Nio Inc. has ousted Ning Qu, the engineer who had led the SkyOS vehicle operating system, and reinstated Qiyan Wang as the platform’s leader — a person familiar with the matter told EV on Sunday.
The company unveiled the operating system at the NIO IN event in September 2023, calling it “China’s first intelligent vehicle operating system.”
Wang, a veteran who joined the EV maker a decade ago, had previously led SkyOS before Ning Qu was placed in charge of the platform, according to the same source.
Nio‘s Shenji NX9031 smart-driving chip, SkyOS all-domain operating system, and SkyRide intelligent chassis were deployed in mass-produced vehicles last year.
The upcoming flagship ES9 SUV, set to launch later this month, will bring the company’s full suite of top technologies to a single SUV for the first time.
The Shanghai-headquartered carmaker has not publicly announced Ning Qu’s departure as of early Sunday.
Ning Qu’s exit was first reported by EV earlier this week as a quiet move to autonomous-driving software firm Applied Intuition, where he joined as Head of Vehicle System in February.
The source told EV on Sunday that Ning Qu was sidelined last year — moved from team head to individual contributor — before being dismissed in early 2026 as the company continues its efforts to control costs.
Wang Returns to SkyOS Leadership
Wang is VP of Engineering for Digital Systems at Nio and joined the company in June 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He led SkyOS before Ning Qu was placed in charge of the platform, the source told EV.
According to the source, Wang’s superior at the time had expanded his scope from the digital systems department to also cover SkyOS, before bringing Ning Qu in as chief of architects.
Nio subsequently merged engineering with architecture, and Ning Qu was promoted to VP overseeing both, with the elevated title reporting up to Wang, according to the source.
The source described Wang as having been the boss of SkyOS who initially brought Ning Qu in and then had him removed.
Wang’s LinkedIn profile claims credit for engineering and deploying SkyOS as “industry-first AI-oriented full-domain operation system for autonomous driving vehicles” across more than 1 million vehicles, encompassing real-time operating system, microkernel, hypervisor, middleware, and AI inference components.
His broader scope at Nio covers the digital architecture supporting all three of Nio‘s brands — including the in-house Electrical and Electronic Architecture (CCC+Zone) and Service-Oriented Architecture platforms.
He has also overseen the Connected Cloud and infrastructure scaling for more than 1 million cars and 5 million daily mobile users, hardware and connectivity development of Gateway and Telematics ECUs, and integration of 5G, V2X, Wi-Fi, BLE, UWB, NFC, GNSS, ETH, CAN, and LIN networks.
The executive joined the EV maker two years before the first mass produced model — the ES8 SUV — was launched. As of the end of April, Nio Inc. had over 1,110,000 vehicles on the road.
Wang says on his profile that he is also “spearheading DEX foundation models and contact-centric AI for dexterous robotic hands” — connecting his work to Nio‘s broader AI ambitions.
He has served as a board member of the seL4 Foundation since June 2021, the open-source microkernel project that has informed safety-critical operating system design across automotive, aerospace, and defense industries.
Ning Qu Sidelined
Ning Qu was placed on the side last year, according to the source, transitioning from team head to individual contributor before his dismissal.
Ning Qu joined Applied Intuition in February as Head of Vehicle System, based at the company’s Sunnyvale, California, headquarters, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The move ended a four-year tenure at Nio during which he had been listed as overseeing the rollout of SkyOS across the lineup.
SkyOS Strategic Importance
Nio unveiled SkyOS at the NIO IN 2023 event in September 2023, describing it as “China’s first intelligent vehicle operating system.”
The platform encompasses the vehicle system, driving assistance, intelligent cockpit, energy replenishment services, and connectivity.
SkyOS is built around what Nio describes as a 1+4+N technology cluster, addressing the integration of software, hardware, and services and resolving issues related to security, real-time performance, and application complexity across different domains.
Founder and chief executive officer William Li framed SkyOS as central to the company’s full-stack innovation strategy at the unveiling event.
“Nio has always innovated continuously around all scenarios and product lifecycle to improve user experience and lead technological transformation,” Li said in 2023.
“Behind the long-term R&D investment and numerous technological achievements is Nio‘s values-driven system of technological innovation, which is also a necessary condition for the long-term development of a smart electric vehicle company with global operations,” Li added.
SkyOS reached mass production in September 2024 on the Onvo L60 — Nio Inc.‘s first sub-brand model — and has since been deployed across additional vehicle programs including the Nio-brand third-generation ES8 and the upcoming ES9, the Onvo L80 and L90, and the Firefly small car.
More than 120,000 vehicles had been delivered with SkyOS within the platform’s first 15 months, according to public statements from Ning Qu before his departure.
Sales
The leadership change comes as the main Nio brand posts its first year-over-year decline in 2026, while the sub-brands Onvo and Firefly both increased from a year ago despite the sequential decline.
The Shanghai-based EV maker reported 29,356 deliveries in April, down 17.3% from March’s 35,486 units, with the Nio brand alone falling 1.3% year-over-year to 19,024 vehicles.
Nio‘s US-listed shares fell 7.5% on Friday to a fresh low since late March at $5.91, with investors discounting the headline 22.8% year-over-year delivery growth as artificially flattered by Firefly‘s near-zero base in April 2025.
Li told employees last month to “seize” the second quarter, predicting that deliveries should steadily increase through May and June as the Onvo L80 launches mid-month and the Nio ES9 ramps from June 1.
Both new model launches will rely on the SkyOS platform Wang has now resumed leading.
