While touring cars might be relatively niche compared to sedans, some comparable offerings in the market can still deliver monthly sales of about 10,000 units on a consistent basis, Tim Hsiao's team said.
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Nio (NYSE: NIO) officially launched the ET5 Touring yesterday, and its pricing looks competitive to analysts.
"Pricing of ET5 Touring is more competitive than we thought -- on par with the incumbent ET5 sedan at Rmb 298k+," Morgan Stanley analyst Tim Hsiao's team said in a research note sent to investors yesterday.
While the segment could be relatively niche, Nio management believes the ET5 Touring is likely to outsell its sedan version, the team noted.
In China, the available versions and pricing of the ET5 Touring are identical to those of the regular ET5 sedan.
Including the battery, the 75-kWh version starts at RMB 298,000 ($41,890) and the 100-kWh version at RMB 356,000.
Chinese consumers who choose to purchase the model using the BaaS (battery as a service) service will see the prices start at RMB 228,000 for both versions, with monthly battery rental costs of RMB 980 and RMB 1,680 respectively.
Compared to the regular ET5, the ET5 Touring has more rear-seat headroom, and more vertical space in the trunk, while it also has a lower driving position, and the option for electrochromic sunroofs, Hsiao's team noted.
"Such retrofits will help increase the TAM of the ET5 family by attracting users who attach greater value to the in-car space," the team said.
It's worth noting that in China, derivatives of sedans are a niche market.
However, the unexpected success of the Zeekr 001, the first model of Geely's Zeekr brand, has made such models increasingly popular.
For the full year 2022, Zeekr delivered 71,941 Zeekr 001s, reaching its goal of delivering 70,000 vehicles for the year.
While touring cars might be relatively niche compared to sedans, some comparable products in the market still manage to deliver monthly sales of about 10,000 units on a consistent basis, according to Hsiao's team.
In China, the competitive landscape in the touring market is relatively benign, with the main comparables coming mainly from foreign brands such as the Audi S4, Mercedes-Benz CLA and Volvo V60, according to the team.
Whether Nio can successfully ramp up sales of the ET5 Touring in the coming months to meet its goal of reaching 20,000 units per month in the second half of the year remains to be seen, the team said, adding that the company's management expects the ET5 family to contribute about 30 percent of sales.
The ET5 sedan, ET5 Touring and the new ES6 will dominate Nio's sales, Hsiao's team said.
Nio launched the new ES6, the most important model in its history, in China on May 24, with deliveries starting on launch night.
As with the new ES6, Nio produced some ET5 Touring vehicles in advance based on a combination of designer-recommended configurations, and its deliveries officially began today.
($1 = RMB 7.1136)
Nio launches ET5 Touring in China with same pricing as regular ET5
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