Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com
On February 15th, NIO’s Co-founder, Director, and President Lihong Qin confirmed that the company will unveil a new model: NIO ES7. The EV manufacturer will launch its new five-seater SUV in mid-April and will show it to the public at the 2022 Beijing Auto Show. The international automotive exhibition will take place at the China International Exhibition Center of Beijing from April 21st to April 30th. The first photos leaked on December 29th, showing some differences compared with the existing models. Deliveries in China are expected to start during Q4 2022 with the European Market receiving the first units early next year.
During the Conference held on February, Lihon Qin said: “We will officially release a brand-new new car in mid-April, which is named the Gemini (Coding name for the model). In the past, people misunderstood that it was a new brand. Officially named ES7, the model will be between ES6 and ES8. It is positioned as a medium and large five-seater SUV with an NT2.0 platform. The comfortable one is stronger. ES7 is competing with X5, the two most competitive five-seater SUVs this year.”
SPECS
- Equipped with NT2.0 Hardware — the layout of the watchtower is basically the same as the one used by ET7 and ET5 Model with NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving) included.
- The outflowing model is the shell of the ES6 — It is known that the ES7 will be longer than the current ES6 captain, and it is positioned between the NIO ES8 and the NIO ES6.
- The charging port of ES7 in low located in a different area.
- The intelligent cockpit hardware carried in the car is also likely to be Qualcomm Snapdragon’s 8155 processor.
READ MORE: NIO: next catalysts and why I am Bullish for the upcoming months (by C. Afonso)
On January 17th, the model was spotted on the road in China under Spy Mode. These tests on the road are part of the process for any company months before launching a new model.
POSITION IN THE MARKET
Lihon Qin said that NIO ES7 will target the same market that BMW X5: “ES7 is competing with X5, the two most competitive five-seater SUVs this year”. Although the company didn’t confirmed the final price yet, it is expectable to start around ¥382,000 ($60,000USD). The 2022 BMW X5 xDrive45e Plug In Hybrid costs ¥382,200 so NIO ES7 price may be around $55,000 – $65,000.
Last week, Volkswagen’s CEO Diess named NIO and Xpeng as the main competitors due to its “technology-oriented” spirit: “We see the Chinese competitors, mostly the technology-oriented like NIO or Xpeng, we see as very serious competitors in the future. And yes, we watch out for their primary activity. We always knew that this game of EVs would be a new game where you start with a sheet of paper. Still, I think that we are able to compete with our worldwide volume basis, with our technology, with the quality of product with our brands. And I would say our success in this first round of EV competition is quite — make us quite confident. “
According to the photos leaked on Weibo during last week, the first NIO ET7 Model rolled off the production at the Heifei factory, in Anhui province. “Hefei vehicle trial production center was completed, and the first vehicle ceremony was held” — can be read on the image below. The company will start NIO ET7 deliveries on March 28th.
NIO delivered 6,131 vehicles in February 2022, representing an increase of 9.9% year-over-year. The deliveries consisted of 1,084 ES8s, the Company’s six- or seven-seater flagship premium smart electric SUV, 3,309 ES6s, the Company’s five-seater high-performance premium smart electric SUV, and 1,738 EC6s, the Company’s five-seater premium smart electric coupe SUV. As of February 28, 2022, cumulative deliveries of the ES8, ES6 and EC6 reached 182,853 vehicles.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com