(Yicai Global) Sept. 25 -- Shares in Nio nosedived yesterday after the Chinese electric carmaker said it lost CNY3.3 billion (USD464 million) in the second quarter and scrapped its earnings conference call.

The Shanghai-based company's stock [NYSE:NIO], which has only been trading publicly in New York for a year, closed down 20 percent at USD2.17. That is almost 80 percent off its 52-week high of USD10.64 in March.

Seen as Tesla's main Chinese rival, Nio's net loss widened 83 percent in the three months ended June from a year earlier and expanded 25 percent on the first quarter, the startup said in an earnings report yesterday. Revenue fell 7.5 percent to CNY1.5 billion from the prior quarter on a 7.9 percent decline in vehicle sales.

The disappointing results were largely due to a product recall in June, a source close to Nio told Yicai Global, adding that the company logged all of the recall costs in the second quarter.

Nio recalled more than 4,800 ES8 vehicles in June over fears that their batteries may spontaneously combust. Based on prices at its cell supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, the firm may have spent as much as CNY500 million (USD70 million) on battery replacements. That also knocked new car sales in July and August, as Nio put deliveries on the backburner to ensure that recalled cars were safe.

The company has lost a total of USD5.7 billion since it was founded in 2014 -- more than Tesla lost in 15 years -- and has been pulling out all the stops to start clawing its way back into the black this year.

Nio announced earlier this month that it would trim its workforce by 2,100 to 7,800 staff, closed a Silicon Valley office in May, and in March canned plans to build a Shanghai factory that would have allowed it to start making its own cars. State-owned carmaker JAC Motors is Nio's contract manufacturer.

Editor: James Boynton