Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter
NIO Europe Vice-President Hui Zhang confirmed on Friday via LinkedIn that the EV maker is joining the German Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) ahead of the expansion to the country later this year. After entering the European market in 2021 through Norway — the market with the highest EV adoption — NIO will now expand to Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and The Netherlands.
On LinkedIn, Zhang wrote “I’m delighted that NIO is joining the German VDIK (Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers) ahead of our market launch here. I understand that NIO is the 44th brand welcomed by the German association, and I believe it demonstrates both our investment and commitment to play an important role here”.
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“As a premium brand, we at NIO wholeheartedly embrace smart technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and FOTA. From autonomous driving through to the flexibility of our integrated charging infrastructure, I’m always very proud when users tell me how much these features genuinely improve the ownership experience. After all, user experience, innovative technologies and an active community are the cornerstones for our success. And I can assure you that all three form part of our strategy for launching in Germany in Q4 2022,” he added.
“I know that NIO is committed to play a key role in this new era of mobility and supporting the energy transition right here in Germany. Joining the VDIK network is a proud moment for me and the rest of the NIO team and I’m looking forward to benefit from the VDIK’s vast expertise as well as contributing my own ideas! I’d really like to thank VDIK president Reinhard Zirpel personally for the support he has shown to me and NIO ahead of our entry,” he concluded.
The Association of International Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (VDIK) was founded in 1952 in Frankfurt am Main. Even before the VDIK was founded, the “Motor Vehicle Importers Group” existed as an association within the Central Association of the Motor Vehicle Trade (ZDK). However, seven automobile importers broke away from the ZDK in 1952, founded the VDIK and thus established their own interest group. They had a market share of just 4 percent”, VDIK says.
On Thursday, NIO released its Q1 2022 Earnings results reporting $1.45b from vehicles sales, a 24.8% increase quarter-over-quarter. The results were followed by a conference call with the management team where the CEO William Li unveiled that the company and achieved “an all-time high order inflow in May 2022” despite the pandemic resurgence in China.
On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology officially released another batch of upcoming models to the country which includes NIO ET5. The Shanghai-based company will start the production of two new models this year and both will include a retractable electric tow hook capable of towing up to 1400kg.
Earlier this week, NIO surpassed the U.S.-based Lucid Motors in Market cap becoming the third biggest EV maker after Tesla and BYD. On Monday, NIO stock opened higher at $18.99 and immediately saw buy pressure gapping up to a new 6-weeks high of $19.80 resulting in a Market Cap value of $31.482 billion. In parallel, Lucid stock went down to $18.80 per share which, considering the 1.67 billion shares outstanding, results in a market cap value of $31.412 billion.
NIO will hold a conference to officially launch the new SUV model NIO ES7 on June 15, at 20:00 in Shanghai timezone. The company will start receiving reservations on the evening of the conference and the orders will start to be locked in July with the first deliveries expected as soon as the end of August.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com | LinkedIn | Twitter
