Nio has re-filed all eight models, with the biggest changes being the switch of the manufacturer's name from JAC to Nio and the removal of the JAC logo from the rear of the vehicles.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) is re-filing all of its models on sale, changing the name of the manufacturer from its manufacturing partner, Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC), to itself, after obtaining its own independent vehicle manufacturing qualification.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) today released its latest catalog of models that will soon be allowed to be sold, and the public can submit their feedback between December 9 and December 15. Entering the catalog is the last major regulatory process by which a model can be allowed to be sold in China.
Nio has re-filed all eight models it currently sells -- ES8, ES7, ES6, EC7, EC6, ET7, ET5, ET5 Touring.
The core specifications of these models remain unchanged, with the biggest change being that the manufacturer's name has been changed from the previous JAC to Nio, and the JAC logo on the rear of the vehicles has been removed.
Nio has been producing its electric vehicles (EVs) under the JAC name for many years, and these vehicles were trademarked as Nio, but the manufacturer has always been JAC, hence both the Nio and JAC logos on the rear of the vehicles.
Earlier this month, Nio entered the MIIT's Vehicle Manufacturing Enterprise Credit Information Management System, meaning it gained car-making qualification and will be able to produce cars under its own name.
Nio has not previously been in the system, as its vehicles are produced under the JAC name.
Nio's vehicles are manufactured at 299 Baita Road in the Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone in Anhui province, the address of Nio's F2 factory in NeoPark, which CnEVPost visited late last month.
Another important development that sets the stage for Nio to be able to produce EVs under its own name is its acquisition of the F1 and F2 factories that were originally under the JAC name.
JAC released plans on October 19 to transfer three asset packages, two of which included the Nio F1 and F2 plants.
The two companies announced on December 5 that Nio would buy the two plants in a deal valued at RMB 3.16 billion ($441 million).
Nio's local counterpart, Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), also initially had other carmakers contract manufacturing for it, and later gained car-making credentials through an acquisition.
Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) got its own production credentials through an acquisition before its first model, the Li One, began mass production.
After Nio acquires JAC's plant assets and takes full control of the manufacturing process, production costs are expected to drop by about 10 percent, William Li, the electric vehicle (EV) maker's founder, chairman, and CEO, said in a December 5 earnings call.
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