Nio surges 9% after releasing first flagship EV in more than two years

BEIJING — Chinese electric car company Nio seeks to raise the bar for premium vehicles in a highly competitive market.

U.S.-listed shares rose 9% on Wednesday after Nio officially launched its ES9 SUV at prices as low as 390,000 yuan ($57,470) while making a separate monthly payment for battery power, sending shares further into the green for 2026.

This reflects the ongoing race to the bottom in China’s electric car market, despite Beijing’s efforts to curb excessive competition, often referred to as implosion.

When Nio launched its flagship ET9 sedan in late 2023, prices started from 800,000 yuan. But before deliveries begin in the first quarter of 2025, the consumer electronics company Xiaomi It launched its first electric car at a price of 215,900 yuan.

Deliveries of the new ES9, which Nio claims is China’s largest SUV, begin on Thursday.

At a launch event in Beijing, CEO William Li showed off a range of features, from advanced driver assistance systems that can respond to road signs to passenger seats with wood-colored tables that fold out similar to those on airplanes. The ES9 also supports an in-car water boiler that allows passengers to brew tea.

Nio has signed up several brand promoters, including CEO Robin Zeng. CATLThe industry’s battery giant confirmed in a marketing video that nearly 2,000 of its employees have purchased Nio cars.

Li also highlighted how the ES9 proactively protects passengers with “smart safety” systems that can detect and minimize the impact of dangerous scenarios, prompting China’s state broadcaster CCTV to livestream a crash test and other safety features.

Nio delivered 83,465 cars in the first quarter; That’s nearly double what it was a year ago, but it was a 33% decline from the fourth quarter. That figure also includes vehicles from Nio’s lower-priced brands Onvo and Firefly, which the company has launched in the past two years to stay competitive in China’s stagnant consumer market.

Tesla’sModel Y was the best-selling SUV in China in terms of deliveries last month, according to industry data site China AutoHome. Elon Musk’s automaker last week received approval from Beijing to launch driver support in the country after years of waiting.

Nio’s ES8 ranked 10th in April deliveries for both electric and conventional gasoline-powered cars.

Foreign automakers are also stimulating competition in China’s premium market with lower prices.

Audi started pre-sales of its E7X electric SUV on May 8, with prices starting from 289,800 yuan, and will officially launch the vehicle on Friday morning. The vehicle is the second model of the German automaker’s new China-focused brand, which has been developed jointly with Shanghai’s SAIC and replaces the four-ring logo with the letters AUDI.