Nio (NYSE: NIO) has delivered the 100,000th all-new ES8, the company's third-generation flagship SUV, just 215 days after retail sales began.

Founder, chairman and CEO William Li personally handed the vehicle to Jiang Zheyuan, founder of Beijing-based humanoid-robotics startup Noetix Robotics, at the NIO Future Science City Delivery Center on April 23, 2026.

The milestone sets a new sales record for any Chinese-market passenger vehicle priced above 400,000 CNY (c. $58,600) and lands one day before the opening of the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, where Nio will showcase its wider three-brand lineup.

NIO ES8 100,000th unit sold (NIO)

The all-new ES8 went on sale on September 20, 2025, after its 2025 production allocation sold out within 48 hours of order books opening.

Nio spent the winter scaling output. Monthly deliveries crossed 10,000 units in November 2025 and have held above that threshold for five consecutive months.

March 2026 volumes reached 16,255 units, the fourth straight month the ES8 led both China's large-SUV segment and the above-400,000 CNY price band.

First-quarter deliveries totalled 45,184 vehicles, accounting for roughly 54% of Nio's 83,465 group deliveries over the period. In Beijing, Nio says, one of every two full-size SUVs sold now carries an ES8 badge, regardless of powertrain or price tier.

The current ES8 rides on a 900-volt architecture and measures 5,280 mm (17.3 ft) long with a 3,130 mm wheelbase, making it the longest pure-electric SUV on sale in China.

A 102 kWh battery delivers a CLTC range of 635 km (394 miles), while a dual-motor drivetrain produces 520 kW and 700 Nm, enabling a 0–100 km/h time of 3.97 seconds.

Autonomous-driving hardware is built around Nio's in-house Shenji NX9031 5 nm chip rated above 1,000 TOPS, paired with three LiDAR units and a 4D imaging radar, all running the SkyOS vehicle operating system.

Pricing starts at 416,800 CNY (c. $61,000) for the six-seat Executive trim, or 308,800 CNY (c. $45,200) under Nio's battery-as-a-service scheme, which carries a monthly rental of 1,128 CNY (c. $165).

The six-seat Signature caps the line at 456,800 CNY (c. $66,900), or 348,800 CNY (c. $51,100) with BaaS. The rental plan lets Nio advertise the ES8 below the 400,000 CNY psychological line even as the full vehicle price pushes well past it.

Competitive pressure is tangible but one-sided. Zeekr's 9X posted 4,878 retail units in February, less than half the ES8's 11,260 that month, while Huawei-backed Aito models and the incumbent BMW X5 and Audi Q7 lineups round out the segment.

Attention now shifts to the ES9, an even larger flagship that Nio will formally launch at this week's Beijing Auto Show, and to Li's stated target of full-year profitability in 2026. Can a second above-400,000 CNY Nio flagship repeat the ES8's 215-day sprint?

Conversion rate: 1 USD = 6.83 CNY as of April 23, 2026