Chinese EV maker Nio on Tuesday unveiled a new limited-run dual-tone color theme for its flagship ET9 sedan — marking the second exclusive release in just nine days.
The ‘Verdant Forest, Golden Gleam’ theme is part of the ET9 ‘Horizon Edition’ line.
Limited to 99 units worldwide, the theme is priced from 838,000 yuan ($122,500) with the battery included or from 730,000 yuan ($106,700) under Nio’s Battery as a Service (BaaS) subscription program.
The 99-unit run features an emerald-green and gold two-tone exterior built on the ‘Horizon Edition”s dual-tone platform, first launched in September 2025.
“Inspired by Príncipe Island on the Equator, the design pays tribute to the Arctic tern, a bird born to journey that travels between the North and South Poles,” Nio wrote on Weibo.
The vehicle is now available at Nio showrooms across China, the company said.
On June 21, the EV maker released the ‘Pursuing Light at the Extremes’ theme, also under the dual-tone ‘Horizon Edition’ — and also limited to 99 units globally.
The colorway was inspired by the interplay of light and shadow during polar day and night.
Both themes carry a 20,000-yuan premium over the previous ‘Horizon Edition’ releases from March, when Nio launched the ‘Shimmering Light on Water’ and ‘Cosmic Moonlight‘ themes at 818,000 yuan each — limited to 199 units apiece.
The latest release arrives weeks after the launch of the ES9 flagship SUV, which shares many of the luxury and technology features first introduced with the ET9 — including the SkyRide fully active suspension, steer-by-wire system, in-house Shenji NX9031 chip, and 900-volt architecture.
Ownership Benefits
Buyers who place a deposit by September 30 receive a premium ownership package that Nio values at more than 100,000 yuan ($14,600).
The package includes 10 years of complimentary battery swapping at up to four times per month, five years of free NOP+ navigation-assisted driving, six years of connected services, three years of chauffeur service at 30 hours per year, three years of executive transfer service at six trips per year, and lifetime roadside assistance.
A six-year or 150,000-kilometer vehicle warranty and a 10-year unlimited-mileage powertrain warranty are also included.
Customers may alternatively forgo the business travel, vehicle ownership, and charging benefit packages and receive a 100,000-yuan reduction in the purchase price instead — lowering the entry point to 738,000 yuan with the battery or 630,000 yuan under BaaS.
Persistent Demand Weakness
The ET9 was unveiled at the company’s annual Nio Day event in 2023 and formally launched at the same event a year later.
Deliveries began in the final days of March 2025, when Nio handed over 89 units in three days.
April 2025 produced the model’s all-time high of 810 units — roughly half the 1,500-unit monthly pace that Deutsche Bank analyst Wang Bin had forecast at the time of the model’s debut.
Sales declined sequentially in May, June, and July, falling below 100 by mid-summer.
[Nio ET9 Monthly Sales Chart]
In the first five months of 2026, the ET9 recorded 59, 62, 72, 128, and 153 domestic registrations, respectively.
May’s 153 units marked a fourth consecutive month-over-month increase but remained 78% below the 682 units registered in May 2025.
Through May, cumulative registrations since launch totalled approximately 3,272 units across 15 months of availability.
The sedan accounted for roughly 0.8% of the Nio brand’s 20,013 deliveries that month.
Since the ET9’s December 2024 debut, Nio has released three standalone editions — the 999-unit ‘First Edition‘ at 818,000 yuan, which sold out within 12 hours; a ‘Signature Edition‘ at 808,000 yuan released days later without a strict production cap; and the ‘One-Millionth Vehicle Commemorative Edition‘ in January 2026, capped at nine units across three sub-themes.
Most subsequent releases have been limited color themes added to the dual-tone Horizon Edition platform, which debuted in September 2025 with a ‘Mirror of the Sky’ launch colorway inspired by Bolivia’s Uyuni salt flats.
Two themes — ‘FirstLight’ and ‘SunlitPeak‘ — followed at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November, drawing from black-sand beaches and the Meili Snow Mountain sunrise, respectively.
Group Momentum Led by SUVs
Nio’s broader trajectory contrasts sharply with the ET9. The group delivered 37,705 vehicles across its three brands in May — a 62.3% year-over-year increase and the highest monthly figure of 2026.
Management has guided for second-quarter deliveries of 110,000 to 115,000 vehicles.
With 29,356 delivered in April and 37,705 in May, between 42,939 and 47,939 units are due in June to meet that range.
Founder and CEO William Li has targeted 40% to 50% growth this year, implying between 456,000 and 489,000 units.
Volume continues to be dominated by the third-generation ES8, which delivered 11,475 units in May and has ranked first among models priced above 400,000 yuan in China for five consecutive months.
[Nio Monthly Sales Breakdown by Model]
SUVs — not sedans — have driven Nio’s growth over the past year. As Nio’s average selling price has risen on the back of ES8 and ES9 volumes, the sedan’s share of revenue and unit mix has become increasingly marginal.
The ES9’s early trajectory underscores the gap.
Nio delivered the 10,000th unit over the weekend — about 30 days after the first customers received their vehicles on May 28.
Around 70% of the first 10,000 buyers were new to the brand, many switching from combustion-engine rivals such as the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS.
The SUV starts at 498,000 yuan — 31% below the ET9’s 788,000-yuan starting price — despite sharing much of the sedan’s technology.
Co-founder and president Lihong Qin has said the ES9 will carry the highest gross profit per unit among Nio SUVs.
Li said at the ES9 media session that ET9 owners had placed orders for the SUV at the launch event, calling the pairing of the two flagships “a perfect match.”
The SUV reached 10,000 deliveries in roughly the same span it took the ET9 to accumulate 3,272 across 15 months.
