As the competition in the new energy vehicle market intensifies, the high-end market has become a battlefield for new energy vehicle companies.

However, the ideal is full, but the reality is harsh.

Currently, besides BYD and Tesla, which have achieved significant profits, even Li Auto's net profit has begun to decline, and other new energy vehicle companies are still struggling in the quagmire of losses.

Previously, NIO released its third-quarter financial report, revealing revenue of 18.674 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.1%; a net loss of 5.06 billion yuan, compared to a net loss of 4.557 billion yuan in the same period last year, and an adjusted net loss of 4.412 billion yuan, compared to 3.953 billion yuan in the same period last year.

Judging from various data, NIO's third-quarter report is not impressive.

It is worth noting that NIO set a new record for deliveries in the third quarter, with 61,900 new vehicles delivered. However, considering the losses, NIO still couldn't escape the fate of 'selling more, losing more.'

Perhaps affected by its performance, NIO's stock price performance has also been unsatisfactory recently.

Statistics show that since the beginning of October, NIO's U.S. stock price has fallen by more than 30%, which may be the market's response to NIO's performance.

Statistics also show that NIO has accumulated losses exceeding 100 billion yuan since its establishment in 2014.

High-end market is 'difficult'

Statistics show that as of August this year, NIO's market share in the mid-to-high-end pure electric vehicle market has increased to 55%; and in the price range of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan, NIO's market share has reached an astonishing 68%.

Although NIO leads the high-end pure electric vehicle market, huge losses have always been a 'hard injury' for the company.

Moreover, the path of new energy vehicles in the high-end market is not an easy one. Statistics show that the penetration rate of high-end pure electric vehicles is still low. In the first eight months of this year, the penetration rate of pure electric vehicles priced between 300,000 and 400,000 yuan or above was on average less than 15%, far below the overall pure electric vehicle penetration rate of 26%.

In the high-end new energy vehicle market, consumers prefer range-extended or plug-in hybrid vehicles that do not cause range anxiety, while pure electric vehicles are less popular.

Due to the limited capacity of the high-end pure electric vehicle market, even though NIO is dominant, increasing sales remains a headache. Especially in the automotive industry, scale has always been an important factor. Therefore, NIO is in a bit of a dilemma due to its own and industry conditions.

Under pressure to increase sales, NIO has tried various methods this year, but so far, there has been no qualitative change in its sales volume.

Third-quarter report data shows that NIO's average selling price for vehicles in the third quarter was 270,000 yuan, lower than market expectations of 276,000 yuan and the implied average price of 282,000 yuan in previous guidance, indicating an accelerated decline in the average selling price. Meanwhile, NIO delivered 61,900 new vehicles in the third quarter, a new high, but the monthly average was only around 20,000 vehicles.

In addition, according to the third-quarter guidance, NIO's sales guidance for the fourth quarter is 72,000 to 75,000 vehicles, which includes an additional 8,000 vehicles per month from Leda Auto. Excluding Leda Auto's sales, NIO's main brand will deliver less than 60,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter.

As everyone knows, it is not easy to establish a foothold in the high-end market. To maintain its high-end pure electric vehicle brand image, NIO focuses on two directions:

First, the heavy-asset battery swap model, providing users with a unique energy replenishment method;

Second, building a large user operation team to establish a high-end brand image through 'comprehensive services'.

Both battery swapping and 'comprehensive services' require substantial capital support. Taking 'comprehensive services' as an example, NIO had nearly 10,000 service personnel at the end of 2023. Reflected in the financial report, because the salaries of service personnel directly related to NIO's vehicle sales are directly included in the employee compensation item of selling expenses, NIO's selling expenses have remained high throughout the year, reaching 3.932 billion yuan, 6.878 billion yuan, 10.54 billion yuan, and 12.88 billion yuan from 2020 to 2023, respectively, totaling more than 30 billion yuan over four years.

Can Leda Auto carry the 'big flag'?

Due to the limited capacity of the high-end pure electric vehicle market and the premise of achieving profitability for automakers being scale, exploring the lower-tier market has become a necessity for NIO.

Through the battery rental model, NIO's main brand can already tap into the 250,000 yuan market segment, but the largest 100,000-200,000 yuan market segment cannot be reached through the main brand. From this perspective, Leda Auto, which was recently launched, is crucial for NIO as it bears the mission of 'increasing sales volume' and can even determine NIO's future.

Currently, the response to Leda Auto has been relatively positive.

According to Leda Auto executives, the production plan for the Leda L60 has been scheduled until the first quarter of next year. On November 14 alone, the company successfully delivered over 7,000 new vehicles; it is expected that the delivery volume of the Leda L60 will exceed 10,000 units in December this year, and this figure is expected to rise to over 20,000 units in March next year.

Admittedly, Leda Auto's product strength is not weak. As a model comparable to the Tesla Model Y, the Leda L60 has advantages in size, with a larger interior space and a longer wheelbase than the Tesla Model Y; in terms of price, the starting price of the Leda L60 is 219,900 yuan, 30,000 yuan lower than the entry-level Model Y. With the battery rental discount, the price can be directly reduced to the 150,000 yuan range; moreover, the Leda L60 supports both 900V high-voltage fast charging and battery swapping, allowing access to over 1,000 battery swap stations and over 25,000 NIO-owned charging piles nationwide, offering excellent cost-effectiveness.

However, as a newly launched brand, it will still be challenging for Leda Auto to carry the banner of NIO's sales volume.

Currently, the 105 offline stores promised by NIO have already opened on September 1, covering 55 cities nationwide. However, considering Leda Auto's planned sales volume of 10,000 vehicles per month per brand, the current channels are far from sufficient. According to the plan, Leda Auto will increase the number of stores to around 250 in the first quarter of next year, and in addition to opening new stores, it will also explore cooperation with third parties, indicating that it faces tremendous pressure in channel construction.

In addition to the time required for channel construction, the price range of 150,000 to 250,000 yuan is the most competitive segment in the new energy vehicle market. It remains uncertain whether Leda Auto can continue to sell well. In this price range, there are already many popular models on the market, such as the Model Y, Hai Lion 07 EV, Zeekr 001, and Denza N7. Moreover, the homogeneity of new energy vehicles is quite severe at present. The functions and configurations of the Leda L60 are basically similar to those of mainstream models in the industry, making it challenging for the Leda L60 to stand out in the long run.