Nio‘s head of Sales and Operations for the German market Sven Conrad has left the company after spending three years at the Shanghai-based EV maker.
The exit follows a challenging year for the brand in Germany, where sales dropped 18% despite a 43% surge in nationwide EV registrations.
Unlike Norway, where the company’s vehicle registrations fell well below the target set by the country’s chief early last year, Nio did not set a public sales target for Germany last year.
Conrad joined Nio in September 2022, the same month the company entered the German market.
By then, he joined as a Network & Development Manager, a role that included “the implementation of the go-to-market strategy” and the “preparation of management reports and recommendations for action,” among others.
Conrad held the role for one year before moving to Head of Sales & Operations.
The job involved the “overall responsibility for operational sales management in Germany, focusing on efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction,” according to his LinkedIn page.
He served on the role for two and a half years. The departure was first reported by X user Marcel Münch on Tuesday.
Prior to Nio, Conrad worked for Tesla for nearly seven years, serving as Sales & Delivery Manager in South Germany for the last two years and a half.
He will now work as a Senior Strategic Sales Manager for BCA Europe.
At Nio, Sven Conrad was under the supervision of the general manager in the country.
Since the brand entered Germany, three different executives have held that position, all of whom Conrad reported to in the past.
Management
Ralph Kranz, former Commercial Director for Volvo in Germany, was appointed General Manager for Nio in the country in early 2022, ahead of the market launch.
Kranz then exited the company in early 2024, following disappointing results in Europe’s largest auto market.
Marius Hayler was hired by Nio to be the first General Manager in Norway, and led operations in the market until mid-2023, when he was moved to Germany to replace Kranz.
A year later, Hayler left to join Polestar, at the same time as Matt Galvin, former Head of European Sales at Nio.
They now serve as country managers for Norway and the UK, respectively.
Since June 2024, the role has been held by David Sultzer, formerly Nio‘s Regional Manager for East Germany.
Sales in Germany
Nio sold 325 vehicles in Germany last year, a 18% drop from 2024, despite a significant surge in EV registrations in the market.
In November, Nio set its lowest monthly sales in Germany since early 2023. In December, however, the figures rebounded to 89 vehicles, tripling year over year.
The German market remained the second largest for the brand last year, after Norway.
Despite launching its more affordable Firefly brand in Europe and expanding to new markets, where it partnered with local distributors, Nio‘s sales in the region declined in 2025.
Based on registration figures from seven of the ten markets where it operates, Nio sold 1,321 vehicles last year across both brands — down from 1,637 units sold in 2024 with the Nio brand alone.
