According to a report by local media outlet 36kr, NIO has replaced its head of vehicle engineering in an effort to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving electric vehicle (EV) market. NIO’s Executive Vice President and Product Committee Chairman, Zhou Xin, will now take on full responsibility for the company’s vehicle engineering operations.
Danilo Teobaldi, the previous Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, will now serve as NIO’s Chief European Vehicle Engineer. Teobaldi joined NIO in 2015, coming from Qoros, and has been responsible for the development and optimization of metrics such as vehicle dynamic performance and safety performance for the past three years.
The EV market is becoming increasingly competitive, and NIO needs to accelerate the rate at which new technologies are implemented and new products are launched to stay relevant. This could be one of the reasons for Teobaldi’s move, according to the report.
NIO’s current vehicle technology and projects are moving at a relatively slow pace, including validation related to the 800 V high-voltage platform. The 800 V platform is seen as the next key technological advancement for the sector, with mass production of the first products at scale due in 2023. However, NIO plans to launch its 800 V platform products in 2024, which is relatively late compared to its competitors.
With Zhou taking on responsibility for vehicle engineering, NIO is expected to further focus its resources internally and accelerate the speed and efficiency of vehicle development, providing leverage for future competition.
Zhou is one of NIO’s founding members, one of the company’s four committee chairs, and one of only two Executive Vice Presidents at NIO. The fact that he has taken over the engineering of vehicles is a sign of NIO’s urgent need to speed up vehicle development, according to the report.
