Electric carmaker NIO confident of beating Tesla in Chinese market

Chinese carmaker NIO is confident it can surpass competitors like Tesla in the Chinese market with its first mass-produced electric SUV, thanks to its knowledge of the domestic market and a sophisticated ecosystem of services, according to an executive from the company’s investment arm.

NIO was founded in 2014 by William Li and counts heavyweights such as Tencent, Baidu and Sequoia Capital among its investors. In April, the company unveiled the production model of its electric sports utility vehicle (SUV), the NIO ES8 at the Shanghai Auto Show.

The ES8 is expected to go on sale in early 2018, according to the company. The launch of the SUV will also pit NIO directly against companies like Tesla, which launched its Model X SUV in China last year.

Ian Zhu, partner at NIO Capital, an investment arm formed by NIO, Sequoia Capital and Hillhouse Capital, said the vehicles will be produced to the “highest global standards” and are specifically tailored to the requirements of Chinese consumers while remaining competitive both in performance and price compared to rival automakers.

“Companies like Tesla have been successful and they’ve built a good product, but when it comes to the Chinese market, NIO has an advantage in that it knows its customers and the market needs better,” Zhu said on the sidelines of this week’s TechCrunch Shenzhen conference.