"Nio Focuses on New Car Launches... Stock Attractiveness Increases"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] There is a forecast that NIO's stock price will show an upward trend due to the expansion of its sedan lineup and the effect of new car launches.

On the 2nd, NIO's stock price stood at $31.68, down 40.77% over the past year. This is interpreted as a sluggish stock performance compared to competitors due to the absence of new car launches last year.

NIO plans to deliver three new models this year. Starting with the ES8 model in 2018, NIO delivered one new model each year with the ES6 in 2019 and the EC6 in 2020. Although sales performance was relatively weak compared to competitors last year due to the lack of new models, improvement is expected from this year. At NIO Day held on December 18, the company revealed a relatively concrete schedule for new car deliveries compared to before. The first sedan model, the ET7, is scheduled for delivery starting March 28 this year. The second sedan model, officially announced at this NIO Day, the ET5, is planned for delivery starting September next year.

The ET5 is set to become the main model driving sales. Following the unveiling of the C-class sedan ET7, the company officially announced the B-class sedan model ET5 at NIO Day 2021, expanding its sedan lineup. The ET5 is the second model to apply the NT2.0 platform after the ET7 and will feature the latest NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving) system, composed of the Aquila Super Sensing system and the Adam Supercomputer platform equipped with four NVIDIA Orin chips.

When equipped with 75/100/150kWh battery packs, the CLTC-based driving ranges of the ET5 are 550, 700, and 1000 km respectively, and the starting price is set at 328,000 yuan, making it the lowest-priced model in NIO's current product lineup. Baek Seung-hye, a researcher at Hana Financial Investment, said, "The ET5 will be the main model driving NIO's sales," adding, "Monthly sales of 6,000 to 8,000 units are expected."

Currently, NIO's stock price has been adjusted nearly 40% down from the beginning of the year due to parts supply disruptions, factory restructuring, and the absence of new models, increasing its valuation attractiveness. Researcher Baek Seung-hye said, "NIO has announced plans to expand products and services to Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Denmark by next year," adding, "The full-scale expansion into the European market and the focused launch of new models will drive NIO's stock price re-rating."