Nio on Saturday launched the Horizon Edition of its flagship ET9 sedan, a special version of the brand’s most expensive and most advanced model, as it seeks to revive demand in China’s luxury EV market.
Named Horizon Edition, the variant was first unveiled in mid-July when it appeared in a catalogue released by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The company’s founder and CEO William Li presented in front of the seven thousand attendees of the Nio Day event, the new variant, which adds exterior/interior design changes with the biggest one being the dual tone body.
Prices for the Horizon edition begin at 818,000 yuan, equivalent to $115,000 — when acquiring the model with the battery.
The price drops to 710,000 yuan ($99,800) when adopting the Battery as a service model where customers rent the 102kWh battery pack instead of buying it outright
Deliveries are planned to start by the end of September across China.
The Shanghai-based EV maker said earlier that the Horizon Edition continues the ET9’s “flying aircraft body” design while introducing a two-tone exterior scheme and an all-new aerodynamic wheel design.
“All-new aerodynamic wheel design, with a surface inspired by sculpted metalwork, meticulously crafted for an elegant and dynamic presence,” Nio said in a previous social media post.
Nio vice president of product management Ted Li said the Horizon Edition was developed in response to feedback from owners seeking more personalized design options. “After ET9 deliveries began, we had in-depth conversations with many of our owners.
A number of them expressed the desire to personalize their ET9, and some have already made thoughtful modifications to their vehicles — with impressive results,” Li wrote on Weibo.
“To better meet the growing demand for personalized design, we will be launching the ET9 Horizon Edition, a special version of the model, later this year.”
Pricing remains aligned with the existing lineup.
The ET9 is available through Nio’s battery-as-a-service (BaaS) program, lowering the entry price to 660,000 yuan ($92,800) for customers leasing the battery separately.
With the battery included, the four-seat sedan is priced at 788,000 yuan ($111,000), while the 999-unit First Edition — launched at last year’s Nio Day — sold out within 12 hours at 818,000 yuan ($115,000).
That is more than twice the starting price of the ES6 SUV, Nio’s best-seller, which begins at 338,000 yuan ($46,100).
The ET9 was officially launched at last year’s annual event in Guangzhou, and deliveries began across China on March 29.
In the last three days of March, the brand delivered 89 units of the sedan. In its first full month in the market, 810 ET9s were handed over — the highest monthly figure year to date — before deliveries fell month over month in May, June and July.
Registrations plunged 72.3% in July to 85 vehicles from 305 in June, before edging up 8.2% in August to 92 units.
As of the end of August, 2,065 ET9s had been delivered in China.
Data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Tuesday that the EV maker Nio delivered fewer than 100 units of its flagship sedan for the second consecutive month.
Shortly after the launch event last year, Deutsche Bank analyst Wang Bin said the firm expected Nio to sell “approximately 1,500 units per month.” “We appreciate the ET9 sedan’s elegant design and advanced technologies, and estimate it will sell approximately 1,500 units per month,” Bin’s wrote last December.
The sedan features what Nio calls its most advanced suite of technologies to date, including its Shenji NX9031 autonomous-driving chip, steer-by-wire, a next-generation digital cockpit, a high-end audio setup, and an integrated hydraulic fully active suspension.
Although the model is not yet available in Europe, Nio displayed the ET9 in its Munich showroom earlier this month amid the IAA Mobility show, and hosted a media event with partner and supplier ClearMotion, a Nio Capital–backed startup that develops active-suspension technology used by both Nio and Porsche.
