(Source: Nio)
After months of speculation, Chinese electric car company Nio has finally confirmed its first stop into overseas markets - Norway.
Nio will announce the Nio Norway strategy in Shanghai on May 6, which will be the company's first step into Europe, it said in an invitation letter sent to CnEVPost on Wednesday.
CnEVPost reported in January that Nio's first stop in overseas markets could be Norway, the first country in the world to account for more than 50 percent of electric vehicle sales.
This speculation was based on a hint from William Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of Nio, who said in a January 10 interview with several English-language media outlets, including CnEVPost, that the center screen navigation map shown at the launch of its first sedan, the ET7, revealed information about its entry into overseas markets.
When CnEVPost looked at the picture of the center screen on the ET7 introduction page, it found that the address shown in the picture seems to be Karl Johans gate in Oslo, Norway, although it is very blurry.
Although Nio has not previously confirmed this speculation, there was growing evidence that it is correct.
Job ads posted on LinkedIn show that the company is already hiring locally for a large number of positions, including delivery specialists.
Earlier this month, Norway's Bilbransje24 quoted Marius Hayler, CEO of Nio Norway AS, as saying that Nio will build its first flagship showroom in the country, and it now looks like it's on track to open in September this year.
Despite the delay in the release of several new models due to Covid-19, Norway's share of electric car sales in 2020 will reach a record 54.3 percent.
This is up from 42.4 percent in 2019 and up from 1 percent a decade ago, making Norway the first country in the world to sell more than 50 percent of all-electric vehicles for the year.
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