- Nio has filed for exterior changes for the ES6, EC6, ET5, and ET5 Touring, showing slightly tweaked designs.
- William Li previously said there would be facelifts for the ET5, ET5 Touring, ES6, and EC6, which will use horizontal center screens.
Nio (NYSE: NIO) has filed for minor exterior tweaks for four of its main selling models, with their facelifts coming soon.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a new regulatory catalog today for public comment, and the ES6 SUV (sport utility vehicle), EC6 coupe SUV, ET5 sedan, and ET5 Touring are included.
The public can submit feedback between February 20-26. Entry into the catalog is the last major regulatory process before a model can be allowed to be sold in China.
None of the four models appear in the new model filing catalog, but rather in the information change filing catalog, meaning their core components, including batteries and motors, will likely not change.
Compared to their predecessors, all four models have "differently styled front combination lamps and front and rear protection devices," according to their filing pages.
The most notable change is the different design of their front bumpers, especially the fog lamp area, which has been changed from a triangular shape to a vertical bar.
In addition, changes to the EC6, ET5, and ET5 Touring include an optional "Champion Edition" rear logo in English, and an additional body color of matte black.
The matte black exterior color is usually used on performance cars, which means that the "Champion Edition" variants may have stronger power.
The ES6, EC6, ET5 and ET5 Touring are currently available in just one regular variant each, with starting prices of RMB 338,000 ($46,390), RMB 358,000, RMB 298,000 and RMB 298,000, respectively.
These four models are Nio's main sellers, delivering a combined total of 180,038 units in 2024, contributing 81.11 percent of Nio Inc's 221,970 deliveries in 2024 and 89.48 percent of the Nio brand's 201,209 deliveries.
The ES6 delivered 75,433 units in 2024, contributing 33.98 percent of Nio Inc's and 37.49 percent of the Nio brand's deliveries.
On February 8, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li mentioned in a live video stream on short-form video platform Douyin that the four models would get facelifts.
From the second quarter to the fourth quarter, Nio Inc will have new product releases every quarter, Li said at the time.
The ET5, ET5 Touring, ES6, and EC6 will get facelifts, and they would get minor exterior changes and interior updates, according to Li.
The facelifted models would use horizontal center screens instead of the previous vertical ones, and would use Nio's own Shenji autonomous driving chip, Li said at the time.
ES6 details in the latest MIIT catalog:
EC6 details in the latest MIIT catalog:
ET5 details in the latest MIIT catalog:
ET5 Touring details in the latest MIIT catalog:
($1 = RMB 7.2855)
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