NIO Responds to Rumors of Third Car Brand Plan

On August 1, some Chinese media outlets reported that EV automaker NIO was planning to launch a third EV brand besides NIO and “ALPS”, focusing on the market below 200,000 yuan ($29,620). The third brand would have an independent R&D system and is currently recruiting core team members with established teams also intensively promoting product development. In response, on August 2, NIO replied: “There is no information available for disclosure at present.”

Regarding the reports that NIO‘s second brand was named “ALPS”, on August 2, a NIO representative explained that “ALPS is only an internal code name. Up until now, the company’s new brand name for the mass market has not yet been determined, and the product R&D and production are progressing steadily.”

NIO has now delivered four models, namely the ES8, ES6, EC6 and ET7, with prices all above 300,000 yuan ($44,460). “At present, the price of NIO models has remained stable, and the average exceeds 420,000 yuan ($62,146),” NIO said in a public statement.

This June, William Li, CEO of NIO, revealed that the R&D and production of NIO‘s new brand products for the mass market are progressing steadily, and it is expected that the new brand models will be delivered in the second half of 2024. The price of the main products is positioned between 200,000 yuan ($29,640) and 300,000 yuan ($44,460), which will be equipped with batteries independently produced by NIO and will support high-voltage fast charging technology.

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William Li has said previously said that NIO signed the Xinqiao Phase II Factory Agreement with Hefei’s Municipal Government (that is, NIO signed a cooperation agreement with Hefei on “NeoPark Xinqiao Intelligent EV Industrial Park Phase II Vehicle and Key Core Components Supporting Project”), which was prepared for the company’s new brand models facing the mass market with a production capacity of 500,000 vehicles. The new brand’s battery-swap models will be comparable to Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y, but the price will be 10% cheaper.

According to the plan, from August 28, NIO will deliver the first model based on its NT2 second generation technology platform, the ES7. At the end of September, NIO will deliver the intelligent electric coupe ET5. “In the second half of 2022, the delivery of NIO‘s new products will accelerate and the production capacity will also increase,” Li said.

According to company data, this July, NIO delivered about 10,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 26.7%. From January to July, NIO delivered a total of 60,900 new cars, a year-on-year increase of 22%. By the end of July 2022, NIO will have delivered a cumulative volume of 227,900 vehicles.