Nio to launch ultra-luxury Maybach-like sedan in Dec

Nio president and co-founder Qin Lihong said the company would launch a major product on Nio Day in Dec. According to a CarNewsChina source familiar with the matter, it will be a 1 million yuan (140k USD) luxurious electric sedan to compete with the Maybach S class in China.

This will help to increase Nio's gross margin.

According to Chinese automotive media AutoHome, the flagship sedan will have a Nio badge and won't be operated by any subbrands coming in 2024 (Alps, Firefly) dedicated to entry-level vehicles.

According to Telescope, the new saloon will sit on Nio's new NT3 platform, being the first EV to be equipped with Nio's self- developed autonomous chip. It will also have an extra long wheelbase of 3.3 metres. It is so long it will be on the upper limit of what a third-generation Power Swap Station (PSS) can handle. This means it won't be possible to battery swap in 1.0 or 2.0 gen PSS.

Nio unveiled a new generation 300 kW motor in Aug, and the new flagship EV will almost certainly feature it.

Nio has had a lot on its plate recently. Aside from moving upmarket with the new flagship sedan and moving downmarket to offer more affordable EVs under Alps and Firefly brands, it is also developing its chips, maintaining a battery swap station network, and navigating complex expansion into European markets where it faces BBA (Chinese term for German trio Benz, BMA, Audi) on their home ground. 2024 will be a challenging year for the Hefei-based automaker as it won't launch a new Nio-badged product; only a few facelifts are expected, and it will need to market and prove the latest sub-brands. We will keep an eye on it.

A date for the event has not yet been set, though it is usually in Dec. When Nio initiated the process of selecting the host city, it required that candidate cities to have a venue available for 14 consecutive days from Dec 1 to Dec 31, 2023, and that the event's host day be set on a Sat.