Written by Wang Pan and Xu Zhi

Edited by Wu Xianzhi

An upward path. This is the logo that Letao finally settled on among more than 4000 options. "This logo is derived from insights into the emotions and lifestyles of global users. Their career development, living conditions, and family status are all on the rise. In one simple word, it's an upward channel," said Ai Tiecheng, President of Letao Motors, during a recent media briefing, sharing more thoughts on the brand's logo imagery.

In fact, this symbol not only represents Letao's insights into the lives of its target group but also carries the aspirations of NIO—which has confirmed that it will not introduce new products in the short term—to leverage Letao as a new engine to propel itself "on an upward path" in the fiercely competitive new energy vehicle market.

Ai Tiecheng mentioned that NIO has recently iterated its value system to "co-creation, sustainability, and a better future." With such a lofty vision, it would be unreasonable to focus solely on the high-end market, so entering the mainstream market is imperative. This is also the origin of the Letao brand.

Unlike the "bottom-up" brand development path of traditional automakers, the relationship between NIO and Letao is "top-down." In other words, Letao to NIO is like Audi to Volkswagen.

In terms of brand positioning, NIO's main brand, as a pioneer in high-end smart electric vehicles, is dedicated to providing high-performance smart electric vehicles and ultimate user experiences. Meanwhile, Letao targets the more mainstream family segment, offering better product experiences to family users with the concept of "family joy and wise housekeeping." This is also why Ai Tiecheng, who boasts experience working at Shanghai Disneyland from scratch and is described by Li Bin as someone who "understands family user needs and knows how to create joy for them," has become the helmsman of Letao.

In terms of pricing, NIO's products cover the range of 300,000 to 600,000 yuan, while the pre-sale price of Letao L60 is 219,900 yuan, focusing on the 200,000-300,000 yuan family car market and emphasizing high cost-effectiveness. There is essentially no direct competition between the two. In terms of services, Letao shares most of NIO's hardware and software services, such as direct access to NIO's third- and fourth-generation battery swap stations and shared battery swap stations alongside other brands in the battery swap alliance. However, there are still some distinctions between the two brands in terms of more advanced services, as the "status symbol" NIO House will not be open to Letao owners.

Born with a "golden spoon" As NIO's first sub-brand, Letao can undoubtedly be described as "born with a golden spoon." The systematic empowerment brought by NIO to Letao comprehensively covers technology research and development, manufacturing, charging and battery swap infrastructure, supply chain systems, and service capabilities and experience in operating high-end brands.

The first model of Letao, the L60, is developed based on NIO's third-generation technology platform, NT3.0. NIO's latest executive smart flagship model, the ET9, is also a product of NT3.0, which means that Letao will fully inherit NIO's technological advantages and the latest research and development achievements in autonomous driving, smart cockpit, electric drive system, battery technology, and other aspects. A typical example is that with the support of the 900V high-voltage system, the L60 has achieved significant improvements in efficiency, charging speed, weight reduction, and space utilization compared to mainstream 400V or 800V platforms in the market. At the Letao launch event in May this year, Ai Tiecheng proudly highlighted the L60's 12.1kWh/100km energy consumption, the lowest among global mid-sized SUVs, which is precisely due to this technological advantage. At a recent industry event, Li Bin also mentioned in his speech that Lei Jun had previously stated at a launch event that it would take Xiaomi three years to surpass Tesla in terms of energy consumption, something that Letao has already achieved. In terms of smart systems, Letao adopts the "future-oriented" Coconut Letao Smart System, which is derived from NIO's SkyOS·Tianshu vehicle-wide operating system, comprehensively covering vehicle connectivity, vehicle control, autonomous driving, digital cockpit, mobile applications, and other vehicle-wide functions, ensuring the system's advancedness and stability. Letao's intelligent driving system, ONVO Smart Driving (OSD), is also built upon NIO's intelligent driving capabilities, featuring high-performance sensing hardware and powerful computing chips, and comes standard with 45 active and intelligent safety assistance functions, enabling precise perception and recognition of complex road environments. Through years of infrastructure construction and continuous significant investments, the charging and battery swap system has become one of NIO's absolute moats, and this system is also inherited by Letao. The L60 will share NIO Power's "chargeable, swappable, and upgradable" all-scenario energy service system. As Ai Tiecheng said at the launch event, Letao will have 1,000 battery swap stations, 25,000 private charging piles, and over one million third-party charging piles by the end of this year, allowing users to enjoy convenient full-battery travel in just three minutes. "Letao for charging, second in the industry." As for the industry leader he didn't mention, it's probably NIO. It's worth mentioning Letao's supply chain system. Compared to other brand-new brands, Letao, supported by NIO's mature and rigorous supply chain system, has a noticeable lead in time efficiency and cost. For example, in terms of 4D imaging, Letao uses Sainlead's S-series high-performance 4D imaging radar, which adopts a dual-chip cascade SFR-2K solution with 2048 point clouds per frame. This radar has been fully validated on NIO's NT3.0 platform, and what might have taken years to adapt and mass-produce was achieved by Letao in just a few months. In addition, NIO's overall service capabilities and networks have also been replicated to Letao. Apart from sharing intelligent services and software upgrades with NIO, Letao will also rely on NIO's operating system and service network for market promotion and customer service. Currently, NIO has over 530 sales outlets, over 300 service and delivery centers across 180+ major cities nationwide, covering a mature sales management system and salesperson capabilities, which will directly empower Letao. NIO has always had a reputation for "selling services rather than just cars," with owner satisfaction and loyalty among the highest in domestic automakers. NIO's service buffer will undoubtedly bring significant appeal to Letao. Overall, NIO is bringing its decade-long experience in the high-end segment to the mass market, giving the inherently mature Letao a "dimensionality reduction strike"-like innate advantage in the same-level battlefield.

Opportunities and Challenges for Letao "The next globally popular family car should be a Chinese brand," said Ai Tiecheng euphemistically, but his high expectations for Letao are evident. After all, the L60 is a mid-sized SUV, which was prominently displayed at the Letao launch event—the L60 directly targets the Toyota RAV4 and Tesla Model Y, absolute leaders in the global fuel/hybrid and pure electric SUV segments. Whether Li Bin's decision to separate Letao from the NIO brand is right or wrong is still too early to tell, but Letao's L60 is not without a fight against top players like the Tesla Model Y and the Lixiang L6 in the 200,000 yuan pure electric SUV segment. Ai Tiecheng defines Letao as abandoning individuality to create a balanced car that meets the needs of mainstream family users. "A blockbuster can't be too individualistic; individuality means niche. You have to make most people like it and few people dislike it," he said. In other words, the middle way is a double-edged sword. While the L60 has no weaknesses in any aspect, it also means it lacks standout highlights that make it memorable, similar to Lixiang, which also focuses on family users and lacks standout strengths despite having no weaknesses. In the eyes of many, the Letao L60 is seen as a "Model Y" with a larger, more luxurious interior and battery swap capability. If the price of this car is significantly lower than that of the Model Y, there's reason to believe that its impact on the market will be no less than dropping a boulder into a calm lake. The pre-sale price of the Letao L60 is 219,900 yuan, exactly 30,000 yuan lower than the current price of the Model Y. While this pre-sale price alone may not offset the disadvantage in brand power, it's worth noting that Letao also has the BaaS battery leasing program as a significant advantage. It is estimated that if the BaaS program is chosen, the starting price of the Letao L60 could drop to the 170,000-180,000 yuan range, meaning that Letao, which is positioned in the 200,000 yuan segment, is effectively competing at a 150,000 yuan price point. Cost-effectiveness is precisely the core concern of this target group when making purchasing decisions, as mentioned in relevant reports from Yiche.com Research Institute and Autohome Research Institute. In the 200,000 yuan price segment, price is one of the most important factors for consumers. With a 12.1kWh/100km energy consumption and a current global minimum drag coefficient of 0.229 among mass-produced SUVs, the L60's energy consumption costs have been minimized. Coupled with the continuous price reductions in NIO's BaaS service, the L60's vehicle usage costs are highly competitive, in line with Letao's family car standard formula. At the launch event, Ai Tiecheng used "two freedoms" and "three freedoms" to describe the rear passenger and trunk spaces, respectively, with advantages over the Model Y in terms of wheelbase, headroom, and legroom. In terms of safety and environmental protection, the L60 also demonstrates a high level of commitment. For example, the L60 uses a significant amount of high-strength steel throughout the vehicle, with the core frame reaching a "submarine-grade" strength of 2000 MPa, which is rare among vehicles in its class. The addition of long-lasting silver ion antibacterial agents and infant-grade environmentally friendly materials in high-frequency contact areas will also weigh heavily in the decision-making process for potential consumers with children. Of course, this doesn't mean that Letao will have a smooth ride from the start, quickly defeating its strongest competitors. After all, it's a brand new player, and it still needs time to establish its brand influence and recognition, especially in the fiercely competitive 200,000 yuan segment. As a NIO sub-brand, Letao has faced questions since its launch about why it doesn't use the NIO brand. NIO spent a decade establishing its brand in the high-end segment, and Letao's decision to start from scratch means that it likely needs to build consumer awareness from scratch, especially in the fiercely competitive 200,000 yuan segment. With the situation of "few NIO's old customers buying Letao, and new customers unaware of it," it remains to be seen whether Letao can convince consumers who are attracted to the NIO brand to make a purchase. It's essential to note that the 200,000 yuan segment is incredibly competitive. Whether it's international players like Tesla, new forces like Xpeng and Xiaomi, or traditional automakers like BYD and Geely, Letao faces formidable challenges in securing a foothold amidst these fierce competitors. Boost revenue and reduce costs NIO has not been profitable since its inception, with losses continuing to increase. In addition to being limited by the size of the high-end market, high costs associated with technology research and development and infrastructure construction are significant factors. The birth of Letao not only directly increases NIO's sales and revenue but also spreads costs across various aspects, helping the company achieve profitability sooner. Li Bin emphasizes that while the market competition in Letao's segment is fierce, the company will not sacrifice profitability for sales volume by offering excessively low margins. In his view, the introduction of the Letao brand helps NIO enhance the efficiency of its system capabilities. By sharing NIO's technology system, manufacturing facilities, and sales and service channels, Letao, compared to NIO's main brand products that lose money on every sale, will significantly reduce NIO's research and development and vehicle manufacturing costs once sales volumes pick up. While the challenges are significant, so are the opportunities. The 200,000 yuan market segment is substantial enough. According to recent domestic auto market sales data from Autohome, the "top player" Model Y consistently sells around 30,000 to 40,000 units per month, while the Lixiang L6 also reaches around 20,000 units per month. Another reference point is Xpeng's MONA M03, which surpassed 30,000 orders within 48 hours of its launch at the end of August. Amid the "golden September and silver October" car sales season, even with pessimistic projections, the L60, with its superior product strength and cost-effectiveness, could realistically achieve a "small goal" of 10,000 units per month, although the official target is much higher. Regarding sales, Ai Tiecheng expresses high confidence, stating, "Letao's store layout is simple: we gather where our excellent competitors are, such as Tesla and Lixiang." On the other hand, Letao's launch represents NIO's foray into the mass market. In addition to filling a niche segment, its market performance and experience will provide valuable insights for NIO's other sub-brand, "Firefly," set to launch next year. Since the launch event, online reservations for the Letao L60 have been fully opened. As of press time, sales of the L60 have commenced in 105 stores across 55 cities and 23 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, with deliveries starting within a week. Overall, the Letao L60 is a well-rounded vehicle with no obvious weaknesses. Whether consumers will buy into it remains to be proven by the market.