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On the evening of December 24th, Xilai unveiled two new models on NIO Day 2022, one for the new generation of Xilai ES8, which is based on the NT2.0 platform, and the other is the Xilai EC7 positioning sedan SUV. It is understood that this is the first time that NIO has released two new cars on NIO Day and announced the price at the same time.

The new generation of ES8 debut and appear on the market, the new car still offers two options: vehicle purchase and battery rental, in which the purchase price is 528000-638000 yuan, while the BaaS battery rental scheme costs 45.80-510000 yuan, and the monthly battery rent is 980 yuan / 1680 yuan per month. It is understood that delivery of the new car will begin in June 2023.

ES8 is the first mass production model of NIO and the first replacement model of NIO. The new car is based on the NT2.0 platform, and ET7, ET5 and ES7 models are all born on this platform. The new ES8 has a high similarity with ES7 in appearance and shape. In terms of appearance, the new car has been replaced with the latest family design style, eliminating the silver chrome plating embedded in the front face and turning it into a shark nose closed front face with more curved surfaces and broken lines, making its electric car flavor more rich. The new car is equipped with split headlights and two-stage daytime driving lights, all cameras are exposed, lidar will be installed above the front windshield and cameras on the side wing, which indicates that it will be equipped with a NIO Aquila supersensitive system.

From the side, the new car continues the suspended roof design, the roof line extends down from the B-pillar to the rear, the position of the charging port of the new car is adjusted to the left side of the body, and there is a lidar and two high cameras above the front windshield, which is consistent with the ET7, ET5 and ES7 models. The rear part of the car, whose design is basically consistent with the ES7, adopts the popular through-type LED taillights, and the raised design on both sides is integrated with the slightly raised tail door. In addition, the original external rear wiper also disappeared and was hidden in the top spoiler. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the new car are 5099mm/1989mm/1750mm and the wheelbase is 3070mm.

Interior decoration, the new ES8 still continues the concept of the second living room, the interior may be divided into two parts, the upper part mainly carries technology, such as screen, dashboard, steering wheel, the lower part is to better create a sense of atmosphere, many places use renewable rattan materials and bio-based synthetic leather, but also use soft light gold ornaments instead of chrome decoration. The new ES8 is equipped with only a suspended central control screen and a full liquid crystal meter, but it can natively support AR/VR video output and is equipped with a standard N-BOX entertainment host.

The new ES8 features a 6-seat layout of 2-2-2, the first two seats use a seat skeleton platform from Wei Research, and the third row of seats also use a sofa style and support seat heating and electric adjustment. In order to improve the utilization rate of the space in the car, the suspension design is adopted at the rear of the central handrail in the front row of the new ES8, and the design of the armbox is cancelled in the passenger seat.

In terms of power, the new ES8 will be equipped with a dual-motor four-wheel drive system with a comprehensive power of 480kW and a peak torque of 850Nm, and the power parameters are basically the same as those of the ES7. At the same time, the new ES8 is also equipped with dual-cavity air suspension, CDC dynamic damping control system, Bosch IPB intelligent on-line braking system and so on. In terms of range, the new car will provide power batteries with a capacity of 75kWh, 100kWh and 150kWh, respectively, with CLTC mileage of 465km, 605km and 900km, respectively.

In addition to the replacement model ES8, NIO also released a new sedan EC7. In terms of price, the new car offers two options: complete car purchase and battery rental, in which the vehicle purchase scheme costs 478000-578000 yuan, while the BaaS battery rental scheme costs 41.8-450000 yuan, and the monthly battery rent is 980 yuan / 1680 yuan per month.

It is not difficult to guess that EC7 is the second Coupe SUV launched by NIO after EC6, and it is also the first Coupe SUV based on NT2 platform. In terms of appearance, as a model based on the NT2 platform, its front face design has almost no suspense, the iconic "watchtower" layout is consistent with that of the ES7, and the headlight group adds "bright" outline decoration along the edge of the Shark Nose.

On the side of the body, EC7 uses a sedan car-style slip-back shape, which not only has the "sitting posture" and "space" of SUV, but also full of consumers' pursuit of elegance and sports sense of running. The rear side of the car should be the highlight of the EC7, not only equipped with active lift tail, but also equipped with hidden high brake lights up to 400mm in length. In terms of size, the length, width and height of the EC7 are 4968/1974/1714mm, wheelbase 2960mm, positioning pure electricity in large 5-seat SUV.

In terms of interior, the new car is basically the same as the new ES8, with a 12.8-inch AMOLED central control screen and a 10.2-inch HDR digital meter. In terms of power, the EC7 is also equipped with a front and rear dual-motor four-wheel drive system with a comprehensive output power of 480kW and a comprehensive torque of 850Nm. In addition, the EC7 will be equipped with front double-arm independent air suspension + rear H-Arm multi-link independent air suspension, as well as CDC dynamic damping control system.

After years of development, the product matrix of NIO has been gradually improved, covering medium-sized cars, medium-sized cars, medium-sized SUV, medium-sized cross-border sedan SUV to medium-and large-scale SUV and so on. According to NIO's previous plan, five new cars will be released in the coming first half of 2023, increasing the number of models on sale to eight.

Of all the new power brands, NIO is the most firmly positioned luxury brand, comparing itself with BBA and seizing the market with first-tier luxury brands. At present, NIO's models on sale include ES8, ES6, ES7, EC6, EC7, ET7, ET5 and so on, with a price of more than 300000 yuan. Qin Lihong, co-founder and president of NIO, once said at a media communication meeting that the sales of high-end electric cars in China are dominant in the market of more than 400000 yuan, and the market segments in many cities along the southeast coast have surpassed BBA, but if you go further to the following market, you will not see NIO.

In order to obtain less than 300000 of the mainstream car buyers, NIO plans to launch sub-brands. In the first-quarter earnings call, Li Bin revealed that the pricing range of the sub-brand Alps is between 200000 yuan and 300000 yuan, and is expected to be mass produced in 2024. In addition, there are media reports that NIO plans to launch the third sub-brand, which will cover the middle and low-end market of less than 100000-200000 yuan, and is operated independently like NIO and Alps. At the same time, NIO tried to attack millionaire luxury cars. According to media reports, NIO plans to launch a million-level high-end car brand, targeting Maybach S-class.

Of course, the reason why NIO has the strength, on the one hand, it has made some achievements in the domestic high-end pure electric vehicle market. On the other hand, the unique service features make NIO have obvious advantages among competitors at the same level. at the beginning, NIO built its own online and offline service system, creating a new retail model with the pursuit of user experience as the core. it has become a bright spot in the same level.

However, at present, Ulai is still in a state of loss, with a loss of 4.11 billion yuan in the third quarter. There is hope of accelerating the launch of new cars in sinking and high-end markets, covering a wider customer base, creating economies of scale, raising gross margins, or improving the current loss situation.

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