NIO founder, Chairman, and CEO Li Bin issued a company-wide letter, outlining the achievements of 2025 and the outlook for 2026.
He stated that in 2025, the three brands—NIO, Ledao, and Firefly—worked in synergy, delivering a total of 326,028 new vehicles, a record high representing a 46.9% year-on-year increase, marking a return to a high-growth trajectory. "In 2025, we gradually emerged from the trough; the company entered the third stage of its development and initiated a new cycle of rapid growth. However, we have no qualification to relax for even a moment. In 2026, we must continue to fortify our foundations and wage prudent battles, solidifying our base and accumulating strength for both current and long-term development."
He believes that the competition in the smart electric vehicle industry has entered the final stage, where the pace of technological upgrades and iterations will accelerate, and market competition pressure will intensify. The harsher the environment, the more essential it is to maintain strategic resolve, avoiding both undue self-criticism and self-deception, while staying true to the original vision and focusing on action.
For 2026, Li Bin outlined several key requirements: continue investing in the 12 core full-stack technologies for smart electric vehicles to ensure a leading technological advantage; invest in charging and battery swap infrastructure construction, planning to add 1,000 new swap stations throughout 2026, bringing the total to over 4,600 by year-end; strengthen the sales and service network. NIO, Ledao, and Firefly will deepen their presence in key markets while jointly expanding into lower-tier markets, achieving coverage of sales and service networks in over 210 prefecture-level cities; focus intensely on the Chinese market while advancing global expansion, planning to cumulatively enter 40 countries and regions; deepen organizational reform by establishing fundamental business units centered on user value creation and an efficient operational system based on company-wide business management.
The following is the full text of the company-wide letter: Dear colleagues, The year 2026 has arrived. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!
We just announced the delivery figures for December 2025, delivering a record 48,135 new vehicles, a 54.6% increase year-on-year. In the fourth quarter, we delivered a record 124,807 vehicles, up 71.7% year-on-year. All three brands achieved record quarterly deliveries: NIO brand delivered 67,433 units in Q4, up 27.8% year-on-year; Ledao brand delivered 38,290 units, up 92.1% year-on-year; Firefly brand delivered 19,084 units, a 52.8% increase quarter-on-quarter.
In 2025, the synergistic efforts of the three brands—NIO, Ledao, and Firefly—resulted in the delivery of 326,028 new vehicles, a historic high representing a 46.9% year-on-year increase, signaling a return to rapid growth. The Ledao L90, launched just five months ago, achieved cumulative deliveries of 43,439 units, securing the top spot in annual sales for large pure-electric SUVs. The new NIO ES8 delivered 22,256 units in December, setting a new record for monthly deliveries in the over 400,000 RMB segment. These two large vehicles have reshaped the competitive landscape in their respective markets, jointly leading the three-row large SUV segment into the pure-electric era. Firefly, as a brand officially launched this year, has seen sales increase for five consecutive months, with its share in the premium small car market continuously rising to exceed 61%, maintaining the top market share position for seven consecutive months.
These achievements stem from everyone's collective hard work. Here, I extend my heartfelt thanks to you all! Thank you to every colleague in R&D, supply chain, quality, manufacturing, user experience and service, management, and support departments for your efforts and dedication. Thank you for not retreating under pressure and for repaying the trust and support of users, partners, shareholders, and society with tangible results.
In 2025, we collectively demonstrated the long-term value of persistent technological innovation. Our sustained R&D investments are now yielding returns, with core smart car technologies like the world's first automotive-grade 5nm high-end autonomous driving chip, the vehicle-wide operating system, and the Sky Chassis entering mass production. While continuously pushing the performance and experience boundaries of our products, we have achieved significant cost reductions through technology, providing a foundational support for our long-term competitiveness. Intelligent systems like Cedar, Banyan, Coconut, and Aster continue to iterate, deepening our cross-brand, multi-model intelligent platform capabilities, significantly enhancing the efficiency of intelligent development, iteration, and operations, thereby translating technological advantages into tangible user value and market recognition.
We have collectively proven the user value, commercial value, and social value of continuously building our charging and battery swap network. To date, we have built 3,737 battery swap stations globally, providing over 96 million cumulative swap services. We have constructed 1,010 highway swap stations, and initiatives like "Swap Stations in Every County" and "Scenic Charging Lines" are steadily progressing. Just today, we inaugurated the Deqen Meili Snow Mountain swap station, completing the entire Yunnan-Tibet swap route. Vehicle owners can now drive from Kunming to Mount Everest using only battery swaps. We are step by step fulfilling our promise to "make recharging as convenient as refueling." The hot sales of the Ledao L90 and the new NIO ES8 owe much to the increasingly convenient charging and swap network.
In 2025, we demonstrated the resilience required. Over the past period, the company underwent difficult but necessary organizational reforms. Company-wide business management awareness and cost control capabilities have been strengthened, the CBU mechanism has been largely implemented, and systemic capabilities and operational efficiency have continuously improved, laying a foundation for participating in more intense market competition.
Dear colleagues, the competition in the smart electric vehicle industry has entered the final stage. The pace of technological upgrades and iterations will accelerate, and the pressure of market competition will intensify. The harsher the environment, the more we need to maintain strategic resolve, avoiding both undue self-criticism and self-deception, while staying true to our original vision and focusing on action.
Our confidence stems from our persistent investment in technological innovation and charging/swap infrastructure over the past 11 years, and from the market increasingly validating that our chosen technological path aligns with the correct trends and direction. In the first 11 months of 2025, pure-electric vehicles accounted for 61.9% of the new energy vehicle market, with a growth rate significantly higher than extended-range and plug-in hybrid vehicles. As technology advances and infrastructure improves, the experiential benefits offered by pure-electric technology now outweigh the inconveniences of recharging. The golden age of pure-electric vehicles is arriving in the critical large three-row SUV market. By 2030, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China's new car market will exceed 90%, with pure-electric vehicles accounting for over 80% of that share. Our full-stack technological accumulation and competitive advantage in charging/swap infrastructure will gain increasing recognition from users.
In 2025, we gradually emerged from the trough; the company entered the third stage of its development and initiated a new cycle of rapid growth. However, we have no qualification to relax for even a moment. In 2026, we must continue to fortify our foundations and wage prudent battles, solidifying our base and accumulating strength for both current and long-term development.
We will continue resolute investment around the 12 core full-stack technologies for smart electric vehicles to ensure leading product and technological advantages. In 2026, we will launch three new models into the market, which we believe will further increase our market share in the premium large vehicle segment. The NIO World Model (NWM) has achieved breakthroughs in algorithm architecture and training paradigms and will see multiple major version releases this year, leading to a comprehensive upgrade in the smart assisted driving experience. NOMI intelligence will undergo significant updates and iterations, strengthening our competitiveness in the smart cockpit domain.
We will persistently and resolutely invest in charging and battery swap infrastructure construction. Starting in the second quarter, large-scale construction of the fifth-generation battery swap stations will commence. The annual plan is to add over 1,000 new swap stations, exceeding 4,600 stations by year-end. The "Swap Stations in Every County" initiative will continue, and over 100 "Scenic Charging Lines" will be established. We will continuously enhance the energy business operation capabilities of the charging/swap network, laying a solid foundation for the profitability of this business.
We will continue to strengthen the construction of our sales and service network, ensuring our sales and service capabilities can withstand more intense market competition. In 2026, while deepening their presence in key markets, NIO, Ledao, and Firefly will jointly expand into lower-tier markets, achieving coverage of sales and service networks in over 210 prefecture-level cities.
In 2026, while focusing intensely on the Chinese market, we will also steadily advance our global layout. Continuing with the national general agent model and using Firefly as the pioneering brand, we plan to cumulatively enter 40 countries and regional markets.
In 2026, we will continue to deepen organizational reforms, constantly improving the fundamental business units centered on user value creation and the efficient operational system based on company-wide business management. We will strengthen cost control capabilities and reinforce ROI awareness, ensuring every penny spent delivers value. Competition in the automotive industry is a long-term contest of efficiency differences of just 3-5 percentage points. Only by possessing industry-leading operational efficiency can we hope to survive.
Dear colleagues, in just a few days, we will welcome the production of our 1,000,000th mass-produced vehicle. User support has always been the driving force behind our progress and the foundation for winning the competition. Please maintain the original intention of becoming a user enterprise, repaying user trust with better products, better services, and better business performance.
Progress steadily step by step, achieving success through sustained effort. Our journey is a marathon on a muddy road. Let us focus on action and together meet the challenges ahead. Happy New Year! Let's keep charging forward!
