On December 21st, NIO's annual NIO DAY event was held in Guangzhou, and the intelligent electric executive flagship NIO ET9 was officially launched. The new car starts at 788000 yuan and can be purchased through BaaS battery rental, with a starting price of 660000 yuan. Delivery is scheduled to begin in March 2025. At the same time, NIO's third brand, "Firefly Firefly," was also released on the same day, and the first product was also available for pre-sale. With a deposit of 199 yuan, the new car starts at 148800 yuan and will be officially launched in April next year.
The release of two models has released NIO's ambition to enter the higher end market and penetrate the lower end market. With the cooperation of multiple brands, NIO founder and chairman Li Bin predicts that NIO's delivery volume is expected to double by 2025 compared to this year.
Making cars is too expensive for CEOs
At last year's NIO Day, the intelligent electric executive flagship NIO ET9 made its debut and began pre-sales. At this year's NIO Day, ET9 was officially launched. NIO founder and chairman Li Bin stated that this is the culmination of NIO's decade long technological innovation.
In order to demonstrate the performance of ET9, Li Bin personally conducted high-speed tire burst tests. In the video, he drove the NIO ET9 at speeds of 150km/h and 160km/h towards the ground stud to verify the safety capability of the NIO ET9 under tire burst conditions. He exclaimed, "It's too expensive to make a car now, CEO! I didn't dare to tell my wife before the test
Li Bin also invited former Volkswagen CEO Diess to participate in the ET9 Champagne Tower Challenge. They stacked tall glasses filled with champagne at the front of the ET9 to form a 5-layer champagne tower, and then the ET9 drove through a speed bump. The champagne tower remained stable and the champagne in the glass did not spill out.
The achievement of these performances is inseparable from NIO's research and development investment. Over the past decade, NIO has invested more than 53 billion yuan in technology research and development, making it one of the few companies in the world with complete core technologies in the intelligent, electric, and automotive sectors. The intelligent electric administrative flagship ET9 is the culmination of ten years of technological innovation.
Taking the tire blowout test as an example, it originated from the NIO ET9 wire controlled steering system, which eliminates the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the steering wheel, resulting in lower electrical signal delay and more precise control, saving interior space while maintaining vehicle stability in the event of a tire blowout. This technology also provides strong support for the implementation of its advanced intelligent driving functions, enabling it to better collaborate with other intelligent driving systems, such as automatic parking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, and other functions, bringing drivers a more intelligent, convenient, and safe driving experience.
ET9 has a high-level intelligent driving chip from Shenji, which can efficiently run various AI algorithms. The real driving data of 26 billion kilometers of users after desensitization provides massive high-quality data for the training of NIO World's NWM model through swarm intelligence. ET9 adopts a global 900V high-voltage architecture, with three leading technologies including the highest system voltage, peak charging power, and peak charging current at the vehicle end.
The ET9, which was officially launched after a year, was announced by Li Bin on site with a starting price of 788000 yuan. It will be purchased through BaaS battery rental, with a starting price of 660000 yuan, and is scheduled to be delivered in March 2025.
Third brand Firefly
At the same time, NIO's third brand, "Firefly Firefly," was officially launched on NIO Day this year. As a high-end smart electric car brand under NIO, the brand logo of Firefly Firefly is a firefly that is dancing and glowing, small, agile, and full of energy.
The positioning of the Firefly brand in NIO is equivalent to the MINI brand of BMW Group and the Samrt brand of Mercedes Benz Group. However, it is smarter and more MINI than MINI, "said Li Bin. The brand vision of Firefly is to create the best small cars for global users, providing new travel options for confident, comfortable, and life loving users.
Its exterior design is unique, with the iconic "trio" three eyed headlight design on both the front and rear. In terms of vehicle performance, Firefly focuses on flexibility, space practicality, and safety.
It is equipped with a 92L front trunk, which can not only accommodate daily necessities, but also drain water for fish farming. When the second row seats are folded down, the front and rear compartments can be expanded into a 1250L flat space. In terms of safety, the proportion of high-strength steel and aluminum alloy used is as high as 83.4%, which is comparable to luxury models. The whole car is also equipped with nine airbags as standard, providing comprehensive protection for the driver and passengers.
The first model of Firefly Firefly, Firefly Firefly, started pre-sales on the same day. The pre-sale price in the Chinese market is 148800 yuan, with a deposit of 199 yuan. It will be officially launched in April 2025.
With the release of the Firefly brand, NIO now owns three major brands: NIO, Ledao, and Firefly.
Using two to three brands to target different users is a relatively successful strategy, "Li Bin previously stated. NIO's three brand positioning is very clear, with NIO positioned in the high-end market, targeting both business and household users; Ledao Automobile targets mainstream household market users; Firefly Firefly positioning boutique car, serving the needs of families for their second car. The price ranges for the three are over 300000 yuan, over 200000 yuan, and over 100000 yuan, respectively.
However, the three brands will share resources with NIO's main brand in terms of software and hardware resources, charging infrastructure, etc. Li Bin previously estimated that NIO's annual sales for 2024 are expected to be 220000 vehicles. Adding the Ledao brand, NIO's overall sales target for 2025 is to double its sales to 440000 vehicles.
