Four-hour follow-up with Nio: Controversy over the Firefly appearance, how to sell the ET9, and how to proceed in the new decade?

Twelve hours after the end of the 2024 NIO Day, Li Bin, Qin Lihong, and Jin Ge appeared in a media group interview to respond to the controversies and questions that arose in the public discourse after last night's press conference.

The two interviews lasted a total of four hours, and the questions mainly focused on the following three aspects:

The technical content of the ET9 is beyond doubt, but this is NIO's first time entering such a high price range. Is there a finalized confidence, strategy, and sales plan?

The appearance controversy of the Firefly has almost exploded in the automotive circle. Currently, it seems that everyone has a very rich interpretation. Was this anticipated by NIO? What kind of family responsibilities does this exquisite small car in the 150,000 yuan price range bear?

The competition for 2025 is about to begin, and this year's intensity has been unprecedented. Is NIO prepared to face the competition globally?

Today, we will not provide too much interpretation and will directly present the responses from the three individuals. Let's begin:

Firefly Controversy

1. Firefly President Jin Ge stated that "everyone's initial look, detailed look, and then look at the Firefly will feel different," and "after seeing the photos and the actual car, and then seeing it in the city, the quality of the Firefly will be enhanced to a certain extent."

The Firefly was designed by NIO's Munich team. Li Bin stated that the European team, including European partners, has given high praise for this car.

He added that the Firefly will accelerate the opportunity for everyone to see the actual car, and he believes the external evaluation will be different.

1. Qin Lihong believes that discussions are correct because there will always be a portion of people who like it and a portion who do not.

He added that cars are not like paper, cups, or napkins that can erase individuality; they can only be sold based on functionality and performance because they relate to people's lives and their expectations and reflections of their life status. Therefore, it is essential to respect that the automotive industry is inherently non-monopolistic; it is not a winner-takes-all scenario, and it has the essence of a hundred flowers blooming.

Finally, he concluded that the brand connotation of the Firefly is to shine freely, "not simply freedom, but I do not force others, nor do I force myself. I shine by being myself; this is a brand without a paternalistic flavor."

1. Regarding the cost of the Firefly, Li Bin stated that small cars must also have high safety standards. Although it is not visible, NIO will not compromise on this aspect, and achieving such high safety standards in a small car is indeed very challenging He stated, "China's supply chain is all there, can’t we make affordable small cars? However, creating a small car that meets high standards in all aspects is very difficult."

2. The Firefly will only have one model in China, while the global market may have targeted models based on different regions. Li Bin did not disclose the sales target, but Qin Lihong mentioned that the global markets vary; for example, when people think of Europe, they think of small cars, but in fact, the Scandinavian region is a market for larger vehicles.

3. Jin Ge stated that the high-end small car market is quite large globally, with a scale of nearly 10 million vehicles, including 4 million in Europe and 1.3 million in China. "There needs to be a brand originating from China that establishes itself in the high-end small car segment."

1. Jin Ge confirmed that the Firefly uses Horizon Robotics' intelligent driving chips, and Horizon is responsible for the perception aspects. The overall vehicle's regulation and integration work will still be completed by Nio.

2. The Firefly will not increase its size; otherwise, it will overlap with the positioning of the Lantu. Jin Ge stated that the Firefly will always maintain the style of a "refined small car," and they hope to achieve excellence in this category.

3. In terms of the cockpit system, the UI interface of the Firefly has been customized to a certain extent, making it more personalized, but 80% of the underlying code is borrowed from Nio, with the remaining 20% mainly for personalized development.

How will the ET9 be sold?

1. The pricing logic of the ET9 is actually anchored to the price of the "78S in the domestic manufacturing market."

Li Bin stated that the 78S is priced at around $100,000/€100,000 in both the German and American markets. The price in China is influenced by BBA's own business decisions, as well as factors such as displacement, consumption tax, and tariffs.

1. The 999 units of the ET9 launch edition have already sold out. Li Bin revealed that the midnight mirror porcelain blue option has a very high selection rate, and the upcoming concern is how to increase production capacity for prompt delivery.

2. When discussing the sales expectations for the ET9, Li Bin stated that it is destined not to be a hot-selling model in terms of numbers. "If we sell 1,000 units in a month, we would be quite happy."

3. Li Bin mentioned that Nio's design considers the overall perspective, "There is no need to do something very disruptive with every generation." For example, the height of the Nio ET9 is adjusted based on the visual coordination of the entire vehicle and the needs of the owner.

Additionally, future NT3.0 platform vehicles, including the Firefly, will feature a horizontal central control design.

1. The ET9 does not have a 5-seat design because if a 5-seat model were launched, it would face an awkward situation against the upcoming 6-seat and 7-seat SUVs that will use the NT3.0 platform Therefore, in response to the needs of the target audience, the ET9 only needs to focus on providing a good experience for four seats.

2. Regarding the ZunJie, Li Bin stated that the information is still not fully sufficient, but ZunJie is a "very promising and respectable product." He mentioned that the product value orientation of the ZunJie S800 and NIO ET9 is somewhat different, "which will create a good complementarity."

1. Li Bin stated that Banyan's capabilities are still strong, and of course, the ET9 is in a more advanced position—hence the statement that the ET9 is "a generation ahead." The iteration of future products will have corresponding cycles.

2. The 120kWh 46120 battery is still under development. Regarding the storage issues brought by different specifications of batteries, Li Bin stated that the fourth-generation battery swap station has 23 battery compartments, and currently, each station has about half of its compartments empty, so even if the types of batteries increase, the configuration will not be a problem.

3. Li Bin stated that the intelligent driving system should return to user interests. He believes that a system is essentially judged based on "safety" and "usability." For example, the ET9 should allow the target audience to use intelligent driving for 99% of their usage time.

1. ET9 users will not receive special treatment based on the reception standards at NIO House. Qin Lihong responded that NIO is "equal" in this regard.

2. Li Bin believes that the performance of intelligent driving can also be referenced by the attitude of insurance companies. As for cooperation with insurance companies, NIO is currently promoting the completion of a closed loop to make insurance premiums more reasonable.

How to proceed in the next decade?

1. Ten years ago, Li Bin first talked to Qin Lihong about car manufacturing, and at that time, it was not called NIO. He said the most impressive thing Li Bin said to him was:

"The automotive industry is not a winner-takes-all; in some industries, reaching third place globally theoretically means no profit. The automotive industry naturally allows for a variety of developments."

Qin Lihong summarized: "So we rarely think about who is more leading (in market share)."

1. With CATL entering the battery swap market, Li Bin stated it is very good, "If only we were doing it, that would be troublesome. Now our explanation is the simplest."

He gave an example: In the past, friends would ask, what happens to battery swapping when solid-state batteries arrive? Although these two matters do not fundamentally conflict, CATL definitely has better answers than us now.

"When more people are involved, this question no longer needs to be answered."

1. NIO has always had cooperation and communication with CATL regarding battery swapping, such as the battery asset company established in 2020 and the exchanges about asset management and battery swap standards over the past few years

2. NIO's operations in the Middle East are relatively autonomous, and the company is called NIO MENA (Middle East and North Africa). Qin Lihong stated that there is no situation of slowing down in the Middle East and North Africa, "Once we start, we go all out."

3. In the Hong Kong market, once the right-hand drive models are developed, "we will definitely provide services."

4. In 2024, NIO internally promoted two things that Li Bin called "very important." One is called the mining action, abbreviated as "save what can be saved"; the other is the establishment of an ROI-driven internal decision-making system, "hoping that every small thing can see some returns."

For example, during last night's NIO Day, there was originally a plan to use drones to showcase some highlights from the past decade at the end, but it was ultimately found that the returns were not high, "let's just skip it."

1. Li Bin believes that the concentration of the global automotive industry is not as high as in other industries. Many automotive companies will survive, but there will definitely be transformations; for example, those that were strong before may not be able to sustain after this wave.

Source: Electric Planet, original title: "Four Hours of Questions for NIO: Controversy Over Firefly Appearance, How to Sell ET9, and How to Move Forward in the New Decade?"

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