Ai Tiecheng has finally stepped down, and Shen Fei, the person in charge of NIO Energy, has taken over as the president of LeDao Automobile.

Text by | Li Anqi

Edited by | Li Qin

The internal transformation of NIO is ongoing.

36Kr learned that on the morning of April 2nd, Ai Tiecheng, the former president of LeDao Automobile, announced his departure and will no longer serve as the president of LeDao Automobile and the senior vice - president of NIO.

NIO also made new personnel appointments, announcing that Shen Fei, the former head of the energy business, will serve as the president of LeDao Automobile, fully responsible for LeDao's sales work and regional company management, reporting to Qin Lihong, the co - founder and president of NIO. Shen Fei joined NIO in 2015 and is one of the core management members in the early startup stage.

Meanwhile, NIO CEO Li Bin and President Qin Lihong will also be more deeply involved in LeDao's business: LeDao's R & D, supply chain, and quality departments will report to NIO CEO Li Bin; the marketing system will report to NIO President Qin Lihong.

People close to NIO's management said that this organizational adjustment means that NIO will invest stronger management resources in LeDao to boost its sales.

The industry generally believes that the original intention of NIO to establish the LeDao brand is, on the one hand, to distinguish the second sub - brand from NIO's high - end brand route, and on the other hand, to help NIO gain greater sales in the mainstream family user market priced between 200,000 and 300,000 yuan.

Before joining NIO, Ai Tiecheng had worked for multiple international brands such as Procter & Gamble and Disney. He regarded LeDao as his entrepreneurial project in an interview. NIO CEO Li Bin gave him enough autonomy. After the LeDao brand was launched on May 15th last year, Ai Tiecheng was also active in the front - line of the automotive industry.

However, in the most competitive market segment, LeDao's first model, the LeDao L60, did not show sufficient sales competitiveness.

When it was launched last year, the whole - vehicle price was between 206,900 and 255,900 yuan. If the BaaS (Battery as a Service) model was adopted, the price dropped to 149,900 yuan. With the new - car subsidy, users could even pick up the car at a price of 120,000 yuan.

Moreover, as the new car features large space and family - friendly comfort, the internal sales target was initially set at 20,000 - 30,000 units per month, aiming directly at the Tesla Model Y. Ai Tiecheng once said in a media interview: "The monthly delivery will exceed 10,000 in December and reach 20,000 in March (March 2025)", and he said he would step down if the sales target was not met.

Except for the sales exceeding 10,000 units in December last year, the delivery volumes of the LeDao L60 from January to March this year were 5,912 units, 4,049 units, and 4,820 units respectively.

However, in mid - March, Ai Tiecheng said in a media interview that he would not step down as scheduled. He believed that being overly sensitive was unnecessary and that he "would take the ridicule as motivation and continue to improve".

Ai Tiecheng also reflected on the reasons why the sales target of the LeDao L60 could not be achieved in a previous media interview. There are mainly two aspects. One is the insufficient production capacity preparation and the long delivery time, which made it impossible to meet users' demand for getting new cars and enjoying the last dividend of the new - energy vehicle replacement subsidy at the end of last year. "Many users couldn't wait near the end of December last year. We were not well - prepared, and many orders were lost."

NIO CEO Li Bin also said at the Q3 2024 earnings conference that 50% - 60% of LeDao's lost sales opportunities at the terminal were due to the inability to deliver cars as early as possible.

Another reason summarized by Ai Tiecheng is the "secondary disaster" caused by insufficient production capacity, which led to a lack of market confidence. CEO Li Bin also pointed out in a recent communication meeting that the sales reputation of a new car within six months of its launch is crucial. "NIO did not have a strong enough awareness of building sales momentum in the first six months of a car's entire life cycle."

Ai Tiecheng's departure can be regarded as taking responsibility for LeDao's temporary setbacks. Some NIO insiders revealed that Li Bin once expressed his views on cross - border executives internally. He believes that although a person may have five strong points, in the automotive industry, they need to make up for fifty weak points.

LeDao's crisis is actually embedded in NIO's overall crisis. NIO sold 221,900 cars last year, but as of Q4 2024, NIO had suffered losses of over 500 million yuan for five consecutive quarters. NIO has previously launched a storm of operational efficiency transformation, requiring every penny of investment to yield results.

Some industry insiders summarized for 36Kr that when the sales of the main brand are not yet stable, the risk of NIO expanding to three brands (NIO, LeDao, and Firefly) is actually quite high. They cited the example that XPeng's MONA was originally presented as a sub - brand but finally faced users as a vehicle series. With a price of 119,800 yuan and good looks, the new car's monthly sales have exceeded 15,000 units for several consecutive months.

LeDao's crisis has not been resolved with the change of top - level management, but Shen Fei, the vice - president of NIO's power management, taking over may bring a new situation.

Some industry insiders told 36Kr that Shen Fei previously focused more on NIO Energy. After NIO Energy received a 2.5 - billion - yuan investment from CATL, the two sides are planning new operating personnel for NIO Energy. Shen Fei's return to NIO may be one of the considerations in this context.

With Shen Fei taking over, NIO also sent a signal of integrating the resources of the main brand and sub - brands. "LeDao actually needs NIO and Li Bin very much," said an industry insider.

Previously, NIO had also taken practical actions internally. On February 28th this year, NIO issued an organizational announcement to merge the delivery channels of the NIO and LeDao brands. The team manpower and channel resources are shared and reused to reduce costs and improve efficiency. At the same time, in remote areas such as Harbin, Yinchuan, Urumqi, and Xining, the sales managers of LeDao are also concurrently held by the general managers of NIO's regional companies.

LeDao still has good cards in hand. The second model, the L90, is a large three - row flagship SUV targeting larger families, with a price within 300,000 yuan. The car will be unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show and delivered in the third quarter. LeDao's third model is a large five - seat SUV, which is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of this year.

Can LeDao find a smooth path forward after the change of management?