China is the most competitive market in the world for electric vehicles. Startups and established car manufacturers are competing for the price, technology and, more and more, design, while businesses are trying to grasp market share. Foreign visitors are often surprised by what Chinese electric vehicles can do.
“The EV market, especially in China, is incredibly competitive,” explains Kris Tomasson, vice-president of the design of Nio, one of the main Chinese startups EV. To keep an advance on the competition, “the design must really be the peak edge, always pending, very progressive. So we have the possibility of really pushing on the side of the design. ”
Being for the design means being agile enough to quickly continue new ideas – with a workforce of digital technology. “Key decisions that may take months from a traditional car manufacturer, we can take in a few hours thanks to our digital tools,” explains Tomasson.
Nio is now trying to use its design chops to release a new entry -level vehicle – has been “Firefly” – when it is trying to enter the entry -level segment on Chinese and European car markets.
Exchange of batteries and nio houses
William Li founded Nio in 2014; The company started its first car in 2016. The startup focused on high -end vehicles, competition with companies like Tesla and its Chinese compatriot EV, Xpeng. Nio delivered 737,000 cars in total until the end of April.
Tomasson, who had previously worked at BMW, Ford and Coca-Cola, was “one of the first 10 people brought on board, which made me realize how important design was going to be for this business in the future”.
Michael Tropper, co -founder of the Design Forpeople agency, was also brought to Nio early to work on “a unique opportunity to build something from scratch”. He tried to focus on nio offers beyond the car itself, in particular the battery exchange stations of the company.
“This is the main concern that everyone has about electric vehicles: how will I charge the car?” What if I lacked power? ” Tropper says. Nio has since made its elegant and minimalist battery exchange stations a “coherent part of the brand experience”, explains Tropper.
The second unique aspect behind Nio is the “nio houses”, the retail windows of the company. The startup launches these “houses” as community spaces for NIO pilots, including co-work spaces, libraries and coffees. “We were inspired by clubs of private members,” said Tropperper. “I took William Li to Soho House here in London, and we really plunged into this world.”
Nio now has more than 180 of these spaces, mainly in China with some in Europe and the Middle East. “A key element of differentiation for NIO is its service culture and its support for the customer. We felt, very early, that a space where you host people is the best way to express this, ”explains Tropper. “The automotive industry can learn a lot from the hotel industry.”
A new nio adventure: Firefly
Nio’s shares have dropped by almost 30% in the past 12 months, while investors continue to worry about whether EV startups can survive in the fierce sector in China. Business generated $ 9 billion In revenue in 2024, but reported a loss of $ 3 billion for the year.
Dozens of startups of Chinese electric vehicles have emerged in the last decade, explaining government grants. Although this has helped develop a global competitive automotive industry, this has also led to fierce competition while car manufacturers are fighting for market share. Many are likely to failImpossible to follow the giants like Byd, Tesla and Geely Auto.
Nio, for his part, has stumbled while trying to expand its range of products. He unveiled Onvo, who targets the mass market segment last year. Again Sales were slower than hopethat leaders blame on delayed deliveries.
The startup’s latest offer is “Firefly”, a more entry -level vehicle compared to its standard premium models.
The Chinese startup launched Firefly on the Chinese market in mid-April. The first model, a small electric mini-vehicle, sells just under 120,000 Chinese yuan ($ 16,466). Nio refused to disclose the order numbers for the new brand, but the founder William Li suggested that he hoped for him Make Up 10% sales of the company.
Nio hopes to launch Firefly in Europe by the third trimester of the year. It is a slight delay for the initial plan of the company to be launched by summer; Nio admits that he has underestimated the challenges of sales in Europe.
During the design of the car, Nio “distilled three keywords: lively, thoughtful and solid”, explains Tomasson. This first characteristic – liveliness – results in its “trio lights”: three small headlights on each side of the car front, which are reflected at the back. “No one has done this in the industry,” says Tomasson. “It is instantly recognizable.”
The reflection passes inside the car, which the company made “as effective as possible” in order to maximize the space. And finally, despite its more entry -level price, the car must still feel like a “superior car”.
Tropper has also adopted the idea of the “Firefly” in the development of the brand image of the car, choosing a “yellow and shiny electric color which compensates for the cooler tones of the night”.
To Tropper, working on Firefly was a chance for brand and design teams to work in close collaboration, rather than in distinct and partitioned verticals. “Design DNA must work for the brand as well as for cars,” he says.
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
