Onvo's president met Nio's management in 2015 and joined Nio in January 2021 to work on creating Onvo's team.
(Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong (left) and Onvo president Ai Tiecheng prepare for the launch of the Onvo brand on May 14, 2024. Image credit: Nio)
Nio (NYSE: NIO) will officially launch Onvo (Ledao in China) in less than 10 hours in Shanghai, with the sub-brand headed by Ai Tiecheng, who had worked at Disney.
Ai has an English name, Alan Ai, but his Chinese name is more interesting, literally meaning "will surely succeed." He made a brief appearance at Nio's 500,000th production vehicle rollout earlier this month.
Early this morning, Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong detailed Ai's connection to Nio in a post on the Nio App.
Ai has a history of working at Disney and is the 107th owner of the Nio ES8 Founding Edition, Qin said, adding, "We feel confident putting the Onvo brand in his hands."
Ai got acquainted with the Nio management in 2015, when Nio was in the process of putting together a user experience team while he was busy preparing for the opening of Shanghai Disneyland.
At that time, Nio's management team would from time to time discuss with Ai how to design a more seamless user experience journey, according to Qin.
In 2016, when Nio launched its Seeds series of knowledge-sharing events, it invited Ai to give a talk where he shared how Disney creates delightful family experiences.
In December 2016, Ai was one of the first Nio community members to be invited to observe the first ever race of the second Formula E in Central, Hong Kong.
In October 2017, Ai was a guest of honor at the opening ceremony of the Nio House trial in Hkri Taikoo Hui, Shanghai.
In December 2017, Ai attended the first Nio Day in Beijing and reserved an ES8 at that time.
In May 2018, Ai locked in his Founding Edition #107 ES8 order, the first of four Nio vehicles he has owned, after attending Nio's first centralized user test drive event in Shanghai.
In January 2021, Ai officially joined Nio and began creating the team, internally codenamed Alps, or Onvo.
"Last night, May 14, 2024, we were all together preparing for the brand launch of Onvo and reflecting on the years of hard work and vision," Qin wrote.
Nio will hold the Onvo brand launch on May 15, starting at 7:30 pm Beijing Time.
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