NIO CEO reportedly announced plans to penetrate the United States with its next-gen models, as per China’s media outlet LatePost.
US expansion plan
On November 15, CEO William Li revealed the strategy in an address to the company to commemorate NIO’s eighth anniversary, as per CnEVPost.
In the speech, he referred to an interview in which a US automaker CEO claimed that NIO would be a strong rival and expressed concern for the issue of competition.
“We can’t let the people who are learning from us run faster than us,” Li said.
CEO Li did not specify the US automaker he was talking about, but it seems to be Ford.
“We know our competition is NIO and Tesla, and we have to beat them, not match them,” Ford CEO Jim Farley stated during the Wolfe Research conference’s webcast in late February.
For reference, the Chinese electric vehicle maker offers six models in its homeland. Three of its models are based on NT 1.0 platform: the ES8, ES6, and EC6. On the other hand, the other three are NT 2.0 platform-based: ES7, ET7, and ET5.
US policy complications
CEO Li revealed that NIO aims to enter the US market by the end of 2025 in an interview with German media platform Heise Autos the previous month. However, current US regulation is making things difficult.
He further claimed that the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act made it harder for international automakers to manufacture and penetrate that market.
“We will therefore monitor developments closely,” Li said.
NIO plans to construct a new US factory
NIO was reportedly hiring for employment related to vehicle manufacturing in the US as of late May. It signified the automaker’s intention to build innovative facilities in the nation.
However, NIO responded that it had no information that could be disclosed about the US plant construction.
NIO does not stop there. CEO Li also stated at the NIO Day 2021 event that the automaker plans to provide services to clients in over 25 nations and territories worldwide by the year 2025.
