Nio's Q2 adjusted operating profit hits RMB 206.9 million as call covers cost pressure, swap partnerships and a physical AI spinoff

Nio released second-quarter results on September 1 and followed with an analyst call spanning profitability, costs, battery swapping and its multi-brand lineup. The company booked adjusted operating profit of 206.9 million yuan (about $30.5 million), roughly 3.1 times the first-quarter figure, with a richer product mix credited for the improvement.

Costs were the dominant concern. Management said average per-vehicle expenses rose about 14,000 yuan in the second quarter versus the end of last year, driven by broad price increases from memory to batteries since March, and flagged a further 2,000-3,000 yuan per car of potential headwinds in the second half. The aim is to keep vehicle margins in Q3 and Q4 near Q2 levels while holding non-GAAP SG&A to 10-11% of revenue.

On swapping, the fifth-generation station costs 1.4 million yuan excluding batteries and power supply, 100,000 yuan cheaper than its predecessor, and talks on external partnerships are underway, including robotaxi applications built around access fees. In driver assistance, new buyers get a free five-year subscription, used-car owners pay 380 yuan a month, and a take-up rate near 20% already yields tens of millions of yuan in revenue.

Smart-driving head Ren Shaoqing will found a physical AI company with Nio as a strategic shareholder while keeping his current role. The third-gen ES8 should reach 150,000 cumulative deliveries this month, and more than three-quarters of ES9 buyers come from outside Nio's community. Onvo's average transaction price has topped 240,000 yuan, though brand awareness remains its main challenge; a strategic new Onvo model arrives next year, while Firefly will stick to one model plus occasional special editions.