As we’ve been writing for years, smart electric vehicle companies born in China that have done well there have openings in the auto markets of Europe and North America. They could find success in these markets as legacy automakers gradually make the shift from selling fossil-fueled cars to selling 100% electric ones.
Xpeng jumped into Europe at the end of 2020, starting with Norway. Now, NIO is on the verge of doing the same. NIO recently announced that it received European Whole Vehicle Type Approval (EWVTA) for the NIO ES8, a large electric SUV that sells quite well for its class in China. It is “officially approved for mass production and license plate registration in all EU countries.”
The NIO ES8 was already set to enter Europe through the north, Norway again, and deliveries to that (non-EU) country will begin in September. NIO is very focused on its overall consumer ecosystem, so it was happy to announce that much more is coming to Europe than just its cars and SUVs — “its direct sales and service network encompassing NIO House, NIO App for European users, Power Swap Stations, and NIO Life” is also on the way.
NIO ES8 interior. Photo courtesy of NIO.
For those of you interested in this level of information, here’s more on the new EU approval to sell cars in Europe: “Under Regulation (EU) 2018/858, the type approval certification was issued to the NIO ES8 and its systems, components, and separate technical units after corresponding engineering audits and module approvals. The EWVTA refers to the certification issued to a manufacturer for a vehicle type under the EU’s vehicle type-approval framework. The Regulation (EU) 2018/858, effective since September 1, 2020, has become the new statutory regulation for vehicle type approval in the EU. The regulation improves the independence of quality and vehicle testing and surveillance of cars already in the EU market.”
So, the big questions now are: 1) in which European countries will NIO sell cars, 2) how many cars does NIO expect to sell in Europe (and in each European country, in particular), 3) how many cars will it sell, 4) will NIO also find its way over to the United States soon-ish, 5) how will NIO’s overseas results compare to Xpeng’s (and BYD’s, for that matter), and 6) who’s next?
What are your thoughts on answers to those questions?
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