BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startup Nio (NYSE:) has set the starting price of the new version of its ET7 sedan at 428,000 yuan ($59,063), its chief executive said on Thursday.
Deliveries of the ET7 are near 30,000 units since deliveries started at the end of March 2022, Nio CEO William Li said, calling the car China’s best-selling electric sedan priced above 400,000 yuan.
The new version of the sedan enables seamless screen mirroring and synchronisation on both iOS and Android devices, Li said during an event on the first media day of the Beijing auto show.
Nio delivered 30,053 vehicles in January-March, down 3.2% from a year earlier, faring much worse than other EV startups such as Huawei-backed Aito, Li Auto (NASDAQ:) and LeapMotor which posted double-digit or even triple-digit jumps in first-quarter deliveries.
The money-losing automaker, which sells cars in China and Europe through self-owned stores, revealed plans in November to cut its workforce by 10% as it improves efficiency and reduces costs in the face of growing competition.
Earlier this month, Nio founder Li called for openness in a rare speech in the United States amid increasing tension between China and the West over Chinese EV exports.
To supplement overseas income, Chinese EV companies are increasingly licensing out their technology. In February, Nio announced a technology licensing deal with EV startup Forseven, a unit of Abu Dhabi-based investment vehicle CYVN.
($1 = 7.2464 renminbi)
