NIO's second child has started earning money to support the family.

The technological changes brought about by electrification are giving rise to new methodologies.

NIO is using its second brand, "LeDao," to compete in the mainstream market, taking a difficult but correct path:

First, solve the technical threshold of pure - electric vehicles. High - cost R & D and infrastructure construction are used to gain core competitiveness. After establishing a foothold in the high - end market, different brands are used to solve the problem of large - scale production.

In less than two years of delivery and with only two models, "LeDao" has sold nearly 150,000 vehicles. This is quite an achievement for a brand - new brand.

Now, NIO's second - born brand, "LeDao," has grown up and started to contribute to the family's income.

On May 15th, the third model of "LeDao," the L80, is about to be launched. NIO is going all out to make it the next big hit.

01

Create Another "Blockbuster"

Li Bin, the chairman of NIO, has been busier recently.

He has held several product press conferences in a row.

Since mid - April, there have been the pre - sale of the NIO ES9, the launch of the new LeDao L90, and the pre - sale of the LeDao L80. Li Bin has attended all of these events in person. He was so busy that he only stayed at the Beijing Auto Show, an industry event, for one day.

On the evening of April 28th, Li Bin, who was constantly on the move, appeared in Hangzhou to grandly launch the third model of LeDao, the L80.

Strictly speaking, the L80 is not a brand - new model. It is built on the same platform as the LeDao L90, which was launched last year, and is the "five - seat version" of the L90. However, Li Bin has provided extremely high - level resource support for the L80 in terms of both naming and the launch process.

Many car companies and brands in the market have large three - row and large five - seat models that are derived from the same source and are launched simultaneously.

However, LeDao L80 not only opened a new product series but also did not appear together with the recently facelifted L90. Instead, it had an independent launch event. From pre - sale to launch, it had all the necessary elements, with a grand scale. Even last Sunday, Li Bin held a 12 - hour slow live - stream of the LeDao L80 at a Dunhuang campsite.

Li Bin explained in a group interview with the media after the pre - sale of the L80 that the L80 has a more dynamic and slender appearance, and it maximizes the performance of the latest generation of pure - electric platform in terms of space. Making it a separate product series can better showcase the characteristics of this car.

This is undoubtedly another bold gamble for NIO at present.

Although NIO achieved profitability at the operational level for the first time in the fourth quarter of last year, with a net profit of 125 million yuan, this star among new car - making forces, which has invested tens of billions of yuan in the past decade, is still not well - off. The company is still tightening its belt internally.

One detail learned by Yiou Auto is that recently, NIO has taken back some charging and battery - swapping rights for its employees who buy cars.

The resource allocation under cost - cutting, just like the energy allocation of the helmsman, intuitively reflects the high expectations placed on the LeDao L80.

Obviously, as a large five - seat pure - electric SUV targeting the family market, the LeDao L80 shoulders the heavy responsibility of increasing sales volume for NIO this year.

In terms of pricing strategy, the LeDao L80 is also quite aggressive.

The pre - sale price of the L80 starts at 245,800 yuan, and if purchased through the BaaS battery rental method, it starts at 159,800 yuan. Even before its official launch, it is already 20,000 yuan cheaper than the L90.

It should be noted that the main difference between the L80 and the L90 lies in the number of seats and the space layout. Both models are equipped with the flagship - level core technologies of LeDao and even NIO in terms of vehicle safety and lightweight design, and the cost difference is not significant. Generally, in the market, the price difference between the 5 - seat and 6 - seat versions of the same model is about 15,000 - 20,000 yuan.

A person familiar with the matter told Yiou Auto that Li Bin initially thought that since the cost difference between the two models was not large, the price difference did not need to be significant either. However, he later decided to give the L80 sufficient price room, so the pre - sale price was set higher than the market expectation.

In comparison, the pre - sale price of the L80 is 34,000 yuan higher than that of the L90 during the same period last year.

Judging from the feedback at the press conference and the subsequent small - order performance, the L80 has the potential to become a small hit.

Shen Fei, the senior vice - president of NIO and the president of LeDao Auto, said in a group interview with the media the next day that the pre - sale orders of the L80 were "slightly better" than those of the L90 during the same period last year.

Yiou Auto also learned from the front - line that the L80 has received a good response and has become the traffic driver at the stores recently.

After the pre - sale, the L80 has arrived at the front - line stores, and test drives were launched during the May Day holiday. A salesperson at a Shanghai store said that recently, 90% of the customer flow is to see the L80. During the holiday, about dozens of groups of users are received every day, and about 80% of them will pay an intention deposit.

Currently, due to the large number of potential customers and the limited number of test cars, test drives need to be booked in advance. Moreover, during the peak holiday period, there was a rare situation of "combined test drives" in groups.

02

Seize the "Window Period"

LeDao is the second brand launched by NIO and was officially unveiled in the tenth year of the company's establishment.

In contrast to NIO's focus on the high - end market above 300,000 yuan, LeDao targets the 200,000 - 300,000 yuan price range and focuses on family cars.

This is a powerful tool for NIO to enter the mainstream market and enhance the scale effect. Taking 2025 as an example, NIO has set a sales target of 440,000 vehicles for the whole company, doubling the previous year, and LeDao will be the main force.

In the past few years, NIO has invested heavily in core areas such as vehicle development, sales and operation, and energy replenishment to build a reliable high - end new - energy brand. So far, NIO's cumulative R & D investment has reached about 70 billion yuan, making it the car company with the highest R & D rate.

However, the volume of a high - end brand with annual sales of only a few hundred thousand vehicles is not enough to spread out various expenses, and NIO has long been mired in losses.

Therefore, since its birth, LeDao has been destined to increase sales and contribute to the company's profits.

However, LeDao's development has not been smooth, and its first model had a rough start.

In September 2024, the LeDao L60 was launched. It is a five - seat mid - size SUV that clearly competes with the Tesla Model Y. It entered the market with the strategy of "more features at a lower price," with a starting price of less than 210,000 yuan, 43,000 yuan lower than that of the Model Y. It received a large number of orders at the beginning of its launch.

However, the good times did not last long.

Although the L60 had a great response during the small - order stage, its subsequent sales performance was mediocre. In the third month after its launch, the monthly delivery volume of the L60 barely exceeded 5,000 vehicles. Although it briefly reached over 10,000 vehicles at the end - of - year sales rush, its subsequent stable monthly sales were only about 5,000 vehicles.

This is the result after continuously improving sales incentives.

In the first half of last year, LeDao implemented a loose terminal sales policy and also introduced the option of "preferred cars," which offered high discounts on high - configuration in - stock cars. At that time, a front - line person told Yiou Auto that preferred cars once accounted for 80% of the store's sales.

LeDao had a difficult first year. Fortunately, after the launch of the second model, there was a turning point.

In August 2025, the LeDao L90 was launched. It is a large three - row SUV with a starting price of 265,800 yuan. Its monthly delivery volume exceeded 10,000 vehicles in the first month of its launch, and the cumulative annual delivery volume was nearly 50,000 vehicles, winning the annual sales championship in the pure - electric large SUV market.

The hot sales of the L90 not only brought confidence to LeDao's development but also verified the competitiveness of the latest generation of pure - electric platform technology in the large - vehicle market:

Before the launch of the L90, large three - row SUVs were basically dominated by range - extended vehicles, and the share of pure - electric vehicles was only one - fifth of that of range - extended vehicles. Since the launch of the L90, the potential of pure - electric vehicles in this segment has started to be released. With the subsequent launch of the NIO ES8, by March this year, the pure - electric penetration rate in the large three - row SUV market had reached 37.4%, ranking first.

When the L90 was launched, LeDao had completed iterations in terms of organizational structure and internal processes. The different performances of the L90 and the L60 are not only related to the different stages of the LeDao brand but also directly due to the different ecological niches of the two products.

When the L60 was launched, the 200,000 - 300,000 yuan mid - size SUV market was already crowded with competitors. There were absolute leaders like the Tesla Model Y with monthly sales of tens of thousands, as well as capable challengers like the Zeekr 7X and the Li L6. It was one of the most fiercely competitive battlefields in the new - energy market.

On the other hand, the large three - row SUV market where the L90 is located is a blue ocean with an undetermined competitive landscape. Especially in the mainstream 200,000 - 300,000 yuan market, the supply of pure - electric vehicles and even new - energy vehicles is relatively scarce.

Previously, the large three - row SUV market was firmly occupied by the flagship models of Li Auto and AITO. However, pure - electric vehicles in the 200,000 - yuan range had not yet formed a scale. The L90 entered the market with a good price and significant product advantages and quickly received a strong market response.

There is a widely - quoted saying: "Choice is more important than effort."

For a brand - new brand like LeDao, quickly seizing a position in a sparsely - populated niche market is easier to break through than struggling in a saturated and highly competitive market.

A person inside LeDao also told Yiou Auto that the L60 was a bit unlucky. It was too late to enter the pure - electric mid - size SUV segment, while the L90 seized a golden window period of about half a year.

Now, LeDao's third model, the L80, is also about to be launched. Similar to the L90, the L80 has a certain first - mover advantage in its niche market.

Li Bin introduced in a group interview after the press conference that the proportion of pure - electric vehicles in the large five - seat SUV market last year was only 6.4%, "because there was no good product supply." In contrast, the proportion of pure - electric vehicles in the overall five - seat SUV market had reached 28.8%.

This also means that the LeDao L80 is expected to replicate the success story of the LeDao L90 and quickly open up the market in a vacuum area with a lack of mature pure - electric vehicle supply.

03

Take the "Difficult but Correct" Path

When LeDao was first launched, it was almost controversial.

In fact, using different brands to target different niche markets is a classic approach in the automotive and even consumer goods industries. Audi and Volkswagen in the Volkswagen Group, and Lexus and Toyota in the Toyota Group are all mature examples.

Li Bin has also explained many times that a brand can only cover a limited price range. To launch more affordable models, a new brand outside of NIO is needed.

However, as a new car - making force that has only been established for a few years, NIO's resources are limited. Before the main brand has established an absolute leading position in the market, launching a second brand by expanding the business scope on a large scale will naturally face doubts such as lack of strategic focus and low efficiency.

In the past few years, NIO has initially established a high - end brand barrier through product innovation and the construction of charging and battery - swapping systems. However, in terms of sales volume and operating performance, NIO is not the most outstanding one.

In direct contrast, Li Auto started later and had fewer resources than NIO. When NIO's monthly sales were still hovering around 20,000, Li Auto had rapidly grown into a new - force leader with annual sales of 500,000 vehicles. When Li Auto had achieved stable profitability, NIO was still relying on external financing for continuous support.