitting the raw materials markets.