NIO, which has broken the positioning and pricing of Chinese automotive brands since its inception, has made another big move in the competitive new energy vehicle market, launching its second brand - the all-new Ledao brand and its first model - the Ledao L60.

NIO delivered 21,181 new vehicles in September, and the Ledao L60 was officially delivered on September 28, but there have already been reports of delivery disruptions and even discussions about insufficient production capacity. It's rare to see a new car already facing capacity issues upon delivery, isn't it, Ledao?

Backed by NIO's years of automotive manufacturing and delivery experience, Ledao Automobile's start can be described as rocky. We'll see if it's NIO's bloodline holding it back, or if Ledao Automobile truly has to start from scratch.

Ledao Automobile is also positioned as a high-end brand in the new energy vehicle market, but its positioning is inevitably lower than that of NIO. So, can a "low-cost version of NIO" win the trust of users and recreate the success of NIO?

There is certainly still hope, as NIO is a leading automaker among the new forces in the industry, with countless successes and failures to draw upon. However, the opportunities left for Ledao Automobile are already slim.

For NIO to make Ledao Automobile a household name and shake off its image as a "low-cost version of NIO," it must tread carefully to avoid alienating users in both markets.

Of course, we trust that Li Bin has the ability to minimize conflicts between NIO and Ledao, but conflicts are bound to arise!

NIO, Xpeng, and Li Auto must prove their high-end brand positioning to users by excelling in areas such as service, technology, and niche markets, and they have achieved certain successes, contributing to the overall success of the new energy vehicle market.

With so many new energy vehicle brands available, Ledao Automobile cannot simply rely on the label of "high-end family car" to stand out. Leveraging NIO's influence is a necessary choice.

However, even if Ledao Automobile adopts a new design and operation team, from a brand perception perspective, any new brand under NIO will inevitably be seen as a "low-cost version of NIO," an image that is difficult to shake off, even if it is positioned as a high-end brand.

Meanwhile, in the niche market for vehicles priced around RMB 200,000, users are not short on money but are reluctant to waste a penny. Brand image and tone are undoubtedly the top priorities, or else what sets it apart from Toyota and Volkswagen?

Some argue that NIO does not need sales volume, but as a high-end brand, NIO has long struggled to overcome production and sales constraints. Its overall costs are much higher than those of Xpeng and Li Auto, necessitating increased production and sales to achieve economies of scale.

However, NIO's approach to launching Ledao Automobile carries more risks than Toyota's creation of Lexus.

Toyota was able to launch Lexus as a luxury brand by adopting new automotive technologies, improving quality standards, and stacking configurations. Conversely, if Lexus were to launch another Toyota brand at an uncompetitive price, would anyone still buy it?

To expand its scale, NIO has many options, such as introducing entry-level models like Audi and BMW. Instead, it chose the riskier but potentially more rewarding path of Ledao Automobile.

It is already extremely challenging for NIO to establish itself as a mainstream luxury brand in the RMB 400,000 niche market, but NIO has succeeded.

However, the RMB 200,000 niche market where Ledao Automobile resides is a fiercely competitive red ocean, and it will face intense competition from the start.

One of the key factors driving NIO sales is the sentiment of owning a luxury Chinese brand. NIO promotes Ledao Automobile as a family car, but in today's market, family cars are as abundant as vacant real estate properties.

Li Bin and NIO are undoubtedly the first ambassadors for the difficulty of building a new brand. Facing this red ocean market, he was reluctant to let NIO get involved in the melee and instead chose to create a new brand under the guise of a new automotive venture.

While the RMB 400,000 niche market where NIO resides is a niche segment, it is one of its exclusive markets as an independent high-end brand. In contrast, the RMB 200,000 niche market where Ledao Automobile resides has many considerations and possibilities for users, making it difficult to establish an effective brand barrier.

Without negative publicity or unexpected marketing incidents, Ledao Automobile seems destined to remain a topic of heated debate among NIO users and KOL opinion leaders. Where will Li Bin's desired sales volume come from?

In today's Chinese automotive market, new automotive forces are fighting fiercely, and traditional Chinese automakers are fully engaged in the competition. It remains to be seen whether Ledao Automobile will recreate NIO's success or simply become another version of it.

As an independent high-end brand, NIO's strengths lie in its service system, battery swapping technology, and battery swapping infrastructure. Battery swapping services have become a profitable asset for NIO, which has even expanded its cooperation externally, revealing an excess of service capacity.

While Ledao Automobile's arrival can gradually absorb some of this excess capacity, balancing the rights and interests of users of both NIO and Ledao brands without affecting the driving experience of existing NIO users under the already excessive resources seems like an impossible task.

If Ledao Automobile becomes popular quickly and production and sales grow rapidly, it is likely to trigger protests from NIO users, especially in high-frequency service scenarios such as holidays.

After all, everyone prefers one-on-one service and exclusive resources, which NIO has long provided. Changing this will be difficult and may even jeopardize NIO's high-end positioning.

The goal of Ledao Automobile is undoubtedly to expand NIO's production and sales scale, further reducing overall costs from manufacturing to operation.

In this context, the commonality of automotive platforms and components, as well as the sharing of service systems such as NIO Houses and battery swapping stations, are facts that NIO users must accept. They are also the foundation for Ledao Automobile's success.

We believe that NIO will not invest the same amount of resources in building Ledao Automobile from scratch, as the Chinese market has run out of time for another large-scale new energy vehicle brand following Xiaomi Automobile.

On one hand, Ledao Automobile must rely on NIO's resources, while on the other hand, NIO's existing users are concerned about competition for those resources. It remains to be seen whether Li Bin will abandon NIO or allow Ledao Automobile to start from scratch.

A mainstream automaker must rely on scale to win future development opportunities, and NIO is no exception. However, it has chosen the risky path of Ledao Automobile.

After much effort, NIO has acquired nearly 600,000 high-end users and built over 2,500 battery swapping stations, which are unique assets and advantages for the company and represent a high point in China's automotive development.

Will these 500,000 high-end users accept sharing some of the 2,500 battery swapping stations with a cheaper car, and will Ledao Automobile users tolerate being labeled as "low-end NIO" in potential online disputes?

We hope that Li Bin has already devised a foolproof plan for NIO and Ledao Automobile, rather than naively hoping that NIO users will generously understand and accept the reality that Ledao Automobile users must endure.

NIO users will have to accept that they can no longer monopolize Li Bin's success, and Ledao Automobile users will always be under the shadow of NIO's bloodline.

Li Bin must not only prevent internal strife between NIO and Ledao but also defeat competitors who stab them in the back. Can NIO "manage its household wisely" and achieve "family harmony" with Ledao Automobile?