Author: Huangshan

This is probably the simplest press conference I’ve ever attended.

No complicated procedures, no lengthy speeches, no excessive packaging, no stunning stage effects. The CEO took half an hour to release three new car models.

This was the “Chuang” Media Communication Conference of NIO ES, held yesterday (June 22nd). CEO William Li casually stepped onto the stage, pacing slowly and speaking softly, without using fancy words or prompting devices. This kind of press conference is rare in the industry today.

Later, NIO ES hosted a media interview for which I will share the key content below.

“We are also a user enterprise”

When it comes to user enterprises, we naturally think of “XPeng Motors.” They talk about it every month but isn’t being a user enterprise about doing instead of talking?

William Li shared NIO ES’s sales data in the opening session: “In May, 4,508 ES8s were delivered, and on May 10th, the 40,000th ES8 was manufactured. Sales will continue to grow in June, but delivery pressure will be considerable due to chip shortage. This means that if not for the chip problem, sales data would be even better.”

NIO ES’s main product currently on the market is the NIO ES8, with over 20,000 car owners who engage in many interactions and produce a large amount of data on a daily basis.

“These user interaction data points provide us with great help. We even picked the name for our fans ‘NIO Iron,’ and our user community is called ‘NIO Iron Universe.'” William Li said.

Not only that, William Li believes that users should also participate in product definition and have a say in guiding the direction of the company. In the past, NIO ES received more than 65,000 product suggestions. The NIO ES8 new version launched at this press conference incorporated the different demands of male and female users and introduced two versions with targeted personal configurations.

“Even that is not enough. We need to let our users benefit from participating. We hope that everyone can use, participate in, and benefit from it. Therefore, we are introducing the first-ever user fund worth 100 million yuan, which will be used to collect user creatives and feedback. We will invite users to define our products and services, and the fund will be returned to everyone over the next 18 months.”, William Li said.

During this process, William Li emphasized that NIO ES is also a user enterprise, and their slogan is “The people’s car, made by the people.”

Not leaving any demographic behind

The two new NIO ES8 models released this time are called “Magic Edition” for men and “Witch Edition” for women.An athletic one exudes vigor, while the other is cute and delicate.

Both versions—the “Moli Edition” priced at CNY 76,900 and the “Witch Edition” priced at CNY 72,900—are offered at an affordable price to cater to the public.

Achieving the ultimate cost performance without compromising quality and features is the basic logic of NETA. This is also why the NETA V, launched in November 2020, has already sold more than 20,000 vehicles.

Meanwhile, the “Magic Kid Edition” of NETA V, a children’s electric car, excited the media at the event. It claims to be the first electric car given to a child.

It features a national 3C certification, automotive-grade paint, genuine leather seats, and has both remote control and driving functions…It makes me want to buy one for my son.

The price is only CNY 2,999.

My first reaction was that this price was definitely a loss and at the very least, not profitable. However, today’s parents’ investment in their children is definitely generous. Even if NETA loses money by selling this car, it’s worth it because a child represents a whole family. This directly reaches potential customers.

Moreover, when my son drives this car in the community, it will attract the envious eyes of many other children. This advertising effect is too valuable. A small car radiates to the entire community with kids, and I’m already imagining this scene.

We’re still at war, let’s talk about it in 2025

In May, NETA’s sales reached the third place among new automakers, replacing Ideal Auto. Zhang Yong said: “A month of data doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t explain anything, we have a clear understanding of this internally, and we need to continue working hard.“

Zhang Yong believes that NETA needs to go through three stages, each of which is a battle.

• Phase one: Achieve monthly sales of 10,000 vehicles.
• Phase two: Launch a car that can compete with gasoline cars in the price range of CNY 100,000-200,000. The current electric car models still have a gap.
• Phase three: Achieve annual sales of 400,000-500,000 by 2025.

Zhang Yong believes that NETA will only have a foothold in the market after achieving this goal by 2025. Judging from the market situation of both the C-end and B-end, NETA’s sales data is still growing rapidly.

Zhang Yong shared another piece of data at the event: In 2020, nearly one billion people in China had a monthly income of less than CNY 2,000. With a population of 1.4 billion, if we exclude the lowest and highest income groups, NETA can still serve about one billion people.”The market for this group of people is very large and growing rapidly. They have a need for travel and a yearning for a better life. Making a more universal car is the need of the people, but also the most difficult. However, from my past experience, a few years ago, vehicles with a range of 400 km were selling for 120,000 yuan, while our NETA V is only over 70,000 yuan now. The speed of this price decrease is astonishing,” said Zhang Yong.

“The people make the car, and the car is priced for the people.” These slogans are plain and simple, but they embody the great dream of NETA Automobile. This reminds me of one of the world’s largest car companies, Volkswagen. Its name, Volkswagen, actually means people’s (Volks) car (Wagen).”

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.