Published - March 23, 2023 @ 3:32 PM (EET)

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According to Chief Financial Officer Steven Feng, Nio Inc. (NYSE:NIO) is "very confident" of meeting its target of doubling sales to 250,000 electric vehicles in 2023, prompting shares of the Chinese electric vehicle maker to surge in Hong Kong.

Feng said in an interview with Bloomberg that the sales target would be achieved with new models, expanding the company's charging and battery-swapping network, and unlocking autonomous driving technologies.

Nio shares jumped as much as 8.6% in early Hong Kong trading, increasing their advances to about 18% over the past two days.

WHY IT MATTERS

In 2022, Nio delivered 122,486 vehicles, representing a 34% increase over the year earlier. Moreover, the company produced over 40,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, up 60% year-over-year and nearly 27% sequentially.

Still, deliveries missed the company's original target as China's now-abolished Covid restrictions hampered sales and now face intensifying competition in the region, which has led to price cuts to bolster sales.

In January, Chinese automakers like Nio and Xpeng and international brands like Ford Motor Co. followed Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), which initially sparked the discounting after announcing lowered prices in October and then cut more deeply shortly after.

"We expect the industry to go through some profound consolidation," Feng said. "It's almost consensus that China now has too many automakers, but we have no plan to buy anyone."

NOW WHAT

Earlier this month, Nio posted a wider-than-expected $843 million fourth-quarter loss and reported an annual net loss of $2.1 billion on revenue of $7.2 billion. The company also guided vehicle deliveries between 31,000 and 33,000 for the first quarter, representing a growth of approximately 20.3% to 28.1%.

At its peak market value of nearly $100 billion in early 2021, Nio was valued at almost twice that of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) However, Nio's current valuation has dropped to less than one-third of the American automaker's value. Thus, meeting the quarter-million sales goal will be a milestone for Nio.

Meanwhile, marking the company's third location in Europe, Nio plans to launch its first Nio House in the Netherlands on Thursday, according to reports.