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The Xilai car went out to sea! On May 6, Xilai announced its official entry into the Norwegian market, which is the first step for Xilai to enter the overseas market. According to the plan, the medium and large SUV ES8 will be officially delivered in September, and the medium and large car ET7 will officially enter the Norwegian market in 2022.

It is understood that it will build a complete operation system composed of cars, services, digitalization and lifestyle in Norway, and build a community with cars as the starting point. At the same time, a direct sales and service network will be established in Norway, and the first NIO center will open on Karl Johns Avenue, Norway's first commercial and cultural center in Oslo in the third quarter. According to NIO's plan, four NIO spaces (NIO Space) will be built in Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Christian Sang in Norway in 2020. Meanwhile, in September this year, the first service and delivery centre in Norway will open in Oslo. In 2022, NIO after-sales service will cover the whole of Norway. In addition, Xilai plans to enter five European countries in 2022.

NIO's choice of Norway as the first market to go to sea has a lot to do with its current market performance and future development strategy. Figures show that Norway sold 141412 cars in 2020, of which 76789 were pure electric vehicles, accounting for 54.3 per cent. In other words, in the Norwegian market, the sales of electric cars have exceeded those of traditional fuel vehicles. In addition, Norway is also the first country in the world to declare a ban on the sale of fuel vehicles, which will be completely banned in 2025, and the purchase of electric vehicles is currently tax-free (25% VAT, import duties and road maintenance tax).

In terms of products, the Audi e-tron has become the best-selling electric car in the Norwegian market with sales of 9227 vehicles. Tesla Model 3 ranks second with 7770 vehicles, followed by ID.3 based on Volkswagen's MEB platform, with 7754 vehicles sold. Compared with 2020, the market competition in 2021 is undoubtedly more fierce, including Tesla Model Y, Ford, Volkswagen, BMW and other brands of the first electric SUV will be listed in the Norwegian market.

In other words, Norway's radical electric vehicle development strategy provides a better development environment for NIO, but the pressure of competition with brands is also intensifying. After all, there is not only one car company that is optimistic about the Norwegian market. In addition, NIO also faces a lot of challenges to enter the Norwegian market, the first thing to solve is brand recognition, compared with Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW and other brands, the global brand has established a strong brand effect.

According to the first-quarter financial report, Lailai achieved an operating income of 7.98 billion yuan and a net loss of 451 million yuan, down 73.3 percent from the same period last year. The gross profit margin of vehicle sales was 21.2 percent, and the comprehensive gross profit margin was 19.5 percent. According to the data, the cumulative delivery volume of Xilai in the first quarter was 20060, including 4518 for ES8, 8088 for ES6 and 7456 for EC6. Generally speaking, the development trend of Xilai Motor is constantly improving, which has become a source of confidence for Wei to enter overseas markets.

From the perspective of China's new energy vehicle market environment, NIO is a mixed blessing. It is true that the sales volume of Xilai is better than that of other car brands, even traditional automakers, but this achievement is based on the influence of the national policy on subsidies for new energy vehicles and under the strong promotion of the state. The awareness of new energy vehicles in the whole market is rising rapidly, and more and more consumers begin to give priority to new energy vehicles when buying cars. This helps NIO to achieve a certain good market performance. In addition, the long-term development has also established a certain brand image for NIO, whether it is sales growth or "storytelling", has gradually become one of the new energy vehicle brands recognized by consumers.

Of course, there is also a lot of pressure on Xilai, in addition to turning losses into profits, there is also competition from brands. In the past year, there have been many "freshmen" in China, including SAIC Zhiji, Dongfeng Lantu, BAIC Jihu, Geely Baidu and so on. The addition of these brands will lead to the gradual regional saturation of the market. In the limited market environment, consumers have more choice, while NIO needs to maintain a unique brand advantage in products and after-sales.

In fact, when it comes to new energy vehicle products, the new power of Chinese carmaking is no worse than traditional carmakers, which can be reflected in sales volume. However, whether Chinese brands can gain a foothold after going out to sea is, in the final analysis, products and services, which will take time to test and get the final answer.

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