Xiaomi representatives have visited Nio‘s sales and service centre in Munich several times as part of talks between the two Chinese carmakers about the site, a person familiar with the matter told EV.
Nio registered one vehicle in Germany in September and a total of twenty units in the first nine months of 2026. Year-to-date figures represent a 90.5% decline when compared to 2025.
The Xiaomi delegation walked through the hub multiple times, often accompanied by Hui Zhang, the person said, Nio Group Vice President and Managing Director of Nio Europe.
It is unknown whether both Chinese brands have reached any agreement.
EV reached out to Xiaomi on Wednesday with questions about the talks, the visits and the role a Munich sales or service site could play in its European plans, and had not received a response as of publication time.
The Beijing-headquartered tech giant has said it will start selling cars in Germany and other European markets in 2027.
Nio’s Last Hub
Nio closed its hubs in Cologne and Weiterstadt, near Frankfurt, at the end of September, leaving Munich as its only hub in Germany and its only site in the country with its own workshop.
The company informed users of both closures on July 23, citing “the current conditions in the automotive market” and the optimisation of its business in Europe.
A Nio representative said at the time that “it is not a retreat” and that the company was leaving “neither Europe nor Germany.”
The person familiar with the matter said the hubs were closed because sales did not perform, adding that the business plans had been solid but not enough vehicles were being sold.
Nio then looked at which sites were easiest to give up, the person said.
The closures are affecting not only owners but also Nio’s own teams, which are now struggling to find service appointments, according to the person.
Nio has told owners to book maintenance with partner workshops through its app, and its German service partner page listed 25 workshops this week.
The nearest Nio-owned workshop for owners in the Cologne and Frankfurt areas is now in Munich.
Nio’s showrooms without workshops, known as Nio Houses, remain open in Berlin, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, after the Hamburg house closed on July 20.
Manager Magazin reported in April that Nio was seeking subtenants for its four German Nio Houses.
A Former Ferrari Dealership
Nio opened the Munich hub on June 15, 2023, in the east of the city, calling it the first site of its kind worldwide.
The hub combines a showroom, a community area and a workshop, handling sales, test drives, deliveries, maintenance and repairs.
The building was built for Autohaus Saggio as a Ferrari dealership, which opened in 2013.
Trade magazine kfz-betrieb said at the time that it was considered the world’s largest Ferrari dealership, with 2,800 square metres of built area, a 1,000-square-metre service and workshop area with 14 lifts, and an underground garage for up to 200 cars.
Ferrari named Emil Frey its sales and service partner in Munich in November 2022, replacing Saggio, seven months before Nio opened at the address.
Munich is also home to Nio’s European design centre, which Kris Tomasson has led since 2015, and to the registered office of Nio Deutschland GmbH.
Xiaomi’s Plans for Europe
Xiaomi announced its European launch plan at the IFA trade show in Berlin on Sept. 3.
It signed non-binding memoranda of understanding with eight German dealer groups: Emil Frey Germany, LUEG Mobility, Ernst Dello, Penske-Jacobs Innovation, Autohaus Dinnebier, Fett & Wirtz Automobile, Hahn Automobile and SPT Avior.
Xiaomi has not disclosed which models it will sell in Europe, local prices or a delivery timetable.
Founder and CEO Lei Jun has said overseas sales will not begin until the second half of 2027.
Xiaomi’s research and development centre in Munich, whose existence the company confirmed in April 2025, was formally opened in September 2025 with about 50 employees.
Led by former BMW manager Rudolf Dittrich, it is Xiaomi’s first electric car research and development centre outside China and focuses on high-performance vehicle projects and adapting models to European standards.
A year ago, Xiaomi started advertising Munich-based positions at the time, including a country manager, a head of retail operations and after-sales specialists.
The company last month hired Jens Olsen, XPeng‘s former Managing Director for Northern Europe, as Head of Nordics, Central & Eastern Europe.
Xiaomi said at IFA it had delivered more than 700,000 vehicles in China since its first model, the SU7, reached customers in March 2024.
Nio’s German Retreat
Nio registered one new vehicle in Germany in September, bringing its total for the first nine months of the year to 20, down 90.5% from a year earlier, Federal Motor Transport Authority data show.
That compares with 1,263 registrations in 2023, Nio’s first full year in the German market.
Nio fired its German chief, David Sultzer, in February, and its German business is now managed by its European team in Amsterdam. The exit included all other country managers except An Ho, who leads the Norwegian market.
Nio Deutschland GmbH lost more than €58 million ($65.3 million) in 2023 on revenue of about €9.4 million ($10.6 million), according to its annual report, which was filed in January and first reported by Manager Magazin.
Its negative equity widened in that year from about €22.3 million ($25.1 million) to nearly €80.4 million ($90.5 million).
Nio cut prices in Germany by up to 37% in March to clear 2023 and 2024 inventory.
Chinese-built Nio vehicles face a combined 30.7% tariff in the European Union, including a 20.7% countervailing duty.
In May, Nio told European owners it would build no new battery swap stations in the region and would not introduce its next-generation NT3 models until late 2027 or early 2028, according to an attendee at the session.
Nio has about 20 swap stations in Germany.
Founder and CEO William Li said after a European trip last month that Nio would not pursue expansion in the region “for its own sake”.
Nio Inc delivered 109,178 vehicles worldwide in the third quarter, up 25.4% from a year earlier, without breaking down deliveries by country.
