ELECTRIC carmaker NIO Inc. said Monday it delivered 3,268 electric SUVs in the third quarter of the year, exceeding its own target of 2,900-3,000 vehicles.

While the National Day holiday and the planned maintenance will slow its deliveries for October, it remained on track to achieve delivery goal of 10,000 ES8s for the second half of 2018, NIO said.

Delivery volume of the ES8, a seven-seater high-performance electric SUV, in September 2018 was 1,766 — a nearly 58-percent jump from the prior month, NIO said.

The company has sold 3,350 ES8s since starting delivery June 28. NIO said it targets to launch its five-seater premium SUV ES6 in June/July 2019.

NIO, formerly known as NextEV and backed by Chinese tech heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd., is one of several largely Chinese-funded EV startups betting on the benefits of local production to compete with firms such as Tesla Inc.

Having begun promoting electric vehicles in 2009, China aims to become a dominant global producer as it bids to curb vehicle emissions, boost energy security and promote high-tech industries.

Founded by Chinese entrepreneur William Li in 2014, NIO sold US$1 billion in shares in the IPO, making it the third-biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese firm this year.

NIO incurred a net loss of US$502.6 million in the first six months of 2018 on US$6.95 million in revenues. (SD-Agencies)