On November 15, the 22nd Guangzhou International Auto Show opened. The automotive market has entered a phase of competition based on existing inventory. Chinese new energy vehicles, focusing on electrification and intelligence, drive high-quality development in the industry. This year’s auto show continues with the theme “New Technology, New Life.” It serves as a barometer for the development of the Chinese automotive market. The show collaborates with global automotive industries to create a new era. A total of 78 vehicles will make their global debut, including 6 from multinational companies. The exhibition features 1,171 vehicles, with 512 being new energy cars. Together, they showcase new technology and innovation for the new era.
NIO’s Assistant Vice President, Ma Lin, leads brand, communication, and marketing. He says brand building takes time. NIO is only ten years old. November is our birthday month. We have much work to do on our brand. We aim to create a high-end smart electric vehicle brand. We have made some progress. Here is the interview transcript: Chen Yao: Hello, everyone. Today, we welcome Ma Lin, Assistant Vice President of NIO, to our Sina interview. Mr. Ma, please greet everyone. Ma Lin: Hello, friends from Sina Auto. I am Ma Lin. Chen Yao: We meet again at the last major auto show of 2024. Let’s discuss the highlights of our booth this year. Ma Lin: Our booth features the full lineup of our second-generation platform. We also showcase our latest fourth-generation battery swap station and NIO Life. A unique aspect of our booth is that we brought our NIO House to the exhibition. Our community has a complete presentation at this auto show. We invite everyone to visit us at the Guangzhou Auto Show. Chen Yao: Thank you, Mr. Ma, for the introduction. We know NIO’s brand premium is relatively high. Ma Lin: Not high enough. Chen Yao: That’s modest. I know that when the price war began, people said NIO’s brand premium was nearing that of entry-level BBA models. The competition between NIO’s ET5 and BMW 3 Series, especially in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, reached that level. Do you agree that NIO’s brand premium is your market advantage? Ma Lin: I certainly hope so. Brand building is a long-term process. NIO is only ten years old. November is our birthday month. We still have much work to do on our brand. We strive to build a high-end smart electric vehicle brand and are making some progress. I feel we have much work to do compared to century-old car companies and BBA. The competition with BBA spans brands, product strength, and user experience. If we hesitate on the brand front, our second-generation platform models excel in product strength. They lead in the current market. Our user experience and service also set industry standards. We provide great value on these two fronts. Chen Yao: Mr. Ma made a strong point. He emphasizes pushing oneself further even when unsatisfied. With more new energy car companies entering the market, both products and services have become increasingly homogeneous. NIO, what do you see as your biggest differentiating advantage in this competitive market? Ma Lin: In response to the earlier question, brand differentiation is significant. Each brand can only support a certain price range. NIO adopts a multi-brand strategy. The NIO brand focuses on the market above 300,000. This year, we launched the Leda brand for mainstream family markets, priced between 250,000 and 350,000. At this year’s NIO Day, we will introduce our third brand, a premium small car brand priced above 150,000. We use the NIO brand to meet high-end market demands. This focus helps us avoid the pitfalls of price wars. Many brands launch new products at high prices, often above 300,000, with some reaching 400,000. After a year of price wars, the average transaction price has dropped to 240,000 to 250,000. This significantly harms brands. NIO aims to maintain competitive pricing while stabilizing product prices and preserving brand integrity. This focus distinguishes us from other brands this year. Chen Yao: You provided a sharp explanation. How does NIO use its multi-brand strategy to face intense competition in a price war? You mentioned LeDao. LeDao has a strong presence and discussion volume on Weibo. Ma Lin: Thank you for Weibo’s support. Chen Yao: No need to be polite. We support each other. Yesterday, we shared that users engage on social platforms about specific product features that surprise them. This differs from the traditional three key components. Even small features can spark discussions. As a NIO representative, please recommend the L60 to users. If you could highlight one feature that impresses users, what would it be? Ma Lin: That’s tough. The L60 offers ample space, high intelligent driving levels, and battery swapping. I saw a survey from a media friend on Weibo. When asked what impressed users most about the L60, 50% chose battery swapping. This feature is common across all three of NIO’s brands. LeDao L60 undoubtedly stands out due to its battery swapping capability. It enhances the user experience in the city and on highways, alleviating concerns about battery degradation. I would vote for battery swapping. Moreover, both NIO and LeDao users can plan long trips using our smart cockpit. They can know when to swap batteries or recharge. I believe we excel in this area across the industry. Chen Yao: Whether it’s battery swapping or smart planning, technology makes our travel increasingly convenient. This reflects our original intention in car manufacturing. Mr. Ma also shared a survey from a Weibo blogger. I want to ask a core question today. Many automotive executives are now active on Weibo. Some say they are neglecting their duties. Since you are also involved, do you consider it neglecting your duties? Does it add value to NIO’s models and brand? Ma Lin: Yes, we spoke less on Weibo in 2021 and 2022. We lost out. Starting in 2023, Bin Ge led us. Our marketing and tech teams used Weibo to share our true voice and NIO’s reality. The results were excellent. Last year, before NIO Day, our R&D heads opened Weibo accounts. They shared ET9’s core technology with our followers. The ET9 technology is quite complex. I thought we couldn’t explain it well in a short time during NIO Day. We needed to use social platforms like Weibo, which reaches diverse audiences, to spread our message. We achieved great results. Since then, our entire executive team, tech team, and operations team, along with many regional managers and frontline staff, have engaged directly with users on Weibo. We expanded our channels beyond just the app. Chen Yao: So, this adds value to the NIO brand. Ma Lin: Very important. Chen Yao: Why don’t you post more often? Ma Lin: It relates to each company’s philosophy. I should post more. My focus has been on marketing lately. I need to engage more with users. Chen Yao: We look forward to seeing you post more on Weibo. If anyone has questions about NIO, they can leave comments on your Weibo account. NIO values service and experience. I believe you will respond sincerely. That wraps up our interview today. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, Mr. Ma. Ma Lin: Thank you.