Li Bin of NIO, the "God Bin", aims to make NIO on par with BBA.
The NIO Day in 2025 came to a successful end in the way William Li (Li Bin) most desired.
Not only because the users had a great time, but also because after the NIO Day, many people rushed to place firm orders for the newly released NIO ES8, leading to the popular phenomenon of the "system being overwhelmed".
The final price of the new NIO ES8 lives up to the nickname of "God Li" — 298,800 yuan.
When this figure appeared on the big screen, the cheers of the crowd in the Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Center instantly drowned out William Li.
The purchase price of the whole vehicle starts from 406,800 yuan. If the BaaS battery leasing plan is adopted, it is only 298,800 yuan. This is not only nearly 120,000 yuan cheaper than the previous - generation model at its launch, but also brings the lowest entry threshold below 300,000 yuan.
Although NIO has not announced the number of firm orders, at the communication meeting after the NIO Day, William Li revealed the success of the new ES8. "Now it seems that our previous monthly sales forecast for the NIO ES8 was indeed a bit conservative."
This time, William Li will probably really be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, the popularity of the ES8 is the most powerful prerequisite for NIO's profitability in the Q4 quarter, and it is also a crucial battle for William Li to prove to investors, suppliers, and users that he can still make a comeback.
In addition, not only the new NIO ES8 was launched at the NIO Day, but also the most expensive mass - produced model in NIO's history, the ultra - luxury version of the ET9 — the Horizon Special Edition. The purchase price of the whole vehicle starts from 818,000 yuan, and the battery rental (BaaS) starts from 710,000 yuan.
The ES8 is the anchor point
At the press conference and the subsequent communication meeting, a number appeared repeatedly — 40,000 units.
This is the production capacity that William Li has prepared for the new NIO ES8 in the next three months. It seems like a large number, considering it is an SUV priced over 400,000 yuan, but it may not be enough.
Although William Li said he had nothing to disclose when talking about orders, he still revealed that the previous internal sales forecast for the third - generation ES8 was "a bit conservative", which means that the current orders have exceeded the previous expectations.
According to LatePost, it was learned from a person close to NIO's senior management that since the firm orders were placed on the evening of September 20th, the number of firm orders for the new NIO ES8 has exceeded the announced annual production capacity limit of 40,000 units this year.
The market enthusiasm was also evident during the pre - sale period. William Li revealed at the press conference that within 10 days after the pre - sale started on August 21st, more than 150,000 people participated in test drives. "Even many test drives were completed in the middle of the night."
So on the night of the pre - sale, NIO decided to increase the production capacity deployment. "With the overtime efforts of partners, the production capacity was increased to more than 40,000 units by the end of the year."
William Li said that it is very difficult to achieve the delivery target of such a new high - end large three - row SUV in just over three months. There are many challenges in various aspects such as development, production scheduling, and delivery. The plan is to reach a monthly production capacity of 15,000 units for the ES8 in December. "The overall production capacity target is 40,000 units, and we also hope to increase production slightly on this basis, but the increase will not be significant."
Of course, there is another aspect that shows the popularity of the new NIO ES8. At the communication meeting, William Li gave a "heads - up" to users who won't be able to pick up their cars before the end of the year.
If this year's production capacity cannot meet the order demand, William Li promised that he will provide a differential subsidy for the reduction of the purchase tax and prepare purchase points red envelopes for users. These two measures will be implemented simultaneously to relieve the anxiety of "prospective car owners" caused by waiting and production scheduling.
Previously, there were reports that from 2026 - 2027, the exemption limit for the purchase tax of new energy vehicles will be reduced from the current 30,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan. Therefore, the purchase cost of cars picked up after the new year will increase to a certain extent.
This is also a means to stabilize a large number of users who have placed firm orders and avoid order loss. In William Li's words, "Good cars are worth waiting for." After the large number of orders, it is obvious that William Li is much more relaxed. He even joked on the spot that as long as everyone is happy, whether it's 'Brother Li' or 'God Li', you can even call me 'Ghost Li'.
In addition to production capacity, the standard - equipped 102kWh battery for the whole vehicle is also a factor affecting the vehicle delivery rhythm. William Li said that because of the battery - swapping architecture, the batteries need to serve both vehicle delivery and the battery turnover needs of battery - swapping stations, and it is difficult to balance the two. Objectively speaking, there will be situations where the vehicle pick - up time of some users is affected due to battery resource allocation.
At the same time, William Li hopes that users can understand the rhythm pressure at this stage. If the battery resources are not fully in place in the initial stage, "I hope everyone can be more tolerant. If battery swapping is not available at the moment, you can also charge the car first. We will dynamically adjust and optimize the rhythm to ensure the balance between overall delivery and service."
The price is definitely an unavoidable factor for the high sales volume, and the price of the new NIO ES8 has become the core topic at the communication meeting.
You know, compared with the second - generation NIO ES8, the starting price of this model has been reduced by more than 120,000 yuan. Although this is what "prospective car owners" like to see the most, as NIO's flagship model, it now bears the responsibility of "increasing sales volume", which inevitably goes against NIO's "high - end" status.
However, William Li doesn't think so. He believes that the pricing of each generation of models has its own background. The actual price of the first - generation ES8 was less than 400,000 yuan after national and local subsidies. The price range of the second - generation product rose to 500,000 yuan due to the high battery cost, the installation of 4 NVIDIA Orin - X chips, and the investment in many globally first - launched new technologies.
Now, the starting price of the third - generation ES8 is set at 406,800 yuan, which is the result of the reduction in the cost of core components such as batteries, the release of the scale effect, and the mass production of NIO's self - developed technological achievements.
Taking chips as an example, NIO's self - developed chips have the same computing power and better performance as NVIDIA chips, while the cost is reduced by 10,000 yuan. When converted to the selling price, the reduction is even more significant.
"The ES8 has actually returned to a reasonable price range, which stabilizes NIO's entire price system, and the price ranges of the three brands are becoming clearer." William Li said. As for the flagship model of the ES series, NIO plans to launch the higher - positioned ES9 in the first half of 2026 to assume this role.
William Li also specifically emphasized that although the price has dropped a lot, the gross profit of the ES8 is better than that of the previous generation, maintaining a reasonable profit level. There is no need to worry about the profitability.
On the contrary, in his opinion, the ES8 is NIO's anchor model. The pricing of the new NIO ES8 matches NIO's brand positioning and can increase the brand's average selling price.
Qin Lihong beside him also added that even for BBA, cars priced in the 200,000 - yuan range account for more than 60% of the sales volume. Moreover, the price of the new NIO ES8 is in the 400,000 - yuan range, and less than 300,000 yuan after BaaS is just a business model treatment.
When talking about the product plan after the launch of the ES8, William Li also indirectly revealed some information about the ES9. It is likely to be a large five - seat model. In addition, there will be no major - upgrade "5566" models or "EC7" models next year.
Starting to "understand" commands
In William Li's view, the NIO ES8 with a "reasonable" price is already quite impressive to the outside world. Even the "quick summary version" of the ES8's product features that William Li mentioned still took nearly an hour to explain.
The new NIO ES8 has three "aces". The first is space. William Li said that the new NIO ES8 is the largest pure - electric SUV in China.
On - site, William Li once again shouted the slogan "6 people and 12 suitcases with no pressure, every seat is an MVP, can replace MPVs". The large front trunk has a volume of 230L, which can hold two 20 - inch and one 14 - inch suitcases, and also a bag.
It can even hold the folding electric bike of a chauffeur. In this usage scenario, its practicality is extremely high. William Li believes that the front trunk of a large three - row SUV is not just for emergencies but a high - frequency necessity. He said that the frequency of users of the LeDao L90 using the front trunk has reached 93% per week, and that of the rear trunk is 96%. The two are almost the same, which was unimaginable in the past.
In addition to the front trunk, when the NIO ES8 is fully occupied in all three rows, the rear trunk still has a volume of 547L, which can accommodate 8 20 - inch suitcases and 1 14 - inch children's suitcase. This is because in addition to the regular rear trunk volume, the NIO ES8 also has a 132L fully sunken storage space. In addition, there are 41 storage spaces in the whole vehicle, providing ample storage.
With a vehicle body size of 5280×2010×1800mm, its riding performance directly surpasses its class and is comparable to mainstream MPVs. Various first - in - class data are clearly presented. For example, the maximum legroom in the second row can reach 1407mm, the longitudinal riding space in the passenger compartment is 2757mm, and the shoulder and headroom in the first, second, and third rows are all first in the class.
He also directly compared the data of three MPV models with the new NIO ES8, saying that in terms of entry and exit convenience, riding space, and storage space, the new NIO ES8 has reached or even exceeded the data of mainstream MPVs.
The second "ace" is comfort and luxury, which NIO is good at. When you enter the car, you are greeted by an "old - money" style.
The Nappa leather seats with the so - called "mountain and river overlapping rhyme" embroidery have the same Skyline digital skyline as the ET9, and a similar Tianqin audio system as the ET9. There are so many physical buttons that it doesn't seem like a new - force vehicle. There are as many as 111 buttons, which better suits the usage habits of traditional luxury car users.
Secondly, regarding the various configurations in the car, the seat version is standard - equipped with the only three zero - gravity seats in the same class. There is not only NIO's unique queen's co - pilot seat, but also for the first time, double zero - gravity seats are arranged in the second row, which support a one - key 145° comfortable position, and the maximum adjustment angle of the backrest can reach 151°. In addition, the right - hand seat in the second row can move horizontally, and there is a hidden small armrest on the right side when moving