Basketball legend Yao Ming takes delivery of Nio ES9 after 2 months

Yao Ming takes delivery of Nio ES9 after 2 months, highlighting strong demand

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Strong demand for Nio ES9 with waiting times of up to 14 weeks and increasing average transaction prices

Basketball legend Yao Ming took delivery of his Nio ES9 on Wednesday, more than two months after placing his order.

"After a long two-month wait, I finally got my ES9 today," Yao wrote on the Nio App.

William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO), congratulated him on Weibo and explained the reason behind the wait.

Yao placed his order on the night of the ES9's launch event, but locked it in a few minutes after orders opened, which is why he had to wait more than two months, Li wrote.

The NBA Hall of Famer was hired by Nio as the ES9's chief experience officer on the eve of the model's launch, and appeared on stage at the May 27 event to share his impressions of the vehicle.

Even so, he still had to queue alongside ordinary consumers, an indirect testament to the order backlog for the flagship SUV (sport utility vehicle).

The ES9 was launched in China on May 27 with a starting price of 498,000 yuan ($73,350) including the battery pack. With the BaaS (battery as a service) battery rental plan, the starting price drops to 390,000 yuan.

Deliveries began on May 28, the 10,000th vehicle was handed over on June 26 , and the 20,000th will be reached this week .

Demand continues to outstrip capacity. Waiting times for high-end versions of the ES9 once stretched to 16 to 17 weeks, and now stand at 13 to 14 weeks.

The lowest-priced version, which does not come with the SkyRide fully active suspension system, currently has a waiting time of three to four weeks.

Deutsche Bank estimated in June that the model had already received more than 25,000 non-cancelable orders, and raised its full-year 2026 delivery forecast for the vehicle to 56,000 units.

Higher-priced models are improving Nio's financial position. The average transaction price for the main Nio brand reached 443,000 yuan in June and 434,600 yuan in July .

Nio Inc delivered 35,934 vehicles in July , up 71% year-on-year. In the first seven months of this year, it delivered 227,057 vehicles, up 68% year-on-year.

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