Niu has just released their Q3 2026 sales numbers, and there is steady growth across the board, but with a remarkably strong bounce in international sales.
The Numbers
Overall sales in Q3 2026 were 537,457 units, a 15.4% jump over Q3 2025 sales of 465,873 units. As always, these are not just seated scooter sales. They include e-motorcycles, e-mopeds, e-bicycles, kick-scooters, and e-bikes. Niu does not provide a breakdown.
Obviously, China continues to be the main driver of sales, accounting for more than 91% of the company’s sales numbers. However, Chinese sales were up by only 8.6%, going from 451, 455 units to 490, 406 units.
However, the real surprise was international sales, which went from 14,418 units to 47,051 units, a 326.3% jump. Statistics help. Last year’s numbers were unnaturally low, but this is a strong bounce back, even though we are yet to scale to the Q3 2024 peak of more than 53,000 units and nowhere close to Q3 2022 international sales of more than 58,000 units.
Still, the bounceback is reassuring. Clearly, the uncontrolled crude prices and sharp spike in pump prices across many international markets have been a big factor.
Now we wait for the financial numbers to see whether the margins have improved or not.
Management Speak
The growth in our international business this quarter is the result of two years of work on our European organisation: a stronger dealer network, better product availability and a clearer line-up. At the same time, we see the market itself moving again. Higher fuel prices this year have made many people look seriously at electric two-wheelers, and our dealers across Europe notice it in the number of customers walking in and asking for NIU. The new FQiX series helps us here. Its design appeals to younger riders and to people who would normally buy a petrol scooter or motorcycle, and that is the group we need to win. Looking at 2027, our focus is on sustainable growth: scaling on the foundation we have built, with the right products and a strong dealer network.
The inevitable transition seems to be accelerating, especially in the L3e light motorcycle segment, which is the ideal car replacement. Southern Europe shows this clearly. In Italy, where NIU is already a market leader, registrations of electric motorcycles more than doubled in the first nine months of this year. In Spain, electric motorcycle registrations rose 86% in September alone, and in Portugal they nearly doubled in the first half of the year. These are the real 2w commuter markets of Europe, and France is following the same path. We believe NIU is in a very strong position to lead the transition there too.
– Sieghart Michielsen, Director of International, NIU Technologies
Exactly a year back, we had spoken to Sieghart about new sales in Europe and other international markets, and he was quite forthcoming about the challenges they have faced and the business that they are laying the foundation for. The focus at that time came out to be more about putting a strong foundation in place and then building a solid business on top of that. Niu had intentionally been focusing on high-value, high-margin products in international markets rather than stuffing the channel with lower-priced, lower-margin products.
InsightEV – Global Electric Mobility