NIO CEO William Li Discusses ‘Major Milestone’ of First-Ever Quarterly Profit

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]Shanghai based electric vehicle company Neo just reached a major milestone reporting its first ever quarterly profit. A turning point since the company was founded in 2014. Joining me now to share more is its founder, chairman, and CEO, William Lee. William, welcome.

[00:00:17]>> Hi, Ashley. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:25]So William, I understand that NEO achieved its first quarterly profit in Q4 of 2025, which marked a major milestone since the founding of the company in 2014.

[00:00:37]What drove this result?

[00:00:39]>> Q4 profit was a major milestone for NEO.

[00:00:43]They delivered our first profitable quarter with a non-GAAP operating profit of 1.25 billion MB. So this was driven by both growth and efficiency. In Q4, we delivered nearly 125,000 vehicles, a 72% increase year-over-year, reaching a record high.

[00:01:07]Meanwhile, our operational performance continued to improve. Gross margin reached 17.5% the highest since 2022 and the vehicle margin was 18.1%.

[00:01:23]This was supported by higher sales, a better product mix and ongoing cost reduction and our nonvehicle business mainly services and community reach a gross margin of 11.9% revenue from this segment exceeded 10 billion R&B last year also a record this results show that NEO is competitive in technology product and business model they also reflects stronger execution and better operational efficiency actually.

[00:01:58]>> And speaking of that competitive edge, I understand the auto industry is a competitive space. What do you think the key factors driving strong sales growth and more specifically where does your product competitiveness come from? The automotive industry is ultimately about innovation. At near all innovation CS the four value chain from R and supply chain and manufacturing life quality charging and swapping and full use of services. This allows us to deliver competitive products and distinctive experiences to more users.

[00:02:37]Last year we launched the new ES8 anvil L90 and Firefly. Each of them has become a segment leader. So I'd like to mention the near ES8 here. It was a large three row SUV launched last September and has just surpassed 100,000 deliveries recently. is a chemicalative uh deliveries 12 plus second above $60,000 US across all body types and the power chains and on April 9 we introduced the new ES9 it's a fulls size executive flagship SUV uh the ES9 brings several industry first technologies and class leading futures for example our in-house devel developed AD chips, full domain vehicle operating system, fully active suspension and steer by wire and world model architecture for smart driving.

[00:03:43]Together, these technology make the ES9 a true flagship in design, space, comfort, handling, intelligence, and safety. Another key innovation at NEO is our holistic power solution. They call it chargeable, swappable, upgradeable power system. It allows the battery to be charged normally and uh swap in about 3 minutes. So far, we've built over 3,800 battery swab stations worldwide. In China, we connect major highways and cities across the country. That's what makes our recharging experience fundamentally different. And as you just mentioned, the company's unique competitive advantage is battery swapping. And we've noticed that many automakers are promoting these ultra fast charging technologies. And as ultra fast charging matures, how should we view the long-term advantages and business value of battery swapping?

[00:04:46]>> We are very glad to see more automakers exploring charging technologies and expanding charging networks.

[00:04:56]But from a user perspective, battery swapping, home charging and ultra fast charging each is of different needs and scenarios.

[00:05:07]Battery swapping, however, remains the fastest and easiest way to recharge an EV. A full charge can be delivered in about 3 minutes. So far, we already complete over 108 million swaps and it has already become a mainstream option for our users.

[00:05:30]Beyond the user experience, I would say battery swapping also creates unique social value and commercial value.

[00:05:39]Electric vehicles have around 15 years of lifespan while the battery last about 8 to 10 years.

[00:05:50]Imagine after 10 years.

[00:05:53]This mismatch can become a big problem for users and the industry. Battery swap decouples the battery from the vehicle so that they can be managed separately like the uh airplane and the engines.

[00:06:12]Plus our custom battery design, smart charging strategies and continuous healthy monitoring. They were able to extend the battery lifespan, improve battery safety and create long-term value. At the same time, battery swapping enables new business models. A swap station can be commercially variable through its service operations.

[00:06:38]And even better, each battery swap station can store 23 batteries. That's two megawatt hours per station. As a distributed energy storage system, it can interact with the power grid and support the use of renewable energy. We have already seen encouraging results from pilot projects in great interaction.

[00:07:05]So we believe battery swapping will unlock even greater value across the mobility and energy sectors.

[00:07:13]>> William Lee, founder, chairman, and CEO of NEO. Thank you for joining us. Thank you Ashley. Have a nice day.