NIO delivered 111,638 vehicles in the Chinese market in the third quarter of 2026, surpassing BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi in the same quarter for the first time, according to figures disclosed by company executives citing third-party terminal registration data.
In the same period, BMW including MINI sold 107,210 units in China, Mercedes-Benz including Maybach and Smart sold 99,592, and Audi sold 94,597. NIO outsold all three German premium brands simultaneously in eight provinces and 40 cities, and beat at least one of them in 12 provinces and 94 cities.
The company delivered 37,408 vehicles in September, up 7.7 percent year on year, bringing deliveries for the first nine months to 300,301 units, an increase of 49.2 percent.
Market watchers caution that the comparison uses manufacturer calibers, with BMW's figure including MINI and Mercedes including Maybach and Smart, and that the data comes from terminal registrations compiled by a third-party research firm rather than official association statistics. Even so, the crossover is being read as a symbolic milestone in the premium segment, where Chinese electric brands have historically trailed the German establishment.
The milestone comes as Chinese premium EV makers increasingly compete on technology, interior space and battery services rather than price alone, and as several of them expand into Europe and Southeast Asia.
Source: Securities Times / IT Home / Sina Finance reports, October 17-19, 2026.
