NIO, which celebrates its 10th anniversary, is about to welcome its NIO DAY event in 2024. On the eve of the event, December 12th, NIO founder and chairman Li Bin responded to hundreds of market concerns through face-to-face interviews with the media. During the two-and-a-half-hour interview, Li Bin revealed NIO's future plans and his assessment of industry competition.
Regarding Industry Competition
On November 25th of this year, on the occasion of NIO's 10th anniversary, Li Bin issued an internal letter requesting the team to continuously strengthen bottom-up system capacity building and focus on improving the operational efficiency of basic business units.
Li Bin stated that the next two years will be crucial. Continuously launching competitive new products, improving operational efficiency, doubling sales next year, and achieving profitability for the company by 2026 are important tasks that cannot be missed.
At this media face-to-face communication meeting, Li Bin once again emphasized the fierce and brutal competition in the industry. Li Bin said that NIO has been working with innovation for ten years and has also been running marathons on muddy roads.
In the next two to three years, it will be the final stage of the qualification competition in the automotive industry. Whether we can stay at the table and participate in the finals depends on our performance in these two to three years. "Li Bin said that the automotive industry has now entered a stage of high-dimensional competition, which is not simply competition around products, but competition in all aspects.
Li Bin believes that this competitive trend requires automobile companies to not have any shortcomings. For the situation of the car market next year, Li Bin predicts that car production and sales will continue to grow next year. New entrants need to stand firm, and traditional car companies also need to maintain market share. The tug of war between fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles will become increasingly fierce. After two to three years of intense competition, the profitability of the automotive industry will return to a stable level.
Regarding the question of whether to participate in the "price war", Li Bin clearly stated that NIO will not participate in the "price war" and hopes to maintain price stability and improve its own capabilities on this basis.
Regarding the Multi Brand Strategy
In September of this year, NIO's second brand, Ledao, officially launched its first new car. The Ledao brand is positioned in the mainstream mass market, with its main competitors being Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and others.
Recently, NIO announced that its third brand, Firefly, will be officially released on NIO Day 2024 in December.
It is reported that Firefly's products are priced lower than those of Ledao. Li Bin revealed that the Firefly model is smaller than the Smart, but more intelligent than the Mini, that is, more smart, and will be delivered in Europe next year.
There has been considerable controversy in the market regarding NIO's multi brand strategy. On the one hand, due to the lower than expected delivery volume of Ledao, and on the other hand, many industry insiders are concerned that the multi brand strategy will distract NIO's efforts.
In response to this, Li Bin said that in December this year, Ledao's delivery will definitely receive 10000 units. As a brand new brand, Ledao can achieve a delivery volume of 10000 units in the third month after its release, which is actually a normal delivery ramp up rhythm. By March next year, Ledao's production capacity and delivery will reach 20000 units per month.
Having multiple brands requires completely different capabilities for an automotive company, which is a great challenge and demands more of our service capabilities. Li Bin said that since its establishment, NIO has wanted to have multiple brands to cover multiple price ranges. A multi brand strategy will not affect the sales of each segmented brand. On the basis of clear positioning, a multi brand strategy is actually beneficial for the company's scale and quantity.
Meanwhile, NIO's initial investment in technology, including its layout in battery swapping, can also support the development of multiple brands.
Regarding the replacement of fuel vehicles with new energy vehicles
Since the beginning of this year, sales of new energy vehicles have continued to grow, with market penetration rates exceeding 50% and even reaching 60% in multiple months. Li Bin stated that the rate at which new energy vehicles replace gasoline vehicles is not surprising.
In his opinion, according to his previous prediction, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is expected to reach 90% by 2030, but now it seems that this timetable will be advanced. It is expected that by 2027, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China will exceed 90%.
Li Bin stated that in the past decade, government policies have been crucial for promoting new energy vehicles, but in recent years, it has entered a market driven stage.
Regarding automobile exports
In the past two to three years, the growth rate of China's automobile exports has increased, especially for new energy vehicle companies, which have continued to go global. They have not only achieved product exports in Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, but have also successively built overseas factories in other places.
Li Bin believes that the current Chinese automobile market has entered an era of stock competition, and exports are an inevitable trend. In his view, China's future automobile exports are expected to reach 15 million units, and the annual automobile sales volume is expected to reach 40 million units, accounting for more than 40% of the global annual automobile sales.
Next, Chinese car brands will make a global impact, and their most direct competitors will be Japanese brands. Li Bin believes that with the rise of Chinese car companies, Japanese brands may not be able to maintain their market share globally.
For NIO, in terms of global market layout, NIO will rely more on Ledao and Firefly. For example, Firefly brand will develop some special models suitable for local markets in overseas markets.
Regarding the new car ET9
In 2023, NIO released its flagship model ET9 on NIO DAY and started pre-sales. The pre-sale price of the new car is 800000 yuan, which is currently NIO's highest priced model. Recently, this car is finally going to enter the market.
On December 12th, Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, announced on Weibo that Midea Chairman Fang Hongbo has become the Chief Experience Officer of NIO ET9 and will test drive this upcoming executive flagship together.
Li Bin said that he asked Fang Hongbo three questions, and Fang Hongbo's answer to market competition was very good: "Actively participate in the competition, compare costs, compare efficiency, and bravely jump out of the competition. Don't roll on the floor, but pierce the ceiling
At this media face-to-face communication meeting, Li Bin also explained in detail the reasons behind NIO's launch of ET9. Li Bin said that everyone is now making breakthroughs in the high-end market of new energy vehicles, but in the executive car market, the penetration of new energy vehicles is still far from enough. Although companies like Huawei have made some attempts, they are still far from reaching the stage of complete breakthrough.
The high-end executive car market is a difficult market to conquer, which not only requires us to achieve technological breakthroughs, but also to cultivate consumers' minds. "Li Bin said that Chinese car companies now have the foundation to develop high-end executive new energy vehicles. In his opinion, compared with competitors, ET9 can achieve comprehensive crushing in all aspects, which is conducive to enhancing NIO's opening up in the high-end administrative market.