Chinese electric car maker Nio announced on May 27, 2026 that former NBA player Yao Ming (R) will represent the brand at the launch of the ES9 SUV, a car that CEO William Li Bin (L) touted as the largest SUV in China.
Lintao Zhang | Getty Images News | Getty Images
BEIJING – Chinese electric car maker Nio is trying to raise the bar for premium vehicles in a fiercely competitive market.
Shares of Chinese electric car maker Nio rose as much as 10.45% in Hong Kong trading on Thursday after the company officially unveiled its ES9 SUV a day earlier. The U.S.-listed stock closed 9.32% higher overnight, extending its 2026 gains.
The ES9 starts at 390,000 yuan ($57,470) under Nio’s battery subscription model, which separates the cost of the vehicle from monthly battery payments.
It reflects the ongoing race to the bottom in China’s electric car market, despite Beijing’s efforts to curb excessive competition, often referred to as involution. Sales of new energy vehicles fell 17% in China in the first four months of the year, according to the country’s passenger car association.
The Chinese car market has already passed its years of fastest growth as most potential car buyers have already purchased one, Nio CEO William Li told reporters on Thursday.
As the technological features of all EV models converge, Li says branding and targeted premiumization will be the key to survival.
When Nio launched its flagship sedan ET9 in late 2023, prices started at 800,000 yuan. But before deliveries began in the first quarter of 2025, the consumer electronics company reported Xiaomi had brought its first electric car onto the market – for 215,900 yuan.
Deliveries of the new ES9, which Nio says is the largest SUV in China, begin on Thursday.
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CEO Li unveiled a range of features at a launch event in Beijing, from advanced driver assistance systems that can respond to traffic signals to passenger seats with wood-colored tables that fold up similar to those on an airplane. The ES9 also supports an in-car kettle that passengers can use to make tea.
Nio has signed several brand promoters, including Robin Zeng, the CEO of CATLthe industry’s battery giant, which confirmed in a marketing video that about 2,000 of its employees had purchased Nio cars.
Li also highlighted how the ES9 proactively protects passengers with “intelligent safety” systems that can detect and minimize the impact of dangerous scenarios, and commissioned China’s state broadcaster CCTV to live broadcast a crash test and other safety features.
Nio delivered 83,465 cars in the first quarter, nearly double the number a year ago but down 33% from the fourth quarter. The figure also includes vehicles from Nio’s cheaper Onvo and Firefly brands, which the company has launched in the past two years to remain competitive in China’s sluggish consumer market.
TeslaAccording to industry data site China AutoHome, the Model Y was the best-selling SUV in China last month in terms of deliveries. Elon Musk’s automaker received approval from Beijing to introduce driver assistance systems in the country last week after years of waiting.
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Nio’s Hong Kong-listed shares
Nio’s ES8 ranked 10th in April deliveries for both electric and traditional gasoline-powered cars.
Foreign automakers are also increasing competition in the Chinese premium market at lower prices.
Audi began pre-sales of its E7X electric SUV on May 8 with prices starting at 289,800 yuan and is expected to officially launch the car on Friday morning. The car is the second model of the German automaker’s new China-focused brand, developed jointly with Shanghai-based SAIC and replacing the four-ring logo with the AUDI letters.
Like BYD and other Chinese automakers, Nio has pursued overseas expansion. But Li said Thursday that the automaker decided last year to shift its focus back to China.
He pointed to geopolitical tensions, including EU tariffs and the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as the far higher cost of investing in battery services abroad compared to China. Nio has largely focused much of its overseas expansion in Germany and Norway.
Underscoring Nio’s renewed domestic focus, Li said the Xinjiang region in China’s far west represents a market twice the size of Norway’s
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Nio’s U.S.-listed shares
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