Nio Aims to Accelerate Growth with New Factory and Budget Brand Push

Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio is implementing a strategic shift toward improved efficiency and cost control while expanding production capacity to address growth that’s currently lagging two years behind schedule. CEO William Li made these announcements during a press briefing in Shanghai, according رويترز.

The company plans to begin production at its third manufacturing facility in the latter half of 2025, while simultaneously targeting ambitious delivery goals for its recently launched budget brand, Onvo. The automaker aims to achieve monthly deliveries of 20,000 vehicles from the Onvo lineup by March 2025, signaling a significant push into the mass-market segment.

Despite maintaining 30-40% annual growth over the past three years, Li acknowledged this performance falls short of company expectations. This admission comes as Nio navigates an increasingly competitive Chinese EV market, where price pressures have intensified across all segments. The company’s strategy includes expanding its customer base through more affordable offerings while implementing cost-cutting measures, including workforce reductions and the postponement of long-term projects that won’t contribute to financial performance within a three-year window.

Central to this strategy is the Onvo brand, launched in May with the L60 SUV. Priced at $30,300, the L60 positions itself as a direct competitor to تيسلا‘s الموديل Y, which starts at $34,500 in the Chinese market. This pricing strategy reflects Nio’s determination to capture a larger share of الصين‘s rapidly growing mass-market EV segment.

The company is also carefully evaluating the impact of recent U.S. semiconductor export restrictions to China. While Li indicated that high-performance computing chips for vehicles have adequate domestic alternatives, he highlighted a more nuanced challenge: replacing the hundreds of thousands of lower-cost foreign chips, typically priced at $1-2 each, with domestic equivalents. This scenario underscores the complex supply chain dependencies facing Chinese EV manufacturers.

These developments come as China’s EV market continues to evolve rapidly, with domestic manufacturers increasingly competing on both technology and price points. Nio’s strategic adjustments reflect broader industry trends toward cost optimization and market expansion, even as established players work to maintain growth trajectories in an increasingly competitive landscape.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​