Nio's third factory gets green light

Electric vehicle maker Nio (9866) has won approval to build a third factory in China that would boost its total approved production capacity to 1 million cars, almost at par with Tesla's massive Shanghai plant, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Tesla can push out 1.1 million vehicles per year from its Shanghai plant, its biggest manufacturing hub globally.

The latest approval for a plant with a 600,000 unit annual capacity is a major win for Nio given China's state planner has been cautious about waving through new EV production plans since 2022 amid overcapacity worries and slowing demand. Nio received an auto manufacturing license late last year.

Nio, the eighth biggest EV maker in China by sales, has started construction of the third plant - known as F3 - but it is not immediately clear when mass production from the site would begin, the sources said.

The F3 plant is located in Huainan city in eastern province Anhui and will primarily produce vehicles for Nio's newly launched affordable car brand, Onvo.