Earlier this month, a company originally formed by Changan and Nio announced the completion of a new round of financing that reduced Nio's stake to less than 1 percent.
(Image credit: CnEVPost)
Nio's joint venture with GAC changed its name early last year, thus weakening Nio's presence. Now, Nio has completely withdrawn from the company's shareholders.
Hycan Automotive Technology Co Ltd, previously known as GAC Nio, underwent a change of shareholders on August 17, with Nio dropping out of the shareholder list, information from data provider Tianyancha shows.
Prior to the change, Nio held a 4.46 percent stake in Hycan.
The move means that Nio's efforts to build cars through joint ventures with local traditional automakers are over, at least for now.
GAC Nio was established on April 10, 2018, and it was another joint venture of Nio with a traditional car company in addition to Changan Nio.
At inception, GAC and its affiliated entities held a 45 percent stake, and Nio and its affiliated entities held the same 45 percent stake.
However, after several years, GAC Nio has not been successful in product development, and a mass-produced model have not been well received by consumers.
In 2019, GAC Nio released its first product, the Hycan 007. At the time of the new vehicle's launch, GAC Nio had sales expectations of reaching 15,000 units in 2020. However, when it began deliveries, GAC Nio revised the expectation downward to 5,000 to 10,000 units.
In the first 11 months of 2020, Hycan 007 accumulated sales of only 631 units, including only 3 units in November 2020.
In late January 2021, GAC Nio's CEO Liao Bing resigned and started a new brand, Ziyou Auto.
In February 2021, William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, resigned as the legal representative of GAC Nio.
In April 2021, GAC Nio officially changed its name to Hycan, removing the "Nio" from its name.
Changan Nio had a similar experience, as it was founded on July 10, 2018, with Changan and Nio each holding a 50 percent stake.
However, several years have passed and Changan Nio has not made any substantial progress, while Nio has no time for the joint venture despite its strengths in intelligence and electrification.
Nio's stake in Changan Nio was reduced from 50 percent to 4.62 percent at the end of 2020, while Changan's stake increased to 95.38 percent.
At the end of May 2021, Changan Nio announced that it would change its name to Avatr Technology, without the word "Nio".
On August 2 of this year, Changan announced that Avatr had completed a new round of financing and Nio saw its shareholding diluted from 1.13 percent to 0.81 percent, below 1 percent for the first time, due to its continued lack of participation.
Avatr closes Series A financing, Nio's stake diluted to less than 1%
