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China’s NIO eyes second European market, plans to sell its ET7 luxury car in Germany from next year
- ‘Entering Germany is an objective that we’re striving for,’ says William Li, NIO’s co-founder and CEO
- Germany will be NIO’s second European market after Norway
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Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker NIO plans to start selling its ET7 luxury cars in Germany by the fourth quarter of 2022.
“Entering Germany is an objective that we’re striving for,” William Li, NIO’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Interest is very high with many requests from potential users there.”
The Shanghai-based EV maker, Beijing-based Li Auto and Guangzhou-based Xpeng Motors are viewed as Chinese start-ups most likely to challenge US carmaker Tesla, the runaway leader in China’s EV market. Germany will be NIO’s second European market after Norway.
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The ET7 was launched at the beginning of this year. Its standard edition, with a 70 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery and a driving range of 500 kilometres, has been priced at 448,000 yuan (US$69,500) in China.
The EV’s extended edition will be powered by a 150kWh battery and is said to have a range of 1,000 kilometre, which would make it the EV with the world’s farthest driving range. Production has yet to start on any variant and NIO has not revealed a price for the extended range ET7.
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NIO’s Germany announcement came after its sales in mainland China hit a speed bump in August, with deliveries slumping 26 per cent from a month earlier. Trailing Tesla, NIO and its Chinese competitors have come to car assembly in the last decade. They are now beginning to set their eyes on the global market, echoing Beijing’s ambitions of turning China’s EV industry into a global powerhouse.
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