Hyperdrive
China’s EV Makers Taking Longer to Pay Bills Amid Rising Stress
- Nio taking some 295 days to pay suppliers, up from 197 in 2021
- Smaller suppliers to feel particularly harsh knock-on effects
The dashboard of a Nio Inc. ET7 electric vehicle during the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing, China, on April 26.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThe time it’s taking for some of China’s electric-car makers to pay suppliers is ballooning — a further sign of stress in the nation’s increasingly cutthroat auto market.
Nio Inc. was taking around 295 days to clear its receipts payable, the vast majority of which are owed to suppliers, at the end of 2023 versus 197 days in 2021, according to the most recent available data compiled by Bloomberg. Xpeng Inc., another US-listed Chinese EV maker, was taking 221 days to honor its obligations to vendors and related parties, up from 179 days, the data show.