Chinese language electrical automotive firm Nio introduced Could 27, 2026, that former NBA participant Yao Ming (R) could be a consultant for the model because it launches the ES9 SUV, a automotive that CEO William Li Bin (L) touted as the biggest SUV in China.
Lintao Zhang | Getty Photographs Information | Getty Photographs
BEIJING — Chinese language electrical automotive firm Nio is attempting to boost the bar for premium automobiles in a fiercely aggressive market.
The U.S.-listed inventory surged 9% Wednesday, sending shares additional into the inexperienced for 2026, after Nio formally launched its ES9 SUV with costs as little as 390,000 yuan ($57,470) when paying for battery energy on a separate, month-to-month foundation.
It displays the continuing race to the underside in China’s electrical automotive market, regardless of Beijing’s efforts to curb extreme competitors, typically known as involution.
When Nio launched its flagship ET9 sedan in late 2023, costs began at 800,000 yuan. However earlier than deliveries began within the first quarter of 2025, client electronics firm Xiaomi had launched its first electrical automotive — at 215,900 yuan.
With the brand new ES9, which Nio claims is the biggest SUV in China, deliveries begin Thursday.
CEO William Li confirmed off an array of options at a launch occasion in Beijing, from superior driver-assist methods that may reply to street indicators, to passenger seats with wood-colored tables that unfold equally to these on an airplane. The ES9 additionally helps an in-car water boiler that lets passengers brew tea.
Nio signed on a number of model promoters, together with Robin Zeng, the CEO of CATL, the trade’s battery large, who affirmed in a advertising video that about 2,000 of his staff had purchased Nio vehicles.
Nio
Li additionally emphasised how the ES9 proactively protects passengers with “sensible security” methods that may detect and decrease affect from harmful eventualities, and bought China’s state broadcaster CCTV to livestream a crash take a look at and different security options.
Nio delivered 83,465 vehicles within the first quarter, almost twice as many as a 12 months in the past, however a 33% drop from the fourth quarter. The determine additionally contains automobiles from Nio’s lower-priced manufacturers Onvo and Firefly, which the corporate launched within the final two years to stay aggressive in China’s sluggish client market.
Tesla‘s Mannequin Y was the top-selling SUV in China final month by deliveries, in keeping with trade knowledge web site China AutoHome. Elon Musk’s automaker final week obtained Beijing’s approval to launch driver help within the nation after years of ready.
Nio’s ES8 ranked tenth in April deliveries throughout each electrical and conventional gasoline-powered vehicles.
International automakers are additionally revamping competitors in China’s premium market at decrease costs.
Audi on Could 8 began presales for its E7X electrical SUV with costs beginning at 289,800 yuan, and is ready to formally launch the automotive Friday morning. The automotive is the second mannequin below the German automaker’s new China-focused model, co-developed with Shanghai’s SAIC, that replaces the four-rings brand with the AUDI letters.