The revamping of Nio's existing models is set to move ahead of schedule, with deliveries of the first such model next set to begin in the first quarter of next year, according to local media.
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Nio (NYSE: NIO) is accelerating a number of projects, with plans to revamp existing models moving faster, according to a new report.
"The start of mass production and delivery of NT 2.2 platform products will be moved to an earlier date," local media outlet AutoPix said in a report today, citing an engineer close to Nio.
The NT 2.2 platform products refer to facelifts of the NT 2.0 platform-based models that Nio currently sells, with deliveries of the first such model next set to begin in the first quarter of next year, according to the report.
Nio launched the ET7, its first sedan and the first model on the NT 2.0 platform, at the Nio Day 2020 event on January 9, 2021.
The company has introduced several new NT 2.0 platform-based models over the past two years and completed the transition of all NT 1.0 platform-based models to the NT 2.0 platform with the launch of the new EC6 on September 15.
Nio's current models on sale include ES8, ES7, ES6, EC7, EC6, ET7, ET5, ET5 Touring, all based on the NT 2.0 platform.
On the first day of this year's Shanghai auto show on April 18, Nio launched the 2023 ET7, the first facelift for the company's models based on the NT 2.0 platform. Deliveries of the new ET7 began in mid-May.
The Nio brand will have no new product releases next year, but will have its regular model-year facelifts, William Li, the company's founder, chairman, and CEO, said in an August 29 earnings call.
Since they are annual facelifts, the NT 2.2 platform products won't change much compared to Nio's on-sale models, AutoPix said in the report today.
In fact, the 2023 ET7 is just that, largely making up for the shortcomings that have been the most complained about by customers since launch.
The 2023 ET7 brings more than 15 product updates, including improved seats and a 40w wireless charging panel for cell phones, but the price remains the same.
Nio will have a complex new product plan over the next year, and the earlier the NT 2.2 models launch, the longer the window for greater sales, the AutoPix report noted.
Nio's mass-market-oriented sub-brand, codenamed Alps, will launch its first model in the second half of next year, which will also be the first model based on NT 3.0.
The Alps model will begin trial production in November, and the first model from Nio's main brand based on the NT 3.0 platform will follow the model into trial production, according to the report.
The Alps models will initially be priced lower than the Nio NT 2.2 models, while the Nio-branded models based on the NT 3.0 platform will initially be priced relatively higher than comparable NT 2.2 models, the report said.
Nio's current main sellers are the cheaper ES6, ET5, and ET5 Touring, which together contributed 75 percent of its 15,641 monthly deliveries in September.
The ES8 sold 2,139 units last month despite being the most expensive, with a starting price of RMB 498,000 ($68,170) in China. The new EC6, which only went on sale on September 15, also delivered 1,006 units in September.
For comparison, Nio's three 7 series models -- ET7, ES7 and EC7 -- each sold less than 300 last month.
These three models are expected to see the earliest launch of revamped models and given that the ET7 facelift was launched in April, the ES7 facelift could be next on the horizon.
($1 = RMB 7.3056)
Nio Sept deliveries breakdown: ES6 contributes 50.48% with 7,896 units
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