The Chinese brand Nio will create three new independent brands. Objective: to impose itself on the electric market.
In addition to its NIO and ALPS brands, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer NIO plans to launch a new brand of electric vehicles to cover the lower-end vehicle market. The aim of this approach is to offer more accessible and less expensive products. And therefore, to attract new customers by covering the market with lower selling prices.
The new brand would like to market an electric vehicle similar to a city car. The project is codenamed “Firefly” or “GJ”. Prices will start at 14,000 euros, eventually reaching 29,0000 euros. For the moment, no launch date has been announced. As a reminder, Nio has already launched a second brand last year. The latter also intends to ride the trend of “premium at low prices”. And this, by creating a model offering labels between 29,000 and 43,000 euros. For the moment, this second entity has no name and responds to the code designation “ALPS project”, reports 36Kr. Serial production is expected to start in 2024.
Just like the “ALPS project”, the third brand will be managed independently and will have its own resources and development (R&D) systems and its own management committee. Moreover, the Beijing and Shanghai teams have already entered an aggressive recruitment phase. At the moment, the Chinese brand has more than 16,000 employees in total.
Nio is not the only manufacturer to consider that the launch of a new range, more affordable or more luxurious, requires the creation of a distinct brand. In fact, it’s more of a standard practice in the automotive industry. For example, Lexus, Toyota’s premium label is a good example.
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