NIO's major integration of three brands: The product R & D and sales system of LeDao are incorporated into each NIO cluster | Exclusive from 36Kr

Text | Li Anqi

Editor | Li Qin, Yang Xuan

The integration of LeDao and Firefly, the sub - brands under NIO, continues.

36Kr Auto exclusively learned that on the afternoon of May 9th, NIO issued an internal announcement stating that the organizational structures of multiple departments of its two sub - brands, LeDao and Firefly, have been adjusted and integrated into the NIO system. This involves departments such as product R & D, user service, and vehicle marketing of the LeDao brand, as well as the Firefly Division.

The LeDao brand is the focus of this round of adjustment.

According to the NIO announcement, the Product Design and R & D Cluster (PD&D) of NIO will establish a new first - level department for LeDao product design and R & D, which will report directly to NIO CEO Li Bin. The product experience, project management, design, and vehicle engineering departments from the original LeDao Division will be incorporated into this department. Meanwhile, a new LeDao brand product line department will be established.

The NIO User Service and Experience Cluster (UE) will also set up a new first - level department for LeDao user service. The person - in - charge, Shen Fei, will report to co - founder Qin Lihong. This first - level department includes the original LeDao planning and operation, regional sales strategy, regional sales operation, regional sales management, and marketing departments.

The LeDao marketing event planning department and regional sales companies will all be merged into the UE Cluster and will continue to exist as second - level departments, with the reporting relationships remaining unchanged.

In addition, this adjustment also involves NIO's third brand, Firefly. The Firefly Division will also be incorporated into the PD&D Cluster, but more details of the adjustment have not been announced.

In other words, NIO's original LeDao Division and Firefly Division will no longer exist as relatively independent divisions but will be deeply integrated into NIO's various business clusters to streamline overlapping functions.

Regarding this adjustment, 36Kr Auto sought verification from NIO's official. As of press time, no response has been received.

LeDao is NIO's second brand, mainly targeting the mainstream family user market with a price range of 200,000 - 300,000 yuan; Firefly focuses on the high - end small - car market with a price above 100,000 yuan. The two brands complement NIO's market positioning of over 300,000 yuan to achieve greater sales volume.

Last year, after the launch of LeDao's first model, the L60, the sales volume did not meet the internal expectations.

LeDao has always had a relatively independent vehicle R & D team, with a maximum scale of 2,000 people. Many insiders told 36Kr Auto that "the merger should have happened earlier."

Since this year, NIO has re - examined the resources invested in the LeDao brand and has previously carried out multiple rounds of adjustments to LeDao.

The person in charge of LeDao was the first to be replaced. In early April, the former president of LeDao, Ai Tiecheng, resigned, and Shen Fei, the person in charge of NIO's energy business, took over, comprehensively managing LeDao's sales and regional company management and reporting to President Qin Lihong. The NIO energy business previously managed by Shen Fei was handed over to CFO Qu Yu, who reports to CEO Li Bin.

Subsequently, NIO also announced changes to nearly 10 mid - and high - level personnel, covering aspects such as user relations and brand communication.

At the beginning of May, NIO started to make adjustments to regional sales. NIO announced that the general managers of the original Tianjin and Dalian regional companies resigned, and the corresponding regional general managers of LeDao will concurrently hold these positions. The general managers of NIO in the Hangzhou and Wenzhou regions also concurrently hold the positions of general managers of LeDao in the same regions. Even earlier, in remote areas such as Harbin, Yinchuan, Urumqi, and Xining, the sales leaders of LeDao were already concurrently held by the general managers of NIO's regional companies.

The characteristic of one person holding dual positions in regional sales is obvious. "In fact, it's about weeding out the weak and keeping the stronger ones," said a NIO employee.

With the latest adjustment, it can be considered that NIO has comprehensively integrated the resources of the LeDao brand.

LeDao Auto has been more thoroughly integrated into NIO's organizational structure from management, product R & D, vehicle marketing, regional sales, to user relations and brand communication. In other words, the sub - brand attribute of LeDao still exists, but internally, it will operate in the form of a first - level department of NIO.

This is even more true for Firefly. The resource sharing among NIO's three brands has been strongly implemented.

On the consumer side, users can also feel NIO's integration efforts. Previously, NIO CEO Li Bin said at a communication meeting during the Shanghai Auto Show: "NIO's sales team has started selling Firefly models. Internally, NIO and Firefly share the same sales back - end reports, while the LeDao team has a separate one."

In the midst of the organizational transformation storm, NIO has set a strict internal order: to achieve profitability in the fourth quarter of this year.

To achieve this goal, NIO has launched an operating mechanism based on the "Core Business Unit" (CBU for short). Each unit must establish clear ROI (Return on Investment) indicators and performance reward and punishment systems to reduce costs and increase efficiency. NIO plans to fully implement the CBU mechanism in the second quarter.

Under this mechanism, NIO has been aggressively reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

NIO has carried out an organizational streamlining campaign. Departments such as the LeDao brand and NIO user operations have received notices to streamline personnel.

The salary cost of NIO's management has also been compressed. A NIO insider told 36Kr Auto that previously, an internal notice was sent to employees at the P4 level and above, allowing them to voluntarily convert more than 20% of their monthly salary into RSU equity incentives.

Stuck in the quagmire of business operations, NIO now requires every penny of investment to yield returns. With the drastic organizational adjustments, NIO has changed its previous gentle approach and adopted more profound and decisive measures.

NIO only has a six - month time window left to achieve its profit target.