Update: Tweaked the headline and added more content from local media.
An NIO vehicle ran out of the company's Shanghai headquarters building and tumbled sideways onto the ground, according to local media.
(Image from Weibo.)
The latest accident involving a test vehicle from NIO (NYSE: NIO, HKG: 9866, SGX: NIO) has brought the electric vehicle (EV) maker into the spotlight.
Earlier today, rumors circulating on social media and in WeChat chat groups suggesting that a camouflaged NIO vehicle fell off a building sparked widespread discussion.
Local media outlet Jiangxi Morning Post later reported that the accident occurred at NIO's headquarters in Shanghai, where a sedan ran off the fifth floor and ended up on its side on the ground.
There were people trapped inside the car, but they were rescued after firefighters arrived and were taken to an ambulance, according to the report.
NIO's customer service staff, when contacted, said the incident did occur and that the details would have to wait for official word from the company, the report said.
Notably, Shanghai-based The Paper reported that the car is an SUV and fell from a third-floor parking garage.
The accident occurred at around 17:40 on June 22, and firefighters arrived and rescued the two people trapped inside the car, according to The Paper.
According to a report by 36kr, the site of the accident was not NIO's headquarters building, but a building used for parking, where other brands of test vehicles were also present.
NIO currently has two sedans, including the ET7, which began delivery at the end of March, and the ET5, which is expected to begin delivery in September.
It is not clear which sedan was involved in the accident, though some rumors suggest it may be the ET7 whose camouflage has not been removed.
NIO ET7 retail sales in May were 1,707 units, placing it ninth in China in sales of high-end sedans with a starting price above 300,000 yuan ($44,820), according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on June 10.
Deliveries of the model began on March 28, and May was its second full month of delivery and the second consecutive month on the list.
In its first full delivery month, the NIO ET7 sold 693 retail units in April, ranking 10th among premium sedans, the CPCA's list released last month showed.
The accident is also the latest rare one involving an EV and become one of the most discussed topics on Weibo, with 1,052,381 related posts as of press time.
In late February, a Tesla vehicle came to rest on the side of the road in Kaifeng, a city in central China's Henan province, with visible damage to its front and rear ends and all of its airbags popped.
Judging from the vehicle's trajectory, the car crossed the river without passing over a bridge in the road, instead leaping straight over, local tech media Mydrivers previously reported.
The driver was unfamiliar with the road conditions here, but drove fast, with a speed of more than 100 kilometers per hour, and leapt over the river, which is more than 10 meters wide, the report said, citing people on the scene, adding that, fortunately, the driver was not seriously injured.
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