EV maker Nio has suspended its plans to expand into the U.S. market, an ambition it first announced in 2021 as part of a goal to offer services in over 25 countries and regions by 2025.
At the time, founder and CEO William Li presented a global expansion plan at the company’s annual event, showing a map that included the United States as part of Nio’s intended reach for 2025.
The inclusion was unsurprising, as Nio has operated an innovation center in San Jose since 2016, which was later expanded to a larger 18,500-square-meter campus in early 2022.
However, over the past year, the company has significantly scaled back its teams, especially in Europe and the United States.
In December, Chinese outlet LatePost reported that Nio had eliminated San Jose-based roles in its smart driving and engineering units as well.
EV learned on Friday that the decision to halt its U.S. push has accelerated amid worsening trade tensions and new tariffs announced by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year.
The measures have created further uncertainty for Chinese automakers looking to enter the American market.
A year ago, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a 100% tariff (up from 25%) on Chinese-made electric vehicles, along with higher tariffs on batteries, semiconductors and critical minerals, to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.
As part of the retrenchment, Nio has laid off its Chief Business Officer, Saurabh Bhatnagar, EV learned on Friday.
Bhatnagar, one of the company’s longest-serving U.S. executives, joined the San Jose office in 2016 as Senior Director of Business & Corporate Development and was later promoted to Vice President in 2020.
He became Chief Business Officer for the U.S. subsidiary in February 2023.
Last April, Bhatnagar attended the Shanghai Auto Show and wrote on LinkedIn: “Just back from an epic Shanghai Auto Show!”
He added later in the post: “Nio launched Firefly – a spunky compact for city slickers, and the Onvo L90, a spacious full size SUV for families – pictured below with our CEO William Li and my friend Eric Yu SEATED in the mega-frunk. The exquisite NIO ET9 executive sedan, with its fully active suspension, was quite the draw!!”
In addition to Bhatnagar’s departure, Nio has also laid off its go-to-market (GTM) team in the United States.
The layoffs, communicated internally on Friday, mark a significant step back from earlier ambitions to launch the premium brand in North America.
The company had previously said it was assessing local partnerships and infrastructure requirements but made little public progress on a U.S. launch.
“My goal, and my commitment to this company, is I want all of us to buy a Nio car from our personal paycheck one day,” Nio’s U.S. CEO Ganesh Iyer said at a conference in New York in late 2023.
After announcing earlier this month that it is entering seven new markets in Europe, the EV maker said this week that it will also expand to Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria with both Nio and Firefly brands.
Nio entered Europe via Norway in September 2021. A year later, the brand expanded to four new markets: Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden.
Until the end of 2026, the Shanghai-based Group will enter Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania.
The automaker sold 58 electric vehicles across its five European markets last month, up six units from April’s figures, but a 35% plunge compared to May 2024.
