NIO - Q4 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for NIO Inc.'s fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Today's conference call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Rui Chen, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Finance of the company. Please go ahead, Ray.

Rui Chen (Head of Investor Relations)

Good morning and good evening, everyone. Welcome to NIO's first quarter and full year 2025 earnings conference call. The company's financial and operating results were published in the press release earlier today and are posted on the company's IR website. On today's call, we have Mr. William Li, Founder, Chairman of the Board, and the Chief Executive Officer, and Ms. Stanley Qu, Chief Financial Officer. Before we continue, please be kindly reminded that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's actual results may be materially different from the views expressed today.

Further information regarding risks and uncertainties is included in certain filings of the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited. The company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. Please also note that NIO's earnings press release and this conference call include discussion of unaudited GAAP financial information as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to NIO's press release, which contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to comparable GAAP measures. With that, I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Mr. William Li. William, please go ahead.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining NIO Inc's 2025 Q4 and full year earnings call. In Q4 2025, we delivered 124,807 smart EVs, achieving a year-over-year increase of 71.7%. Quarterly deliveries for all three brands reached record highs. For the full year 2025, the NIO, Onvo, and the Firefly brands worked in close synergy and delivered a total of 326,028 vehicles, up 46.9% year-over-year. This marks our return to a strong growth trajectory. In January and February of 2026, we delivered 27,182 and 27,797 vehicles respectively.

For the first quarter, we expected total deliveries to be between 80,000 and 83,000 vehicles, representing a year-over-year increase of 90.1% to 97.2%. Turning to the financial performance. In Q4 2025, our vehicle margin reached 18.1%. The continuous improvement in margin was mainly driven by strong sales growth, a higher mix of high margin models, and also continued vehicle cost optimization. Meanwhile, the margin of other sales reached 11.9%, supported by the expanding scale and improving profitability of our services and community related businesses as our user base continues to grow.

2025年第四季度，non-GAAP经营利润达12.5亿元，GAAP经营利润达8.1亿元。现金流层面，公司连续两个季度实现正向自由现金流。2025年全年实现正向经营性现金流。季度盈利充分印证了未来技术路线、产品以及商业模式的核心竞争力，也体现了未来体系化能力与运营效率的持续提升，为公司长期可持续发展奠定了坚实基础。

Speaker 11

In Q4, non-GAAP operating profit reached RMB1.25 billion, while GAAP operating profit reached RMB810 million. On the cash flow side, we delivered positive free cash flow for two consecutive quarters and achieved positive operating cash flow for the full year of 2025. This quarterly profitability also further validates the competitiveness of our technology roadmap, products and business models. It also demonstrates the continued strengthening of our operational capabilities and efficiency, providing a solid foundation for long-term sustainable development.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

2025年开始，我们通过蔚来、乐道和萤火虫三大品牌服务了更广泛的用户群体。三个品牌在各自细分市场均获得目标用户的高度认可。

Speaker 11

Since 2025, we've been serving a broader group of users through the NIO, Onvo and Firefly brands. The three brands have been well-recognized by users in their respective segments.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

蔚来品牌方面，全新ES8自2025年9月底开启交付以来，历时仅160天，便达成第7万台新车交付里程碑，刷新40万元以上车型单月交付量纪录。二季度，我们将推出科技行政SUV旗舰ES9。作为未来十一年技术和体验的集大成之作，ES9将搭载多项行业领先的核心技术，为用户带来豪华行政级的出行体验。同时，2026款ET5、ET5T、ES6、EC6也将于二季度陆续上市。蔚来品牌将持续完善在高端纯电市场的产品布局和竞争力。

Speaker 11

For the NIO brand, the all-new ES8 has shown strong market momentum since deliveries began at the end of September 2025. In just 160 days, it reached the milestone of 70,000 deliveries, setting a monthly delivery record among vehicles priced above CNY 400,000. In Q2 this year, we will introduce the new ES9, an executive flagship SUV. As a combination of NIO's 11 years of technological innovation and user experience development, the new ES9 is equipped with multiple industry-leading technologies, delivering a luxurious executive mobility experience for users. In addition, the ET5, ET5T, ES6 and EC6 will introduce the 2026 versions in Q2. Overall, the NIO brand will continue strengthening the product lineup and its position in the premium BEV market.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

乐道品牌方面，L90自上市以来，凭借革新的产品体验、卓越的安全性与优异的空间表现，获得大家庭用户的高度认可，成为2025年度纯电大型SUV的销量冠军。乐道品牌全球首款双舱超级大五座SUV L80将于第二季度正式上市。同时，乐道L90和乐道L60也将迎来产品升级与换新。随着产品布局的持续丰富与产品力的不断迭代，乐道品牌将为更多家庭用户带来高品质的用车体验，持续推动销量稳步增长。

Speaker 11

For the Onvo brand, its L90 has been very well received by large family users since its launch. Thanks to its innovative experience, outstanding safety performance, and exceptional space design, the Onvo L90 became the best-selling large battery electric SUV in 2025. Next, the Onvo L80, a large five-seat SUV with front and rear trunks, will be introduced in Q2. At the same time, L90 and L60 will also receive product upgrades and refreshes. With an expanding product lineup and continuous product upgrades, the Onvo brand will deliver the finest mobility experiences to more family users, driving steady sales growth.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

萤火虫品牌方面，作为2025年正式上市的全新品牌，凭借精准的市场定位、同级领先的产品力及创新的用户共创模式，连续七个月稳居高端小车市场销冠地位。萤火虫的用户关注度在更多的区域持续攀升。

Speaker 11

The Firefly brand, officially launched in 2025, has quickly established itself thanks to its clear market positioning, class-leading product competitiveness, and innovative user co-creation model. In 2025, the Firefly ranked number one in the high-end small car market for seven consecutive months. User interest in the Firefly continues to grow across more regions.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

未来在核心技术领域的持续研发投入进入全面收获期。我们自研的全球首颗车规五纳米高阶自驾芯片、整车全域操作系统、天行智能底盘等智能汽车核心技术均实现量产上车。这些投入不仅拉开了产品的性能与体验上限，也带来了显著的技术降本成效，为公司构建长期竞争力提供了坚实底层支持。

Speaker 11

Our long-term investments in core technologies are beginning to bear fruit. Key technologies such as the world's first automotive-grade 5-nanometer chip with smart driving, the full-domain vehicle operating system, and the SkyRide intelligent chassis have all achieved mass production. These innovations not only elevate product performance and user experience, but also deliver significant cost advantages. Together, they form a strong foundation for the company's long-term competitiveness.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

今年一月下旬，我们向用户推送了蔚来智能模型的全新版本。在这个版本中，我们在国内率先运用完整的闭环强化学习的训练范式，通过未来世界模型加闭环强化学习的领先技术架构，实现全域领航辅助体验上的显著优化。二月份作为未来世界模型全新版本推送后的首个完整月，我们的智能辅助驾驶使用时长占比相较一月份增长了超过80%。随着新版本推送，全国超过两千个城区换电站支持领航换电功能，与城区领航辅助无缝连接，为用户提供行业唯一全自动的无感的加电体验。

Speaker 11

In late January this year, we released a new version of New World Model known as NWM. In this version, we adopted a training paradigm with complete closed-loop reinforcement learning, one of the first implementations of its kind in China. With the advanced architecture of world model and closed-loop reinforcement learning, NWM has significantly enhanced the performance of Navigate on Pilot or NOP across all domains. February marks the first of four months following the rollout of the new version. During the month, the share of driving time using smart driving increased by more than 80% compared with January. With this update, over 2,000 Power Swap stations in urban areas now support Power Swap on Pilot seamlessly integrating with urban NOP and offering users the industry's only fully automated recharging experience.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

目前，乐道智能驾驶已实现在城区领航辅助、智能泊车辅助及智能安全辅助领域的端到端化体验升级。今年，我们也将对乐道全系产品的智能硬件和软件系统进行迭代升级，让更多用户共享全栈自研的技术成果。

Speaker 11

Onvo Smart Driving has also achieved end-to-end upgrades across Navigate on Autopilot for urban roads, parking assist and smart safety. This year, Onvo will further upgrade the smart driving hardware and software systems across its lineup, allowing more users to benefit from our full stack proprietary technologies.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

销售网络方面，截至目前，我们开设了一百七十一家未来中心和三百九十五家未来空间，乐道门店数量达四百二十家。服务网络方面，我们已开设了四百零六家服务中心和七十五家交付中心。2026年，蔚来、乐道、萤火虫在深耕重点市场的同时，将联合布局下沉市场，通过三品牌联合的实体门店，对更多地级市进行高效的销售服务网络的覆盖。

Speaker 11

On the sales side, we currently operate 171 NIO Houses and 395 NIO Spaces, while Onvo has 420 stores. For the service network, we have 406 service centers and 75 delivery centers. In 2026, the three brands will continue to strengthen their presence in key markets while expanding into more lower-tier markets through Sky Stores, which serve as shared sales and service stores for all three brands.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

充换电网络方面，截至目前，我们全球已经累计布局3,845座换电站，累计建成超过28,000根超充桩和目的地充电桩。今年2月6日，我们实现了累计提供超一亿次换电服务，此项里程碑标志着换电模式已获得用户与市场的充分规模化验证。在今年春节期间，换电次数连创新高，创下单日突破17.7万次的纪录。换电网络是解决车电不同寿的体系化创新方案，同时作为储能设施，也正在成为新型电力系统的重要组成部分。长期来看，换电网络的持续布局在提升电动车用户体验的同时，也将为公司的长期商业成功带来独特且难以复制的竞争优势。

Speaker 11

As of now, we have 3,815 Power Swap stations and more than 28,000 Power Chargers and destination chargers worldwide. On February sixth, 2026, the company reached the milestone of 100 million cumulative swaps, which demonstrates that battery swapping has been widely validated by both users and the market. During the Chinese New Year holiday, our swap volume reached new highs, surpassing 177,000 swaps in a single day. Power Swap is a systematic and innovative solution to addressing the mismatched life cycles of vehicles and batteries. Serving also as a form of energy storage, it is increasingly becoming an integral part of the new power system. Over time, the continued expansion of the Power Swap network will enhance the EV user experience and provide a unique, defensible competitive advantage for the company's long term success.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

全球布局方面，我们在专注深耕中国市场的同时，也将稳步推进全球化布局。目前，萤火虫及其右舵版本已进入十个国家。2026年，我们将继续通过国家总代理模式，以萤火虫作为先行品牌，稳步拓展海外市场。

Speaker 11

While continuing to deepen our presence in the Chinese market, we are also steadily advancing our global strategy. So far, the Firefly, including its right-hand drive version, is available in 10 countries. In 2026, we will continue to expand overseas through the country distributor model, with Firefly serving as a leading brand.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

2026年2月，我们的智驾芯片子公司神基公司完成首轮股权融资协议签署，融资金额22.57亿元人民币，投后估值超80亿元。神基公司的芯片技术、研发能力及商业化前景获得了多家产业资本和行业市场化投资机构的认可。此次融资将有利于神基公司持续研发和推广高端高竞争力的芯片产品，支撑未来在自动驾驶、具身智能等领域的长远布局。

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Last month, our smart driving chip subsidiary, GeniTech or Shenji, signed an agreement for its first round of equity financing. The round raised CNY 2.257 billion, giving Shenji a post-money valuation of more than CNY 8 billion. Shenji's chip technology, R&D capabilities, and commercialization outlook have been widely recognized by multiple leading industry investors and top market institutions. This financing will support Shenji's continued development of high-performance chip products and strengthen our long-term positioning in autonomous driving and embodied AI.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

目前，公司已经正式迈入发展的第三个阶段，开启新一轮高速增长周期。

Stanley Qu (CFO)

The company has now entered the third stage of its development, embarking on a new cycle of high-speed growth.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

我们将继续围绕智能电动汽车十二弹全栈核心技术做坚决持续的投入，确保产品与技术保持领先优势。二零二六年，我们将推出三款全新车型，进一步完善产品矩阵，持续提升我们在高端大车市场的份额。我们也会坚决投入充换电基础设施建设，持续提升充换电网络的能源商业运营能力。同时，我们也将继续加强销售服务网络的优化升级，确保整个体系具备更强的韧劲，能够应对日益激烈的市场竞争。

Stanley Qu (CFO)

We will continue to make determined and sustained investments in the 12 full stack technology domains for smart EVs, ensuring our leadership in both products and technology. In 2026, we will launch three new models, further strengthening our product portfolio and expanding our share in the premium large vehicle segment. We will also continue investing in charging and swapping infrastructure while improving the commercial operations of our infrastructure network. In addition, we will further strengthen our sales and service network, ensuring that our overall system remains resilient in an increasingly competitive market.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

二零二六年，我们继续深化组织变革，不断完善以用户价值创造为核心的基本经营单元机制，打造更高效的全员经营体系，强化成本控制和ROI意识，保持用户企业的初心，以更具竞争力的产品与技术、更优质的服务与更稳健的经营业绩，回馈用户、股东及投资者的信任与支持。

In 2026, we will continue to deepen organizational transformation, refine the CBU mechanism centered on user value creation and strengthen our company wide business system with heightened ROI awareness and improved cost control. We remain committed to our original aspiration as user enterprise, delivering more competitive products and technology, better services and stronger business performance to honor the trust and support of our users, shareholders, and investors.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Thank you, William. Let's now review our key financial results for the fourth quarter of 2025. Our total revenues reached RMB 34.7 billion, up 75.9% year-over-year and 59% quarter-over-quarter. Vehicle sales were RMB 31.6 billion, representing a strong increase of 80.9% year-over-year and 64.6% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter growth were mainly due to increased deliveries and higher average selling price driven by positive product mix effect. Other sales were RMB 3 billion, up 36.6% year-over-year and 17.5% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year growth was driven by increased sales of used cars, technical R&D services, and sales of parts, accessories, and after-sales vehicle services.

While the quarter-over-quarter increase was mainly due to the increase in revenues from technical R&D services and sales of parts, accessories, and after-sales vehicle services. Looking at margins, vehicle margin was 18.1% compared with 13.1% in Q4 last year and 14.7% last quarter. The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter improvements were driven by positive product mix effect with the wrap-up of higher margin products. Moreover, gross margin from other sales reached a record high of 11.9% during the quarter, reflecting the continuing enhancements in the profitability of our user base driven service and community related businesses.

With the improvements in both vehicle margin and other sales margin, overall gross margin increased to 17.5% compared with 11.7% in Q4 last year and 13.9% last quarter. With the implementation of sales business unit mechanism and the progress of organizational optimization, we are seeing a sustained improvement in operational efficiency. R&D expenses were CNY 2 billion, decreased 44.3% year-over-year and 15.3% quarter-over-quarter. The year-over-year decrease mainly driven by lower personnel costs in R&D functions due to organizational optimization and a decrease design and development costs from different development stages. The quarter-over-quarter decrease was primarily driven by lower personnel costs in R&D functions due to organizational optimization. SG&A expenses were CNY 3.5 billion, decreased 27.5% year-over-year, and 15.5% quarter-over-quarter.

The year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter decreases were mainly driven by a decrease in personnel and related costs in marketing and other supporting functions as a result of organizational optimization, as well as the decrease in sales and marketing activities. In the fourth quarter, we achieved an important milestone, our first ever quarterly profit. Profit from operations was CNY 0.8 billion, compared with loss from operations of CNY 6 billion in Q4 last year, and CNY 3.5 billion last quarter. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, adjusted profit from operations was CNY 1.25 billion. Net profit was CNY 0.3 billion, compared with net loss of CNY 7.1 billion in Q4 last year and CNY 3.5 billion last quarter. Excluding share-based compensation expenses, adjusted net profit was CNY 0.7 billion.

Furthermore, we delivered positive operating cash flow and positive free cash flow this quarter. We ended this quarter with a stronger balance sheet, with total cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments, and long-term time deposits amounting to CNY 45.9 billion. That wraps up our prepared remarks. For more information and the details of our unaudited fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results, please refer to our earnings press release. Now, I will turn the call over to the operator to start our Q&A session. Operator?

Operator (participant)

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. For the benefit of all participants on today's call, please limit yourself to two questions. If you have additional questions, you can re-enter the queue. Your first question comes from Tim Hsiao with Morgan Stanley.

Tim Hsiao (Equity Analyst)

Hi, management team. This is Tim from Morgan Stanley. Thanks for taking my questions, and congratulations for achieving the first ever quarterly profitability. I have two questions. The first question is about the product and volume sales growth target. Because during the call, I think William just mentioned he is going to launch ES8 and ET5 series and the ES6 series facelift and L80 in second quarter. What's our plan for second half? Could we have a quick update on the model pipeline for second half? Separately, given the challenging auto industry backdrop, is NIO still maintaining annual volume growth target of 40%-50% this year? That's my first question. Thank you.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

Tim.

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. It's true that the entire industry has encountered challenges in the first quarter of this year as a lot of industry numbers and data have already shown the market and the environment. For this year, we also believe that the size of the Chinese passenger vehicle market will also see a slight decline from last year. Within the trend, China's passenger vehicle market, we believe that the penetration rate of the new energy vehicles will continue to grow. Among the new energy vehicles, battery electric vehicle will see a stronger growing momentum. Actually, last year, the increase of the new energy vehicle market as a whole is largely driven by the increase of the BEV models. The penetration rate of BEV increased by 26% to 33%. This is largely driven by the BEV models.

As technology and infrastructure network continue to mature, we believe that the BEV market or segment will maintain the strong momentum also this year.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

特别要强调的是，在高端市场纯电的新势已经开始建立。在高端市场的纯电的渗透率，这个应该说是在去年已经实现了翻倍。2025年成交价三十万以上的高端市场纯电的同比增长是58%，增程的是同比下降了4%。那么高端市场的BEV的渗透率从2024年Q4的14%上升到了2025年Q4的27%。

Speaker 11

More specifically for the BEV segment we also see a good potential within the premium segment as the perception and the awareness on the premium battery electric vehicle model has already established in that segment. The penetration will also be growing, driven by that. For all the vehicles priced above CNY 300,000, we actually see an increase in penetration above 58% year-over-year, while for the EREV model, the penetration within that price segment actually decreased by 4%. The overall BEV penetration in the premium segment also increased from only 14% in Q4 2024 to 27% in Q4 2025.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

其中，大三排和大五座SUV的市场确实是迎来了纯电的黄金时代。25年9月以来，纯电大三排销量连续五个月领跑所有的能源形式。25年下半年，纯电大三排SUV的销量是同比增长了超过350%，增程是同比下滑了6%。我们其实从这个趋势的角度来看，我们现在的产品节奏和这样的一个趋势是匹配的。这也是我们对今年整个的增长是非常有信心的原因所在。

Speaker 11

More specifically on the large three-row battery electric SUVs as well as large five-seater battery electric SUVs, we also see a strong momentum last year. Since September last year, the large three-row battery electric SUV model has been leading the segment across all powertrain and energy types for five consecutive months. In the second half of last year, the BEV sales actually increased by 350%, while for EREV, it actually decreased by 6%. We believe that with this trend where BEV is actually growing within the segment, our product launch cadence is also in a perfect match with the macro trend in the industry. This is also where we have the confidence for the continuous growth this year.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

今年我们的三款全新的产品，这个ES9就是行政旗舰SUV，我们科技行政SUV旗舰，这个是今年二季度会上市，四月九号我们就会开这个产品技术的发布会。我们基于ES8平台的在那个大五座的这个SUV在三季度会上市，我们这个乐道的L80在二季度会上市。那这样的话呢，就完成了我们在这五款——加上我们原来的L90现在已经上市，L90和正在热销的全新ES8，我们这五款大型SUV，中大型和这个大型的SUV，我们就完成了这样的一个在高端的这个大型SUV里面的这样一个全面的布局，给我们全年的销量增长是打下了一个非常好的一个基础。

Speaker 11

As mentioned, actually on April 9th, we are going to host the technological launch event for the new ES9, which is our flagship executive SUV, also a technological flagship. The official launch of the new ES9 will be in Q2 this year. In the meantime, in Q3, we are going to introduce the large five-seater SUV developed on the same platform as the all-new ES8. In Q2 this year for the Onvo brand, we are going to introduce the L80, which is a large five-seater SUV. Together with the L90 as well as the all-new ES8 that are already in the market and also popular among the users, we will be having five mid-size and mid to large SUV models to complete our product lineup in the large SUV, premium model. This is also where we believe that they will be the key drivers for our full year growth.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

我们未来的ET5、ET5T、ES6、EC6在所在的细分市场，目前都还是处在一个领先的、销量领先的位置，它的需求还是非常稳健、稳定的。L60在所在的细分市场也是在一个前三名的这样一个位置，我们今年还有对它的一个改款，我们相信这个改款以后的表现是值得期待的。特别值得说的是我们的萤火虫，Firefly在高端小车市场，它的市场份额是非常高的这样一个市场份额，我们也看到了它的需求是从春节回来以后恢复的非常非常快，对全年的销量预期我们也是非常有信心的。所以总的来说，我们今年对于全年40%到50%的这样一个增长，我们还是非常有信心。一到二月是行业的一个淡季，但是我们仍然保持了同比的一个增长，我们一季度目前给的指引也是同比增长90%以上。所以总体来说，全年的销量目标，我们还是非常有信心。

Speaker 11

Also for the ET5, ET5T, ES6 and EC6, they are also leading in their respective segments also with steady demand. For the Onvo L60, it is also the top three among the peers in its segment. Very soon we are also going to introduce upwards on the L60, and we can really look forward to the refreshes of this product. Worth noting is that for Firefly, it's actually performing pretty well among the high-end smart small car segment with a very significant market share. For the full year, we also are having confidence with the sales volume of Firefly as since after the Spring Festival holiday, we are seeing a rebounding demand for the Firefly models. For the full year, we do have confidence of achieving a year-over-year volume growth of 40%-50%.

The first two months of this year is normally a typical seasonal low for the entire industry, but even against this backdrop, we still achieved a year-over-year growth in our sales volume. For the Q1 guidance, we also target for over 90% year-over-year growth. For the full year, we do have confidence to achieve our volume target.

Tim Hsiao (Equity Analyst)

Thank you. My second question is about autonomous driving because I think during the opening remark, William Li mentioned after the rollout of the world model, the time of AD usage grew 80% month-over-month in February. So, what key feedback has been received regarding user experience? Additionally, we noticed several EV peers have or would introduce a more meaningful system model upgrades this year. What would be NIO's key technological highlights and differentiators, especially in the level three, level four range? That's my second question. Thank you.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

谢谢Tim。我想评价这个辅助驾驶、智能辅助驾驶最好的指标，就是用户使用的、真实使用的这个时长，占它的整个驾驶的这个时间的比例，这个是在我们认为这是最重要的一个指标。另外一个指标就是降低了，说减少了不少事故，我们觉得这是评价这个AD相关的技术，最核心的两个终极的指标。那我们也讲到了，我们今年二月份，这个和一月份比，使用时长增长了超过80%。特别值得说的是，我们现在的这个版本，是还在数据训练方面，我们目前还没有投入那么多的算力去做的。今年的话，我们会投比较多的算力在后续的这个数据训练上。所以今年二季度和今年的四季度，我们今年还有两个大的版本，那么我们现在已经证明了端到端模型加上closed-loop reinforcement learning这样的一个技术路线，它的上限是非常高的，而且我们显著的能看到增加数据以后，它的体验能够继续的提升。所以今年我们这个，对整个自驾的表现，我们还是后续的表现，我们还是非常有信心。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. Actually, for us, we believe that there are two key parameters to showcase if the smart driving experience and functionality is the best for our users. The first is the share of the smart driving time among the total driving time for users in the real life driving scenarios. The second is the number of accidents that are mitigated or avoided under the smart driving functionality. As you've mentioned, from January to February this year, after the rollout of the version, the usage of the smart driving functionality actually increased by more than 80%, month-over-month. This is based on the New World Model version with limited computing investments we made last year.

This year, we are going to actually increase our investments into the computing power resources and also, be able to roll out more training sessions for our, New World Model, technology. We are targeting two major releases in Q2 and Q4 this year. Overall speaking, with this new version, we have already verified that our architecture featuring world model and the reinforcement learning is actually capable of achieving good experience. It also has a lot greater potentials for the continuous capability and functionality upgrades. We also see that the huge amount of data is also helping us with the experience improvements. Overall speaking, we will be having these two major releases.

Tim Hsiao (Equity Analyst)

Thank you, team.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Thank you. Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from Bin Wang with Deutsche Bank.

Bin Wang (Director)

Thank you for taking my question. I have two. Number 1 is about first quarter margin guidance. Based on your volume assumption, what are we looking at? Because you're actually facing the rising memory costs and costs for raw material. Recently we may actually launch some substitute for ES8, about CNY 10,000. So can you provide a first quarter margin guidance? The second question is more about receivable from related parties because investors see this number keep increase every single quarter. Can you provide a forecast what's the trend for this receivable from related parties exactly came from your best receivable partners. Thank you.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

好，谢谢王斌。第一个问题关于Q1的整车毛利率，我们预计还是可以做到能够保持在四季度的这个水平。那这里面呢，一方面，虽然一季度的销量刚刚说受到季节性和一些政府政策的影响，但是我们因为ES8的存量订单，以及刚刚William提到的春节之后的订单恢复的情况还是不错，所以整体的ES8的交付量在一季度的占比还是不错的，也是可以得到保证的。所以这样从一个产品的product mix来讲，整个的毛利率，因为ES8比较高嘛，还是不错的。那当然像你提到的，大宗材料、碳酸锂这样一些供应端的一些涨价因素，在一季度也开始显现。但是因为刚刚开始，所以对一季度的影响，我们相信能够控制在合理的水平。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. Overall speaking for the vehicle gross margin in Q1, it will be maintained at a similar level as in Q4 last year. In Q1, there were seasonality factors as well as the policy impacts. Overall speaking, we still have ES8 order backlogs.

Since the Spring Festival holidays, we've seen a pretty good recovery on the order momentum of the ES8 model. Overall speaking, the ES8 model will still be playing a major part in our total deliveries in Q1, so that part is guaranteed with the product mix largely decided by the high margin products like the ES8. We will also be able to maintain a relatively flat vehicle gross margin in Q1 this year. As you've also mentioned, there are other external factors, including the rising raw material costs, rising costs for the chips, memory chips as well as the lithium carbonate for the battery packs. Those impacts are also going to take effect starting Q1. As they have just get started, the current impact on our Q1 vehicle margin is also limited.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

第二个问题呢，关于我们关联方的应收款，那主要呢是我们针对我们关联方蔚能的这个电池的应收款。当然随着BaaS的渗透率的提升和整个公司的这个销量的提升呢，我们对于蔚能电池资产公司的这个应收款也相应的有所增加。但是呢，在过去的这一段时间以内吧，蔚能在股权融资、债权融资和银行消费分期方面呢，也都取得了积极的进展。目前的融资渠道也比较多元化和稳定。所以呢，整个的这个还款的情况和总体情况呢，也在可控的范围之内。

Speaker 11

Regarding your questions on the accounts payable by the affiliated party, it's mainly the accounts payable by our battery asset management company, Weineng, in the recent months, we are seeing growth in both sales volume of our products as well as the take rate of the battery as a service. We also see increasing accounts payable by the battery asset management company. For them, they've been keeping a smooth and also diversified financing channels through that financing, equity financing or the bank-backed consumer installment financing. Overall speaking, they've been having a diversified and smooth financing channels. This is also, we believe that we will have a good control and organized control over the accounts payable by the battery asset management company as well as the payment terms.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

好，谢谢王斌。

Bin Wang (Director)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from Paul Gong with UBS.

Paul Gong (Head of China Autos Research)

Thanks for taking my question. My first question is continuing with the raw material cost inflation. Just now I think Stanley Qu has mentioned that the pressure is just beginning to be felt in Q1, and I think probably in Q2 that some more pressure could be felt. Given NIO is a position that's relatively high end and still have a relative strong demand and new orders compared to the peers. Do you think you can pass at least part of the cost inflation to the downstream to the customers? That is my first question regarding the raw material cost inflation pass through.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

Hi Paul。对，接着刚刚讲到这个成本方面的提升的压力，确实，今年因为这些，一个呢，像这个AI的这样的一些算力的需求，包括一些地缘政治的影响，目前我们看到在这个芯片、大宗材料，包括铜，包括碳酸锂，其实都是有一些涨价的趋势，一些既定的和一些volatility。那作为我们来讲呢，确实今年呢，给我们的成本和这个毛利带来非常大的压力。当然目前呢，整个全年的情况呢，还是相对来说还没有那么清晰。当然作为我们来讲呢，我们还是会跟供应链一起，看看怎么样能够去持续提升我们的供应链效率，去减少这方面对我们的毛利的负面影响。若冰。

Speaker 11

I will follow up on my previous answer. For this year, we do face pressures coming in from the vehicle cost structure and also because of the trend on the AI and computing power, as well as the tensions on the geopolitical side, we do see the rising material costs or the volatilities in the prices regarding memory chips, copper or lithium carbonate, and all kinds of raw materials. We do have pressure regarding our cost structure as well as the vehicle margin. For the full year, so far, we don't have a clear picture regarding the implication of all these volatilities and uncertainties. In the meantime, we will keep working with our supply chain partners to improve the supply chain efficiency and to mitigate the negative impact of such uncertainties as much as possible.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

当然，如刚刚William所介绍，我们今年还有三款新的大车会推出。总体来说，我们今年会有五款大的SUV在售，整体大车占比会在整体销量里面会比较高，大车的毛利也相对来说会比较高。

低价的车型呢会更高，抗风险能力会更强。所以从我们的策略上来讲呢，我们还是有信心能够去吸收或者是控制原材料带来的这个风险，把我们的这个全年的毛利啊，控制在一个合理的这个水平。

Speaker 11

Also as introduced by William, this year we are going to launch three new large models. Together we will be having five large SUV models in our lineup, and they will be making major contributions to our sales and delivery volume. As larger vehicle models normally have higher margin and they are more resilient towards this raw material volatilities and uncertainties. In that case, we do have confidence to try to mitigate or offset the impact brought by the rising raw material costs, and try to maintain our vehicle gross margin within a reasonable range for full year this year.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Thank you, Paul.

Paul Gong (Head of China Autos Research)

Sorry. If I may have my second question, that is regarding the expense. We have seen that the cost control has taken quite some effects, especially from the R&D that has reduced from CNY 3 billion in Q2 into CNY 2 billion in Q4. Given Q4 is traditionally the strong season with the expense, moving to Q1 and Q2, do you foresee further optimization on the expense side, or do you think that CNY 2 billion per quarter is going to be the new norm?

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

好的，那2026年呢，我们还是会维持在季度20到25.5亿的一个研发投入。那全年呢，就是从目前的这个角度来看呢，维持在2025年差不多的这个水平。当然呢，我们还会持续基于CBU的这个经营机制，去提升我们的研发效率，避免无效的这个投入和支出，来提高我们同样的投入下的一个研发产出。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. In 2026, on a quarterly basis, we will be maintaining our R&D investment at the level of around CNY 2-2.5 billion per quarter. For the full year, the R&D expenses will be at the similar level as we spent in 2025. In the meantime, as now we have the Cell Business Unit mechanism in place, we will use that mechanism to keep improving the R&D efficiency, to eradicate the low-efficiency items among our R&D activities, and also to keep improving the return of all the R&D activities.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

另一方面，我们也会根据2026年的经营情况，以及基于ROI的机制，动态地调整我们关于研发的节奏和增加相关的投入，来确保我们最关键产品和核心技术的投入强度，推动公司长期竞争力的提升。

Speaker 11

In the meantime, in this year, based on our business performance as well as the overall return on investment analysis, we will keep a dynamic tracking and also management of our R&D expenses to make sure that we can adapt the pace and intensity of our R&D activities based on all these changing factors, so that we don't compromise on the investments into key products and also technologies or the long-term competitiveness of the company.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Thank you, Paul.

Paul Gong (Head of China Autos Research)

Thank you very much.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from Nick Lai, JPMorgan.

Nick Lai (Managing Director and Head of Regional Auto Research)

Yeah, thank you for taking my question. I'd like to follow up previous question on profit and also cost, given William, you talk about very strong volume outlook, yeah, for 2026, also, we have a lot of new model coming higher pricing, higher margin products from second quarter and onward. At the same time, there's cost inflation pressure kicking in from second quarter as well. I mean, putting all this together, I mean, can you help us understand how should we think about the profitability, maybe for second half or second quarter? Or should we expect NIO can be potentially reach non-GAAP profit or breakeven sometime in second half or maybe in second half? What does that mean for our free cash flow position for the full year? Thanks.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

hi Nick。对，确实，当然一个销量呢，我们还是维持这个全年40到50的一个增长的一个目标。

我们基于今年的这三款大车，我们还是非常有信心的。那毛利呢，刚刚也提到，就是确实我们也会碰到来自于成本端的压力，但是呢也看到我们这个大车在毛利率上的表现，像ES8我们在四季度的毛利也都是超过20%，接近25%，所以整体的这个大车的毛利还是抗风险的能力还是比较强。所以呢，在2026年全年呢，我们还是依然维持一个全年实现non-GAAP operating profit盈利的这样的一个目标。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. Regarding the sales volume, we still keep on track of the target of achieving 40%-50% year-over-year growth in our sales volume. As we've introduced this year, we are going to launch three large models that give us a confidence in the volume target. In the meantime, regarding the vehicle gross margin, we do have pressure on the margin and also the vehicle cost structure. As mentioned, we will be having more large models introduced this year as they will be contributing more significant margin. Like for the ES8 in Q4 last year, its vehicle gross margin was close to 25%. Overall speaking, large models are more resilient towards the price volatility in the market. With the volume and also the vehicle margin outlook combined, we still have the target of achieving full-year non-GAAP operating profit breakeven in 2026.

Nick Lai (Managing Director and Head of Regional Auto Research)

Yeah, thank you, William. Certainly very exciting to hear that. This my second question, if it's okay. My second question is really about the Shenji self-designed chip and after recent successful fundraising $300 million, can you share with us our leadership strategy in the medium term? Aside from supporting internal sales, is it fair to say that Shenji will also try to explore external customer like other OEM or other supplier?

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

好，谢谢 Nick。我们神基的话呢，是完成了首轮的一个股权融资。那么投资人，特别是这些专业的、市场化的这样一些投资人呢和产业资本呢，对神基整个的技术研发的能力和商业化前景都是非常认可。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. For Shenji, it has just completed the first round of equity financing, where during the fundraising it has also received a wide recognition by the professional institutions as well as the industry, institutions, and they all speak highly of the capabilities and R&D of the Shenji company.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

我们的下一步发展，一方面在研发方面，除了下一代的芯片我们开始研发以外，我们也会对于一些相对终端的芯片，也会有这样的一些产品，给到一些更多的客户去使用。我们也会去看在robotaxi、在智能方面的这样的一些市场机会，我们的产品完全是可以在一些行业去拓展客户的。我们已经看到了不少的外部客户，包括一些汽车公司，对我们的芯片非常感兴趣，我们目前在外部业务拓展方面也已经正在取得一些进展。

Speaker 11

For the ongoing R&D activities of the Shenji company, it will be developing our next generation high-performance chips for our products. In the meantime, they are also planning and exploring mid-end chips that are more approachable by more clients in the industry, including potential partners and clients in robotaxi or embodied AI applications as we do see a good fit of our products in such areas and industries. Actually, in the meantime, we are already exploring possibilities with some external clients, including some automotive companies who have also shown interest in our chip products.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

我们的第二颗，就是面向更广客户的，这个也是非常先进制程的芯片，已经流片成功，正在量产的过程中。

Speaker 11

Actually, the second chip product from Shenji, which is actually a chip still made of a high-end and advanced processing but can be used by a broader client base. It's already achieved successful tape out, and it's also preparing for the mass production.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

这个芯片是非常有竞争力的。

Speaker 11

This is a very competitive chip product.

Nick Lai (Managing Director and Head of Regional Auto Research)

好的，谢谢，谢谢，非常清楚。

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

Thank you.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from Jing Chang with CICC.

Jing Chang (Research Analyst)

Okay. Thank you for taking my question. My first question is about the upcoming new model, which is ES9. Compared with ET9 released last year. Could you elaborate on its new capability enhancements and also how is our pricing position for this new vehicle?

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

ET9是一个行政旗舰，从我们整个产品序列方面来讲，也是我们最高端的这样的一个产品。当然我们陆续地推出来了我们的地平线特别版，也非常受用户的欢迎。ES9的话，和ET9相比的话，ET9上非常多的一些先进的技术在ES9上都会应用。当然ES9也有自己的一些技术的创新，它的定位差别还是非常大的。ET9是一款行政旗舰的这样一个轿车，ES9的话，是一个科技行政SUV的这样一个旗舰，所以它们的定位其实是非常显著的差别。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. New ET9 is our executive flagship. It is also the most premier, premium and advanced product in our lineup. Recently we have also released the Horizon Edition for the new ET9 and it's well received by the users. For the ES9, definitely it carries over advanced technologies and also features from the new ET9, but it also comes with its unique tech innovation. Positioning and the product type wise, these two products are quite different. ET9 is an executive sedan where ES9 is actually a tech flagship as well as a flagship SUV model.

Jing Chang (Research Analyst)

Thank you. My second question is about the energy replenishment replacement methods. There has been more market discussion recently. Against the background of the rapid development of fast charging, could we elaborate on the advantages and also necessity of battery swapping, especially in infrastructure construction. As well as our mid and long term charging and battery swapping construction plans.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

我们很高兴看到更多的车企去参与这个充换电网络的建设。汽车公司去参与这个充换电网络的建设，这个对于推动BEV的渗透率，加快油车和增程和插混向纯电的转化，那是非常有好处的。我们特别高兴看到这样的一个变化，看到这样的一个趋势。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. Actually we are happy to see that more automotive companies are participating into the construction of the charging and swapping network. As more players coming into the joint development of the infrastructure network, it can help accelerate the adoption of a battery electric vehicle as well as the acceleration of the conversion from the ICE cars, EREVs and PHEVs to the BEV models. We are happy to see such trends.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

充电和换电，它是不矛盾的。其实从未来来说的话，我们也已经建成了超过两万八千根的超充桩和目的地充电桩，我们也是中国布局充电桩最积极的汽车公司之一。那么换电、加充和超充，它是满足不同的用户在不同场景下不同目的的这样一个需要。这个我们本来就是一个可充、可换、可升级的这么一个体系。

Speaker 11

Charging and swapping they are not contradictory. We also have developed more than 28,000 Power Chargers and destination chargers. We are also one of the most active trending car companies in terms of the charging network development. For swapping, home charging and supercharging, they come at different benefits and they serve different purposes for users in different use cases and scenarios. For us, we always offer this holistic solution featuring charging, swapping and upgradability.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

当然我们也近期也看到了这个行业内有些公司在这个充电速度方面的一些进步，那这个当然是非常好的一些技术的发展。当然再快的这个充电，在可见的将来，我们认为它的速度和体验呢也是比不上换电的，这个应该说是一个行业里面大家都认可这一点。但换电还有一些它的一些作用是充电所无法去承接的。因为换电它能够系统性地去解决车和电池的寿命不同的这样的一个问题。因为中国现在这个行业内的电动车的这样一个电池的质保标准呢，都是八年十六万公里70%的健康度。那以前呢，因为这个运营车辆它的使用时间都比较短，但私家车的话呢，其实车的话都是十五年，有的甚至更长的这样一个使用的寿命。所以车和电池如果是去耦合的话，那么这个在八年后、九年后、十年后，这个会是比较大的这样一个问题吧。所以我们一直觉得换电是解决车和电池不同寿的这样的一个系统性的方案。

Speaker 11

We see some industry peers they have announced advanced technologies in terms of the charging and the charging speed. We are also happy to see such technological innovation and development. In the foreseeable future, no matter how fast the charging becomes, it will never outperform the speed or the experience of a Power Swap. There are additional benefits to Power Swap that charging will never offer. We believe that Power Swap is also a systematic solution to solve the problems regarding the mismatched life cycles between the vehicles and the batteries. In the Chinese automotive industry, the warranty period for the battery pack is normally eight years, 100,000 kilometers or at 70% state of health after use.

For the vehicles, for the business and commercial purposes, normally their duration is shorter, but for the private sectors, the vehicle can be used for up to 15 years. In that case, the battery life cycle is significantly shorter than that of the vehicles. If the battery and the vehicles are tightly coupled with each other after 9 or 10 years, this mismatched life cycle will become a major problem for the users and industries. For that we believe that Power Swap enables a flexible solution or innovative solution to solve the mismatched life cycles between vehicles and batteries.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

在换电的——在我们未来的换电体系下，结合长寿命的电池设计，充放电的策略，还有电池状况的健康状况的监测和维护，我们把它叫做运营的这样的一个延寿，能显著提升电池的安全性，并且最大化去延长电池的寿命。我们认为这是一个系统性的这样一个方案，它不是简单地说是快一点慢一点，这其实是电池整个这个智能电动汽车行业，必须系统思考的一个问题。

Speaker 11

Also under our Power Swap system, together with our long life battery, our charging and discharging strategy as well as our life cycle monitoring and also inspections on the battery health. All these measures come as a very systematic and holistic operational approach for us to keep monitoring the safety of the battery and also maximize the longevity of our battery product. This requires systematic thinking and systematic design. It's more than a matter of the charging or swapping speed. It actually provides the industry a systematic solution.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

另外我想强调一点，换电呢，它是一个分布式的储能设施。大家都知道中国现在新能源发电的绿电的消纳是一个非常大的问题，所以中国也在建设这个叫新型的电力系统。那么换电站，作为一个新型的能源设施，它参与电力的存储消纳，参与电网互动，这方面的话呢，它是有非常大的商业机会和商业价值。因为它和一般的储能去比的话呢，我们是能够减少一次建设，这其实至少有一个大概6%左右的优势，效率的优势，所以它的运营经济性比一般的储能呢，其实是要更高一些。所以总的来说的话呢，我们要更长远地去看，我们现在在中国是接近3,800座换电站，如果我们是一万座换电站，每个换电站布满电池的话呢，那我们其实基本上，我们现有的换电站那基本上已经相当于6到7吉瓦时的储能容量，其实它已经是一个非常大的储能设施，一个体系。

Speaker 11

Also for the Power Swap system, it is also a distributed energy storage system. As with renewable energy and green electricity generation, the storage and consumption of such renewable energy is a big challenge. This is also why the Chinese government is now building up the new power system to be able to digest all this green energy. The Power Swap station is also a type of the new power system as it can help with energy storage, energy consumption as well as the interaction with the power grid. In that case, we do see opportunities as well as the value on the business side brought by our Power Swap system.

Also3 different from the supercharging requiring energy storage, we actually only needed to charge and discharge the battery once, which can help to reduce the secondary energy loss that can contribute to an efficiency improvement or benefit of around 6%. Economic-wise, Power Swap is also more efficient and viable. For the swapping network, now so far in China, we already have installed more than 3,800 Power Swap stations. If every station comes with a full battery pack installation, it will be a total energy storage volume of around 6-7 gigawatt-hours, which is already pretty sizable from the energy storage perspective.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

所以总的来说，换电网络持续布局，它是在给我们的用户更好的体验的同时，它也是我们长期非常核心的一个重要业务，给我们长期的商业成功能够带来一个非常大的竞争优势。

Speaker 11

Overall speaking, Power Swap not only provides better charging or recharging experience for our users. For the long term it is also helping with our business development and also, success. This is also bring us a long-term business success and it's highly defensive.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

谢谢。

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from Ming-Hsun Lee with Bank of America.

Ming-Hsun Lee (Head of Greater China Automotive and Industrials Research)

Hello, William, I've two questions. My first question is related to the chip business. I think previously you already mentioned that the second chip will be more powerful, more competitive compared to your first chip. Could you give a little bit guidance on this chip? In the future will you only focus on driving and humanoid robot for the chips in the future or you will also develop the smart cabin used chip? Also I think you save a lot of cost because you start to adopt your chip. Could you give some guidance about the vehicle model coverage for your chip? And how much % the cost can be saved? Thank you.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

我们这个第二颗芯片也仍然采用的是这个科规五纳米的这样一个工艺，它的性价比是非常高的，它的性能应该说是相当于差不多三颗Orin X的这样的一个芯片的性能，那么成本比我们现在的NX9031要低不少。那么，这个当然在AD、在汽车、机器人这领域都有非常广泛的这样一个使用的用途。那么当然它其实从目前我们芯片的这个设计角度来讲，当然现在AI整个的这个对于这个，除了当然训练芯片我们不会做了，但是我们这些芯片本身它就是一个非常好的端侧的这样的一个推理的这样一个芯片，那它的应用范围其实是非常、非常广的。所以，当然现在哪些车型在使用这个我们还……别的客户呢，我们还不太方便透露信息，但是确实我们这个芯片有不少的这个行业的这个客户都非常有兴趣，也已经在进行这个前期的这样的一些这个测试和接触。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. The second chip product from Shenji will also be a 5-nanometer automotive grade chip, but it comes with a more competitive and efficient cost structure. Performance-wise it will be on par with 3 Orin X. Cost-wise it will also be more approachable and efficient than our first generation Shenji NX9031 chip. In terms of the utilization, it can be used for autonomous driving, smart driving as well as all the AI applications and embodied AI. In terms of the average chip product, we will not do the training chip, but focusing more on the on-device inference chip and our chip product will be also qualified to be as a on-device inference chip.

It has a lot more potentials to be applied across different scenarios and products. In terms of which vehicle models will be equipped with our second chip product, so far we cannot disclose such information, especially if it's related to our external clients. We do have some industry peers and also clients showing strong interest into this chip product.

Ming-Hsun Lee (Head of Greater China Automotive and Industrials Research)

My second question is related to your service business. In 4Q your service revenue gross margin reached 11.9%. Is it mainly because the utilization of your swap station continues to increase? Looking into 2026, do you expect the gross margin of the service business will continue to improve because based on your projection? Thank you.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

关于第二个问题，确实其他业务呢，是代表我们公司的一个服务和社区相关的收入，那在2025年呢，随着我们保有用户的这个提升，以及我们效率的不断提升，那整体的全年的收入呢，实际上是超过了100亿人民币，也占到我们整体收入一个相当大的比例了。那在2026年呢，随着我们的保有量的持续提升，那我们相信这个整体的收入也会在持续增加，并且呢，也会为公司持续地贡献正向的毛利。那当然这里面你提到的一点就是充换电的这个业务呢，因为我们在接下来还是会持续布局我们的充换电的网络，那尤其是我们的换电站，基本上是会按照一年一千站左右的水平。那这样一些相对超前的布局呢，确实也会给我们的运营上呢，带来一些亏损。但总体来说呢，现在我们其他业务的利润呢，也能够cover这些亏损，所以总体来说是在一个可控并且向好的趋势。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. Regarding the revenues from other sales is mainly our service revenues as well as the revenues from community related businesses. In 2025 as our user base grow and the operational efficiency grow, we have also achieved the growth in our other sales revenue, more than CNY 10 billion last year, which is also a growing part in our total revenue. For this year, as we continue to grow our user base, we also are expecting the growth in our other sales revenue, and also it will continue to make positive contribution to the group level of gross margin. Regarding the charging and swapping business, as we will continue to develop and deploy our infrastructure network, especially our Power Swap network, at the pace of around 1,000 new stations every year. With all this upfront investment in the infrastructure, for the near term, we will still see operational losses on the charging and swapping network side. The profit from other sales can basically cover the losses on the Power and the on the Power side. The overall business development will be actually conducted in a controlled pace.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

对，我也想补充一下，就是我们2025年呢，这个服务和社区业务是实现了盈利，我们预计2026年这个在服务与社区业务上的盈利能力还是会持续提升的。这个即使在我们增加一千座换电站投入的前提下，我们也应该可以实现这个目标。

Speaker 11

Also I'd like to add a comment here. In 2025, we have achieved the profitability on our other sales, mainly our services and community related businesses. In 2026, we also believe that we will continue to enhance the profitability of this part, even against the precondition that we are going to install 1,000 new power stations this year. We will still target to achieve improved profitability for this part of the business.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Thank you, Ming-Hsun Lee.

Ming-Hsun Lee (Head of Greater China Automotive and Industrials Research)

Thank you William, thank you Stanley. That's all my question.

Operator (participant)

Your next question comes from Yuqian Ding with HSBC.

Yuqian Ding (Head of China Auto Research)

Thank you, team. I have two questions. The first is to follow up on the OPEX optimization. We talked about R&D guidance before. Could we share more color in terms of SG&A? Fourth quarter, we hit SG&A absolute value at CNY 3.5 billion. Can we extrapolate to understand that's the baseline if we multiply it by four, that's the baseline or range we can understand 2026.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Hi Yuqian。二六年呢，二五年四季度确实随着整个销量和销售收入的提升，整个SG&A也进入到一个相对合理的区间。当然这个除了刚刚说的收入提升之外呢，跟我们在二五年开始推行的这个基于CBU机制、基于ROI的这样的一个组织效率的提升是分不开的。当然另一个方面呢，我们Q4呢，因为没有新产品上市，所以相应的这个市场活动相对会少一点。那在二六年呢，一方面当然我们会持续地去基于我们CBU的机制去提升我们在销售和管理费用方面的这样的一个运营效率。虽然随着整体销量的提升呢，整个SG&A的绝对额会有所增加，但是整个控制的目标呢，还是会希望把SG&A控制在整个销售收入的10%以内。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. In Q4 20

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Sorry。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. In Q4 2025, we have seen growth both in sales volume as well as sales revenue, the percentage of SG&A to the sales revenue has also fall into a reasonable range, but that is also driven by our CBU mechanism as well as the continuous efforts in the organizational efficiency improvement. It's partially because in Q4 we didn't introduce or launch any new models, so we didn't have much expenses on the marketing and relevant activities and events. For 2026, we will also continue our CBU efforts to make sure that our SG&A expenses are of the highest efficiency and good return. The absolute amount of the SG&A expenses this year will be growing, but proportionally to our sales revenue increase, we would like to control that to be within 10% of our sales revenue.

Stanley Qu (CFO)

Okay, Yuqian Ding.

Yuqian Ding (Head of China Auto Research)

Got it, thank you Stanley. The second question is to ask about the volume and margin breakdown by brand. We talked about our volume target, and we also talked about reasonable margin. Could you help us to understand between like three portfolio brand or between the core five big SUV portfolio versus rest? Just give us a bit of a sense to understand the dynamics between the brand, or how do we cluster our volume mix, so that that can support sustainable margin expansion.

William Li (Founder, Chairman of the Board, and CEO)

关于这个销量和这个毛利的明细呢，其实如刚刚我们所说，2026年呢，整个的市场情况确实也是非常动态的。目前呢，整个的这个增长里面，确实是很难去很精确地break down到说某一个车型在这里面的量，但是我们可以总体来说呢，这五款大的SUV在我们整个销量里面的占比是非常非常高的。然后呢，第二个呢，就是萤火虫，目前的这个销量呢，在春节之后恢复到一个去年的一个常态，目前看起来也是非常迅速的。这个是从销量我觉得可以大体这么来说了。第二个呢，从毛利角度来说呢，分到不同的品牌，因为今年我刚刚也提到说这个整个的这个成本方面的这个压力还是非常大，那我们当然会去按照持续去提升，就是每一个品牌的这个毛利的方向去努力。但是呢，就目前确实也很难去具体出来说这个某一个品牌的毛利是整体是多少。当然从一个长期方向上来讲，我们一直讲的就是未来蔚来品牌我们还是希望能够实现20%到25%，然后呢，乐道是15%以上，萤火虫10%以上呢，这个长期目标呢，依然是我们作为一个内部非常重要的这个努力方向去实现。

Speaker 11

Thank you for the question. Regarding the sales volume and the vehicle gross margin breakdown, as we've mentioned, the market will be still highly dynamic in 2026. At the moment, it will be very difficult for us to give a specific or precise breakdown on the volume or margin contribution by model. To give you some high-level information, for the five large SUV models that we've mentioned, they will be playing a major role in our sales volume. That's one. Secondly, for the Firefly, since after the Spring Festival holidays, we also see a quick rebound of its volume and order momentum back to the level back to the stable level as it had last year. This will also be another indicator regarding the volume driver.

Regarding the vehicle gross margin, as we've mentioned, for all three brands, they will be under cost pressure due to the external volatility reasons. But in the meantime, we will still keep improving the vehicle gross margin across all three brands. At the moment, we cannot give you a specific margin outlook or assumption for each brand, but put that against a longer time spectrum, we always target to achieve 20%-25% vehicle gross margin for the NIO brand, above 15% vehicle gross margin for the Onvo brand, and above 10% vehicle gross margin for the Firefly brand. That is our margin target for all three brands against a longer time spectrum, and it has also been our internal target.

In addition to that, our management mindset has also made a switch since last year, where before it was purely sales volume driven but now we are trying to find the optimal balance between sales volume, vehicle gross margin, and the overall business performance. This is also driven by our CBU mechanism. As for each vehicle model, we have established a dedicated vehicle strategy team that will be taking the overarching responsibilities for the vehicle's business performance, finding balance between the margin and also the volume of the product. That is a major change we have made since last year when we had the CBU in place. This is also reflected in our business performance improvement from Q4 to Q1 this year.

Operator (participant)

As there are no further questions now, I'd like to turn the call back over to the company for closing remarks.

Rui Chen (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you again for joining us today. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact NIO's IR team through the contact information on the website. This concludes the conference call. You may now disconnect your line. Thank you.