For Nio, it will see greater competitiveness in Europe than in China, said Qin Lihong.
(A video screenshot shows Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong speaking at the Nio press event at the Chengdu Auto Show on August 26.)
Nio is apparently ramping up its efforts in Europe, as its flagship annual event will also be brought there, in addition to its suite of services in China.
In the fourth quarter, Nio will hold its first local Nio Day event in Europe, local media outlet Ddxq.tech said Friday, citing the electric vehicle maker's co-founder and president Qin Lihong.
Qin, who held a brief press release at the Chengdu auto show that opened Friday, revealed the plan in a small media event that followed, according to the report.
Nio has already started to enter the European market at a certain scale, and will certainly face many challenges in the process, but there is a possibility that it will be able to gain a leading position, according to Qin.
Qin believes that Nio's competitiveness in Europe will increase, not decrease, compared to the Chinese market.
That's because the Chinese smart electric vehicle market is more involute - or fiercely competitive - than the rest of the world combined, or even N times their combined total, Qin said.
The report did not mention anything more about Europe's Nio Day.
In China, Nio usually holds Nio Day, its most important event and usually the occasion for launching new products and technologies, at the end of each year or at the beginning of the following year.
Nio unveiled ET7 and ET5 sedans in the past two years of Nio Day events respectively.
The company is currently in the process of choosing a city for the next event, and of the three candidates - Hefei, Guangzhou and Xi'an - Guangzhou currently has the highest approval rate in a poll on the Nio App.
At yesterday's launch, Qin said Nio's overseas front has been busy in July, with three vessels loaded with ET7s sent to Europe so far, in preparation for the deliveries in Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The company will also bring its complete service system in China to Europe, and this year will be the prelude to the official and comprehensive start of the Nio brand, which originated in China, in the European market, he said.
Update: Nio sends first ET7s to Europe on three vessels, instead of one
Sub-brand will not be announced on Nio Day
In addition to the Nio Day to be held in Europe, Qin also revealed some new information about the sub-brand during the exchange, according to Ddxq.tech.
In the gasoline car market, Nio's second brand targets the main markets of Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen. In the electric vehicle market, the sub-brand targets the market where Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y are located, Qin said.
As for the definition of the sub-brand, it could simply be interpreted as "a Tesla with battery swap and better service," according to Qin.
Qin said there was speculation that the sub-brand might be launched at this year's Nio Day event, which is wrong because Nio Day is an Nio-branded event.
If Nio did that, it would be like Audi releasing a Volkswagen product at its launch, which is impossible, he said.
The product team for Nio's second brand is largely complete, and the core members of the marketing, as well as brand teams, are in place, and hiring continues, according to Qin.
The head of that new brand was also at Nio's booth at the Chengdu auto show on Friday, but only very low-key as a staff member for a brief time, Qin said.
Nio plans to launch third brand, price could be as low as $14,820, report says
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