Why does NIO place its hopes on LeDao in its "bestseller rescue battle"?

The current situation of NIO is quite similar to that of XPeng in 2022.

In September 2022, XPeng's highly anticipated flagship model, the G9, was launched. However, it failed in the market due to a chaotic SKU system and overly high pricing, and the brand once fell into a slump. At that time, CEO He Xiaopeng admitted that he was even afraid of taking airplanes. There were few people in business class, and he was easily recognized. During conversations, he could always feel people's concerns about XPeng.

Now, NIO is going through a similar difficult period. According to the financial report data for the first quarter of 2025, NIO delivered 42,094 new vehicles. Although the year-on-year increase was 40.1%, the quarter-on-quarter decrease was 42.1%.

Among them, the sales volume of the main brand almost halved. Compared with the delivery high of 52,760 vehicles set in the fourth quarter of 2024, the number dropped sharply to 27,313 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, the financial report data shows that in the first quarter, NIO's gross profit margin of automobiles dropped to 10.2%, a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 2.9 percentage points. The overall gross profit margin was 7.6%, a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 4.1 percentage points. The asset-liability ratio soared to 92.55%. The operating pressure under high debt is obvious.

Looking back at XPeng's transformation path, it achieved a transition through the G6 model and later got out of trouble with the hit Mona M03. Now, NIO is trying to break the deadlock in the same way.

According to the plan of Li Bin, the founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, in the fourth quarter of this year, NIO plans to maintain a monthly sales volume of over 50,000 vehicles, including 25,000 vehicles of the NIO brand, 25,000 vehicles of the LeDao brand, and thousands of vehicles of the Firefly brand.

Against the background of the almost halved sales volume of the main brand and the gross profit margin falling below 10%, whether LeDao, which was established only one year ago, can shoulder half of the burden not only determines whether it can become NIO's "lifesaver" but also concerns whether this leading new energy vehicle company can maintain its survival line in the industry reshuffle in 2025.

Changing the leadership to fight a comeback battle

Sales volume is the "lifeline" of a brand. Since its launch, LeDao has been expected by NIO to drive up sales volume.

During his tenure, Ai Tiecheng, the former president of LeDao Automobile, publicly made a "military order": LeDao L60 would achieve a monthly delivery of over 10,000 vehicles in December 2024 and strive for a delivery target of 20,000 vehicles in March 2025. If he failed to achieve the goal, he would leave his position.

However, after the start of 2025, the sales volume of LeDao L60 continued to be sluggish. The delivery volumes from January to April were only 5,912, 4,049, 4,820, and 4,400 vehicles respectively, far from the target. The dilemma of the brand's weak growth became more prominent.

At the beginning of April, LeDao Automobile witnessed a major personnel change. Ai Tiecheng announced his departure. In his farewell letter, Ai Tiecheng admitted that he failed to achieve the sales target matching the product strength. Subsequently, Shen Fei, the former head of the energy business, took over the position of LeDao's president. How to reverse the sales slump and achieve brand growth has become a key challenge for Shen Fei and has also attracted wide attention inside and outside the industry.

In fact, since May, the sales volume of LeDao L60 has indeed improved. A LeDao salesperson said, "It's obvious that there are more customers coming to the store to look at cars and make inquiries." In May, the overall sales volume of the LeDao brand reached 6,281 vehicles, a quarter-on-quarter increase of over 41%. After entering June, the weekly sales volume of LeDao L60 in the first half of the month (from June 2nd to June 15th) exceeded 1,200 vehicles.

A LeDao employee told Tech Planet, "Compared with models in the same class and price range, the sales volume of LeDao L60 is not as weak as the outside world rumors. Looking back at the sales performance of LeDao since its launch, the monthly sales volume of LeDao L60 was stable at around 4,000 units during the trough period, while the sales volume exceeded 10,000 units during the peak period. Compared with the new energy models of the same level, such as XPeng G6, its sales peak in the past 12 months was 5,500 vehicles."

In the view of the above LeDao employee, the market's overly high expectations for LeDao's sales volume largely stem from the aggressive goals previously announced by Ai Tiecheng. At the Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition in November 2024, Ai Tiecheng, then the president of LeDao Automobile, clearly stated that LeDao would achieve a monthly delivery of over 10,000 vehicles in December 2024, strive for 15,000 vehicles from January to February 2025, and reach 20,000 vehicles in March.

After Shen Fei took office, he immediately abandoned the "slogan shouting" and no longer mentioned the sales target. He has publicly mentioned many times that he doesn't like to set flags and doesn't approve of empty slogans. He hopes that in the future, LeDao will not rely on marketing to build awareness but will be naturally accepted by users.

But this doesn't mean that LeDao takes a laissez - faire attitude towards sales. After Shen Fei took office, although he abandoned the aggressive "slogan - shouting" model, he strengthened the pragmatic orientation at the operational end. A LeDao salesperson revealed that the sales rhythm of the team was relatively relaxed before, but after the adjustment, they now need to report the order - locking progress daily. "It feels that the management has started to pay more attention to the conversion details of each order."

At the same time, LeDao also adjusted the sales salary system to stimulate sales.

A job seeker who recently interviewed for a sales position at LeDao revealed that the current salary structure is a basic salary of about 3,000 yuan, combined with a commission mechanism linked to sales volume, and there are clear performance assessment requirements. This forms a significant contrast with the previous salary model of "high basic salary, low commission".

Adjustment: From independence to integration

When Ai Tiecheng was in charge of LeDao, he was a guest on the NIO Radio live - broadcast room. When asked whether LeDao brand models could listen to the program, he responded implicitly that if the adaptation was realized in the future, the relevant audio services might be presented under the new name of "LeDao Radio".

Rather than being a second brand tied to NIO, LeDao under Ai Tiecheng's leadership was more inclined to build LeDao into an independent brand. However, after Shen Fei took office, the independent strategy was adjusted, and the relationship between LeDao and NIO became closer.

On the afternoon of May 9th, NIO issued an internal announcement to integrate multiple organizational departments of LeDao and Firefly into the NIO system, involving departments such as LeDao brand product R & D, user service, and model marketing, as well as the Firefly Division.

A LeDao employee said that in the past, LeDao had a vehicle R & D team independent of NIO, but now it has been gradually integrated into NIO's various business teams and no longer exists as a separate division.

Another LeDao employee told Tech Planet that although the integration action in his department was not significant for the time being, the adjustment of the reporting line had sent a clear signal of organizational change.

Car owners have also felt the new changes. A LeDao car owner shared that in April this year, he went to NIO's exclusive NIO House twice. During his first visit, although the QR - code system had not completed the data connection, he was still allowed to enter. During his second visit, the QR - code access was completely unobstructed, and the entry and exit experience was no different from that of NIO car owners.

These changes indicate that although LeDao still maintains its position as a sub - brand externally, its internal organizational structure has undergone a substantial transformation. Different from the previous model of operating as an independent sub - brand, LeDao is now closer to a first - level department of NIO in the management system.

A LeDao employee said that the integration is naturally for cost - reduction and efficiency - improvement. "Previously, each of the three brands had an independent team, and there was an obvious problem of repeated investment in resource allocation."

Against the background of the slowing market growth and increasingly fierce competition, through the integration of brands and resources, NIO can invest more intensively in R & D, optimize the cost structure, and improve operational efficiency. This adjustment not only concerns the development of a single brand but also is the key for NIO to preserve its strength during the volatile period.

However, a person related to LeDao believes that integration will also bring new challenges. Now, LeDao has to rely on NIO's resources for development and at the same time let people know that it is an independent brand. What users want is not a "cheaper version of NIO" but a brand with independent concepts.

For the main brand, when LeDao car owners can enter NIO House without obstacles and enjoy the same space service experience as the main - brand car owners, it undoubtedly poses a new test to NIO's brand positioning and user segmentation strategy.

It is still difficult to comprehensively evaluate the actual effectiveness of the integration at present, but a set of data has sent a notable signal. Li Bin said in a speech at the Guangzhou - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area Auto Show forum that in May, with a 40% reduction in the front - line personnel scale of LeDao, the sales volume of L60 increased by 42.8% quarter - on - quarter.

The second half of LeDao

In 2019, NIO was on the verge of collapse. Li Bin has said more than once that "2019 was the most difficult year for NIO".

That year, NIO faced a series of challenges: a significant reduction in new - energy vehicle subsidies, layoffs and contraction of departmental structures, the recall of the ES8 due to spontaneous combustion incidents, the strong entry of domestic Tesla with price advantages, and the stock price hitting rock - bottom, which once pushed this new - energy vehicle company to the brink.

The darkest moment in 2019 ended with strategic investment, giving NIO a chance to catch its breath. However, in 2025, a similar crisis shadow has once again loomed. The new industry winter, the pressure of technological iteration, and the reshaping of the market pattern are intertwined, making this car company stand at a crossroads again.

In the first - quarter report released on June 3rd, NIO's financial indicators faced challenges: the gross profit margin per vehicle returned to 10%, the average selling price per vehicle dropped by 40,000 yuan to 236,000 yuan, the adjusted net loss reached 6.27 billion yuan, the current ratio at the end of the first quarter dropped to 0.84, and the asset - liability ratio rose to 92.55%.

Meanwhile, the financial report disclosed that as of the end of March, the cash and cash equivalents were only 26 billion yuan, a decrease of 15.9 billion yuan compared with the end of the previous quarter. In terms of operating activities alone, the cash outflow in the first quarter exceeded 10 billion yuan.

Under such tight financial pressure, NIO's expectations seem more aggressive. Li Bin has set the goal of achieving profitability in the fourth quarter of this year and said that NIO will strive for a monthly sales volume of 50,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter, including 25,000 vehicles of the NIO brand and 25,000 vehicles of the LeDao brand.

According to this plan, the sales volume proportion of the LeDao brand will jump from 27% in May to 50%. This means that it needs to double its sales volume proportion in just a few months. To achieve this goal, LeDao not only needs to accelerate the expansion of the market but also needs to rely on the economies of scale to reduce the production and manufacturing costs. In essence, LeDao's market performance has become the core variable for NIO to reverse the profit - making dilemma.

However, the real - world challenges cannot be ignored: currently, LeDao only has one model, the L60, and it has been 9 months since its launch, and the market popularity has gradually stabilized. Can the strategic model of L60 alone stimulate the overall sales volume to support the 50% proportion target?

According to a LeDao internal employee, the team is currently betting its strategic focus on two new models, the L90 and the L80, and said bluntly that "success or failure depends on this". According to the plan, the LeDao L90 is scheduled to be launched and delivered in the third quarter, and the L80 will be launched in the fourth quarter.

If the crisis in 2019 was resolved by external investment, then NIO now has to rely on its own management transformation to break through the deadlock. This is not only a transformation from "external blood - transfusion" to "self - blood - making" but also an ultimate test of the enterprise's governance ability and strategic resilience.

This article is from the WeChat official account “Tech Planet” (ID: tech618), author: Ren Xueyun, published by 36Kr with authorization.