Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to become Nio‘s seventh market. After expanding to Norway in 2021 and four other markets in late 2022, the new expansion wave is about to start for the Shanghai-based manufacturer.
Since announcing in January 2021 that it would be present in “25 markets and regions by 2025”, the company has expanded to five markets across central and northern Europe.
Over the last few months, several Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers have been announcing the expansion to markets and continents as the tariffs imposed by the European Commission wait for final confirmation.
The BYD has recently launched its new hybrid pickup model Shark in Mexico and will open a plant in the country that will create 10,000 jobs. XPeng has started selling its sedan P7 and its flagship SUV G9 in Egypt marking its entrance into the African market.
Neta, a brand developed by Hozon New Energy Automobile, opened its first store in Kenya in June. Also, Zeekr, the premium EV brand from the Geely Holding Group, is expanding to Latin America including Mexico, Colombia, and Chile.
Late last month, Nio’s engineering and product development team tested its vehicles to a range of harsh conditions in the Desert, including temperatures reaching up to 124°F (51 degrees Celsius).
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Over the last few days, the EV maker has launched a website dedicated to the UAE market with new accounts on X, Instagram, and LinkedIn also going online.
Roberto Lopes da Silva, the general manager of the UAE market joined Nio in May after spending one year as a Chief Sales Officer at the Canadian EV company AXL.
“Since its founding, NIO has been a global company. Our users, employees, and investors come from all over the world. In 2023, we formed a strategic partnership with CYVN Holdings, an investment firm backed by the Abu Dhabi Government, to collaborate on international growth. Together we are working to bring our mission to life, starting right here in the UAE,” Nio CEO William Li and Lopes da Silva stated in the letter published on the website.
In December 2023, Nio secured a $2.2 billion investment from CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi-based investment vehicle, which increased CYVN’s ownership to 20.1 percent of Nio’s total issued and outstanding shares.
This followed a $1 billion investment made by CYVN a year ago in July 2023.
During the first-quarter earnings conference call in early June, Nio founder and CEO William Li announced the company’s plans to expand into the Middle East later this year.
“Regarding our entry into the Middle East market, we are preparing to offer our products and services in the UAE,” Li stated.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
