SHANGHAI: Chinese electric car maker Nio Inc has started sales of its most expensive car as it seeks to double deliveries in 2025 and eventually become profitable.
The 10-year-old automaker officially launched the flagship ET9 battery-electric sedan at its annual customer event last Saturday in Guangzhou.
Priced from 788,000 yuan (US$108,000), or 660,000 yuan if the owner opts to rent the battery, the executive four-seater is set to take on Porsche AG’s Panamera series and Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s luxury S range.
The ET9 will be able to travel 650km (404 miles) on one charge with a 100 KWh battery, and its high-voltage charging system will provide 225km of range in as little as five minutes.
It will also come equipped with Nio’s intelligent driving system powered by chips that were developed in-house, 35 speakers, and features including extended legroom. Deliveries will start as soon as March.
Nio also unveiled a second sub-brand, Firefly, aimed at more budget-conscious drivers. Its only model in China, installed with nine airbags, will go up against BMW AG’s Mini or Mercedes’ Smart, with a pre-sale price starting from 148,800 yuan.
The vehicle price could be as low as under 100,000 yuan if the customer chooses to rent the battery, founder and chief executive officer William Li, 50, said in a media briefing last Sunday, following the launch of Firefly.
“Firefly can serve a wider group with Nio’s most innovative technologies,” Li said, while unveiling the brand. “We are about to bring the best mini cars to global customers.”
Firefly follows the launch of the Onvo brand earlier this year. The brand’s first model competes directly with Tesla Inc’s Model Y sport utility vehicle.
At a media event in Shanghai last week, Li said he was determined to double annual sales next year to at least 440,000 vehicles.
Apart from a modest increase in shipments of Nio’s main brands, Onvo is expected to reach average monthly sales of 20,000, while Firefly should add “several thousand” deliveries per month, Li said.
Once considered one of the brightest rising stars in China’s electric vehicle market, Nio has fallen short of sales targets and continues to post losses.
Its US-traded shares have slumped about 50% this year, more than peers Xpeng Inc and Li Auto Inc.
The automaker, which is headquartered in Shanghai, typically launches its major products and outlines its strategy at “Nio Day” – a year-end gathering for corporate partners, customers and media.
For its first event in 2017, the company paid for flights and luxury hotels for everyone who ordered a vehicle in the year before production started.
American singer Bruno Mars headlined the 2018 event. Nio had originally planned to launch Firefly first in Europe.
The brand will now enter the region in 2025, Li said. It has also been designed with a separate battery swapping system, which may allow for rapid deployment with smaller batteries, after Nio encountered challenges in building battery swap stations in Europe.
Nio is facing new obstacles in the continent.
The European Union has imposed tariffs as high as 45% on electric vehicles from China, which will stay in place for the next five years unless there is an alternative agreement.
“The added tariffs for sure had some impact on us,” said Li.
“We are confident of the product, however.
“The market scale in Europe and our sales volume after the tariff increase will surely be affected.”
Nio showcased the first Firefly model in Frankfurt with some local partners earlier this year.
Nio will choose one partner from each European country for sales and services, Li said, adding that this plan would apply to all three brands under Nio. — Bloomberg
