Author | Chai Xuchen

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

Just in time for the beginning of Jinjiuyin10, NIO's second-generation platform products have finally been assembled and are quickly passing through the transition period at the head of CEO Qin Lihong.
On September 15, NIO held a brief online press conference for the new EC6, which was quickly put on sale and ready for delivery. In terms of price, NIO also showed unexpected sincerity. The sale price of 358,000-416,000 yuan was 38,000-138,000 yuan cheaper than the first-generation platform version, and the price of the BaaS battery rental “broke three” and reached 288,000 yuan.
According to Chairman Li Bin's expectations, it will join the “5566” (new EC6, new ES6, ET5, ET5T) queue, act as the main force in NIO's sales volume, and jointly set a monthly delivery target of 15,000-20,000 units.
In fact, with the gradual sale and delivery of NT2.0 platform models this year, NIO's sales volume is also gradually returning to an upward trajectory.
Beginning in July, NIO finally reached the threshold of selling 20,000 units per month. Although there was a slight fluctuation in August, it also basically stabilized. At last, it got through a difficult period. This is not unrelated to its strategies such as product iteration and a price reduction of 30,000 units in June.
But in fact, what is more central is the change in “temperament” between Li Bin and NIO. NIO, which has always been “elegant” and “Buddhist,” seems to have become a bit more “wolf-like” and more aggressive.
Beginning in July, there have been rumors in the market that NIO has been extracting high-paying sales staff from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, etc., and has also greatly increased car sales commissions and adjusted the sales department's strategy and structure to fully boost sales volume. In August, NIO auto sales rose, and the monthly salary of some first-line sales staff exceeded 100,000.
According to the automotive industry consulting agency “Jeran Road”, NIO has shifted the focus of sales KPI assessments to the results level, emphasizing indicators such as leads, test drives, and conversion rates, and shortening the elimination cycle from the original 6 months to 1 month; the sales commission for scheduled vehicles was raised from 800 yuan to 2,000 yuan, while inventory and exhibition vehicle commissions were raised from 800 yuan to 4,000 yuan.
Jeran Lu pointed out that NIO's brand orientation is gradually shifting from focusing on service to pursuing high sales volume.
In the August 29 conference call, Li Bin did not conceal this; instead, he bluntly stated that in June, he discovered that NIO's number of sales staff and sales capacity were far behind his peers. In particular, when the number of (second-generation) models increased, there was even a shortage of manpower. Also, the sinking market is NIO's shortcoming, and BBA has 4S stores in almost every city.
As a result, NIO began operations to exhume people and expand the military in July. Li Bin pointed out that only by increasing the number of sales staff to around 5,000 will it be possible to approach the sales efficiency of leading brands.

From believing in the popularity of creating the new ES6 to stealing sales, NIO's transformation can be seen, showing its “wolf nature.” The increase in sales was immediate and made Li Bin even more determined. However, this is in stark contrast to who he was six months ago.
At the Shanghai Auto Show in April, Li Bin once said (interview), “If NIO were to be compared to a person, we would like to be a friend with ideas and taste. There is no word wolf here.”
Obviously, in the midst of a wave of fierce price wars this year, the gentle and elegant Li Bin and Nio Lai quickly separated themselves from people who pursue “small but beautiful” and “small but fine” people in order to survive, and return to the reality of pursuing scale.
Because NIO “walked out of the ICU” for the second time, I can't be relieved. Wearing the “most money-burning” hat in Wei Xiaoli, in the current environment where competition among experts like Ru Lin is accelerating, his biggest challenge is to be able to gain a foothold.
During the conference call, Li Bin said that the NIO brand will not launch any new models for some time to come. This means that the growth and development of second-generation platforms is critical. Looking back, “The sales volume of the NIO generation models reached a good state 1-2 years after launch,” Li Binru said.
Therefore, NIO must maximize the potential of the 8 new models in the market.
With the launch of the new EC6, NIO's eight second-generation models will form a strong product matrix. Li Bin is very confident, saying that NIO's current matrix has basically covered 80% of the needs of users in the high-end market. Also, according to his idea, when all NT2.0 models are delivered, it will be able to support the monthly sales level of 30,000 units, and the company's gross margin is also expected to return from single digits to 18% to 20%.
However, NIO is not the only company that targets cake in the middle and high-end market. Zhiji LS6, Extreme Krypton 001, Xiaopeng G6, Avita 12, etc. have all entered the 200,000 to 300,000 circle with impressive product power, and snatched food with NIO.
It can be said that NIO has become a werewolf, and it is also inevitable that it is driven by the rules of market survival. Having the character of a wolf, Nio has also broken the prison of itself to a certain extent.
Next, can NIO, the “Beast Out of Its Cage,” completely transform and continue the sales myth? How will the pattern of new forces such as Wei Xiaoli evolve? Maybe we'll know next year.