NIO officially entered the European electric vehicle market after holding NIO Berlin 2022 on October 7th. The Chinese manufacturer brought three electric vehicle models to four European countries Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden marking NIO’s expansion into the old continent.
Previously, NIO has also been present in Norway, which has long been the friendliest place for selling electric vehicles in the world.
What’s interesting about this launch is that NIO offers a service it calls Subscription to NIO in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. This service allows local consumers to rent a vehicle instead of buying it.
This is in contrast to consumers in Norway who can buy NIO-produced electric vehicles.
In Germany, for example, subscription prices for the NIO ET7 electric sedan start at around 1,200 euros per month. The subscription business model is new to the European market, although it has worked in some other markets.
NIO CEO William Li said betting that flexibility will be a key selling point as drivers shift to new technologies.
“We’re not going to sell cars,” CEO William Li said in an interview at the company’s new showroom ‘Nio House’ in Berlin
NIO said in a release that subscriptions are an innovative service to offer maximum flexibility and personalization to drive EV usage. With terms ranging from one month to 60 months, users will be able to choose the vehicle that best suits their needs.
“Flexibility is the new premium.” said CEO William Li
Three NIO models for the European market namely ET7, EL7 (known as ES7 in China) and ET5 will be available for pre-order via subscription models in Germany, Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden for a period of 1-60 months.
Nio has sold fewer than 250,000 vehicles since starting production in 2018 and is a serious challenger to Tesla and BYD in China.
In addition to launching three electric vehicles for the European market, NIO will also install at least 120 battery swap stations in Europe by the end of next year. The company opened its first factory to produce exchange stations in Hungary last month.
NIO delivers its first Power Swap Station to Europe from a production facility in Hungary
