BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio said on Wednesday it has suspended production due to COVID-19 curbs, as rising cases across the country cause more disruptions to business activity.
Local tech news outlet 36Kr reported that Nio had begun to face production challenges in mid-October due to virus prevention measures that eventually led to both of its factories in the central city of Hefei stopping work.
“The news that production at Nio’s factories has been temporarily suspended is true and this will have an impact on production and delivery schedules,” a company representative told Reuters in response to a query about the report.
Nio’s production suspension comes as China battles a rising number of cases in several major cities with lockdowns and stringent curbs that have disrupted travel and fuelled worker discontent at major Apple supplier Foxconn.
The EV maker was also forced to suspend production in April after COVID curbs caused many of its supplier partners to stop work.
Nio apologised to its customers on Monday in a statement disclosing its October delivery figures for delayed deliveries, saying its production base had been severely impacted by the pandemic. It said that 10,059 vehicles were delivered in October, a year-on-year increase of 174.3%.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, Cui Zhuzhu, Zhang Yan and Brenda Goh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman & Shri Navaratnam)
