CHENGDU, China / SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Nio Inc, which competes with conventional premium automakers, including Daimler AG and BMW, may be mass-producing products under a different brand, the CEO said.
“As EV technologies advance and battery costs fall, we may enter the massive market, but certainly not with the Nio brand,” William Li, CEO of Nio, told reporters on Sunday. He stopped giving details.
Nio did not immediately respond to a request for further details. The company currently supplies three SUV models (SUVs) built at its Hefei plant, typically costing more than 300,000 yuan ($ 46,200).
Nio, which also competes with Tesla Inc in China, launched its first sedan model on Saturday as it sees a larger share of the world’s largest car market.
Nio delivered 43,728 vehicles last year and has a market capitalization of more than $ 92 billion, bringing conventional carmakers Daimler and General Motors Co.
($ 1 = 6.4898 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; edited by Jane Wardell