An Nio salesperson in Beijing said the older ES8, ES6 and EC6 models have been discontinued for two months and they are now out of stock in the city.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

Nio (NYSE: NIO) denied rumors that its older models were being discontinued for sales, but the inventory cleanup of those models appears to be nearing an end, paving the way for it to start selling newer models in full force.

Half a month after the implementation of car buying incentives, Nio is nearing completion of inventory clearance for its NT 1.0-based ES8, ES6 and EC6 models, local media outlet Jiemian reported today.

An Nio salesperson in Shanghai said they still have a few show cars and existing cars, but they may be sold out in a couple of days.

An Nio salesperson in Beijing said the older ES8, ES6 and EC6 models have been discontinued for two months, and they are currently out of stock in the city.

There are no current vehicles available for these three models in Beijing, and if consumers want to buy them, the company needs to send the vehicles from its Hefei plant, the salesperson said.

On February 2, dozens of units of the older ES8, ES6 and EC6 were still in stock in Beijing, according to Jiemian.

"We received an urgent notice yesterday that there are only the last and limited number of existing vehicles of the older models left nationwide, and they will basically be sold out by the end of this week," the Beijing-based salesperson said.

A salesperson in Hefei, Anhui province, where Nio's factories are located, said there are still some existing vehicles of the older ES8, ES6 and EC6, and consumers can get delivery within a week at the earliest if they buy them now.

But the number of such vehicles is limited, with only a few dozen units of the lower-trim versions of the ES series left nationwide, the sales said, according to Jiemian.

On February 2, some local media reported that Nio offered price cuts and discounts of up to 100,000 yuan ($14,580) on some models to boost sales.

Nio later responded that the company did offer discounts for a small number of show cars and stock cars, but that the claim of significant price cuts was inaccurate.

On February 3, Nio released its official purchase discount program, which includes subsidies for purchasing its NT 1.0 platform models, additional discounts for stock cars, and small cash discounts for NT 2.0 platform models.

Nio is currently delivering models including the older ES8, ES6 and EC6 based on the NT 1.0 platform, and the ES7, ET7 and ET5 based on the NT 2.0 platform.

It launched two new models -- EC7 coupe SUV and the new ES8 -- at Nio Day 2022 held on December 24, 2022, and deliveries will start in May and June 2023, respectively.

Yesterday, some local auto media reported that Nio issued an urgent internal notice that sales of the ES8, ES6 and EC6 based on the NT 1.0 platform will be discontinued starting February 16.

These older models will be withdrawn from Nio showrooms nationwide, test cars will be retired, and they will be sold to a single company or entity, according to these reports.

In a response shared with CnEVPost today, an Nio spokesperson said yesterday's media reports were false, but the company's older models are being phased out of the market as planned.

The 2022 ES8, ES6 and EC6 are no longer in custom production, but there are still a few show cars and existing cars for sale, the spokesperson told CnEVPost.