Nio recalls record 246,229 cars over software problem

China's Nio 9866.HK is recalling 246,229 vehicles due to a software issue that poses safety hazards, marking the largest recall by a homegrown electric vehicle maker.

The recalled EVs include models ES8, ES6 and EC6 and were manufactured between March 16, 2018 and January 16, 2023, a statement released by the State Administration for Market Regulation on Monday said. Some of these vehicles have a software issue that could lead to a brief blackout of the instrument cluster and central control screen, it said.

The scale of the recall, equivalent to roughly three quarters of Nio's 2025 sales volume, surpassed that of Xiaomi's 1810.HK in September, when the tech firm issued a software update for over 115,000 of its popular SU7 electric sedans to fix potential safety issues involving assisted driving features.

Nio will carry out remote software updates for affected vehicles, and implement the upgrades through service centres when remote updates aren't viable, the statement showed.

Separately, Chinese EV brand Zeekr will recall 38,277 vehicles due to safety hazards stemming from power batteries, according to another statement released by the market regulator on Monday.

-Reporting by Yukun Zhang, Xiuhao Chen and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Louise Heavens/Reuters