Finance Association, May 16 (Reporter Tang Zhixiao) NIO Auto's own “Model Y” is here!

Recently, NIO released the L60, the first product owned by Ledao Auto. The pre-sale price was 219,900 yuan. Pre-orders began today, and it was officially launched for sale in September.

At the press conference, NIO CEO Li Bin revealed that in terms of cost, this car will be 10% lower than the Tesla Model Y, and the starting price will be close to 200,000 yuan, which is 30,000 yuan lower than the starting price of the competitor Tesla Model Y.

Although it is a subsidiary brand of NIO, there is a clear difference between Ledao Auto and the main brand's target customer base. A Financial Services Association reporter learned during a visit to NIO Auto's store that Ledao Auto will set up separate sales channels, but it will also share some after-sales systems and some power exchange stations with NIO Auto.

Some industry insiders analyzed this, and Ledao's target price range is lower, so it is not bound by NIO's “luxury car” brand positioning, and the market strategy will be more flexible.

Independent sub-brands cannot enjoy “NIO benefits”

At the Ledao Auto press conference, NIO CEO Li Bin revealed that in terms of cost, the starting price of the L60 will be close to 200,000 yuan, which is 30,000 yuan lower than the starting price of the competitor Tesla Model Y.

Judging from the information released on site, Ledao Auto is positioned in the mainstream home market, focusing mainly on interior space and ride comfort. According to relevant data, the L60 has a length of 4828 mm, a width of 1930 mm, and a wheelbase of 2,950 mm.

The reporter learned that the batteries in Ledao cars and NIO cars will not work together. According to current information, Ledao uses 60-degree batteries.

On the day of the press conference, Ai Tiecheng, senior vice president of NIO and president of Ledao Auto, revealed that Ledao Auto will now accept pre-orders, with a pre-sale price starting at 219,900 yuan. “The LEDO L60 will be officially released and launched in September this year.”

According to Li Bin, as early as 2014 and 2015, when Qin Lihong co-founded NIO, they had already clearly planned the development path of the Ledao brand.

Compared to other “starting from scratch” tram brands, the development of Ledao will rely on NIO's established perfect supply chain system, management system, etc.

Despite this, there is some internal distinction between Ledao and NIO.

A reporter from the Financial Services Association visited NIO Auto stores in Hangzhou and Shenzhen. Store sales told the reporter that Ledao Auto's cars on display will definitely not be sold within the NIO Auto store channel; there will be a separate store channel later. “Moreover, the NIO brand is self-operated, but Ledao Auto will not be completely self-operated; it will introduce dealer agents.”

A Financial Services Association reporter inquired about recruitment software. Currently, Ledao Auto has begun recruiting sales staff, but currently the recruitment area is limited to the Beijing area, and there are no jobs available in first-tier cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

At the previous NIO 2023 earnings conference call, Li Bin had clarified the position of Ledao in NIO's power exchange network. He said that in the future, NIO power exchange networks will be divided into two types: “private networks” and “shared networks”. The former is a dedicated network for NIO users and cannot be used by Ledao users; the latter is a power exchange network shared by NIO, Alps, and other brands.

Regarding power exchange benefits, store sales told the reporter: Although it is a subsidiary brand of NIO, many NIO car owners can enjoy the benefits that Ledao car owners cannot enjoy. “For example, a power exchange station, Ledao Auto can only use part of it; NIO's own power exchange station cannot be used, and the after-sales system will not fully use NIO Auto.”

The official sales staff on the Ledao side also confirmed to the Financial Federation reporter that the Ledao L60 supports fourth-generation power exchange stations and is only compatible with some NIO third-generation power exchange stations.

NIO wants to increase, counting on Ledao

According to public data, at the end of 2023, NIO sold about 160,000 units. Although it failed to achieve the target of 200,000 units, it was second only to ideal in the sales list of new car builders.

However, in the first quarter of 2024, NIO's total delivery volume was 30053 units, down 3.2% year on year. In the sales rankings of new car builders, NIO fell to fifth place, falling behind Quanjie, Ideal, Zero Run, and Extreme Krypton.

Li Bin confessed during the first quarter earnings conference that although NIO has made progress in various fields, such as successfully launching second-generation products, releasing NIO phones, and reaching power exchange plant cooperation with six major brands including Changan and Geely, the overall performance fell short of expectations. The revenue of 10.7 billion yuan in the first quarter fell far short of expectations of 15.74 billion yuan.

How to find incremental growth for the business has become NIO's most urgent task right now.

In order to cope with this year's wave of price cuts for new energy brands, NIO first released a new battery rental service (BaaS) plan. The vehicle price was reduced by 70,000 yuan, and the monthly rent for standard battery life and long battery life battery packs was reduced to 728 yuan and 1128 yuan respectively, with reductions of 35% and 49%, respectively.

In April of this year, NIO also announced an optional subsidy of 10,000 yuan for fuel vehicle users who bought 2024 new cars, with a total subsidy budget of 1 billion yuan. In May, NIO also launched a “0 down payment” car purchase plan and an exclusive subsidy of up to 20,000 yuan for “trade-in”.

However, NIO, which has maintained its position as a “luxury brand,” has always been somewhat restrained, and nominally has never dared to break through the bottom line below 300,000 yuan. Therefore, the listing of Ledao has strategic significance for Li Bin.

Some industry insiders analyzed to the reporter that the new brand Ledao, which is not bound by “luxury brands,” can quickly respond to market changes; however, since Ledao Auto uses independent sales channels, two brands in the same shopping mall may compete for customers in the future.