Recently, NIO ushered in a huge investment, and Abu Dhabi investment agency CIVENHOLDINGS invested about 2.2 billion US dollars in cash, equivalent to more than 15 billion yuan. This investment makes CivnHoldings the largest shareholder of NIO, with a stake of up to 20%. However, although this injection of funds has brought a little respite to NIO, it still cannot hide the company's continuous losses. According to the third-quarter report, NIO's loss reached 15.3 billion yuan. Although this new investment has increased the company's cash reserves to 60 billion yuan, at the current rate of loss, this fund can only sustain the company for three years. NIO's loss has always been the focus of the market, and the arrival of new investments has not solved this fundamental problem.
Although NIO was once the leader of China's new car manufacturers, the company has now been left behind by Li Auto. As the only company in the three new car manufacturers to be continuously profitable, Li Auto has surpassed NIO and Xpeng. In terms of market capitalization, NIO's market value is also the lowest among the three, and Li Auto's market value even exceeds that of NIO and XPeng. NIO has also been questioned about its battery swap model and mobile phone business, which is considered to be not doing its business properly. Therefore, relatively speaking, NIO is under more pressure. In the face of these anxieties, NIO has recently made a series of changes, such as laying off 10% of its workforce, opening up charging and battery swapping facilities, cooperating with other car companies, giving up its own battery manufacturing business, and applying for independent car manufacturing qualifications to reduce costs, reduce car prices, and improve gross profit margins.
For NIO, however, the ultimate goal remains to increase sales. Only by increasing sales can revenue and profit growth be achieved, and investors can see hope. According to the data, NIO delivered 55,432 vehicles in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 754%, an increase of 135 month-on-month7%。This was a record number of deliveries and revenue. However, there is still a gap in NIO's sales compared to rival Li Auto. Li Auto sold more than 40,000 units in just one month and more than 100,000 units in the third quarter. Therefore, in fact, the key is not how fast or slow it is, but whether it can maintain its leading position compared with its competitors.
NIO is facing dual pressure from market competitors and investors to take measures to meet the challenges and achieve sustainable development. In addition to bringing in external funding and partnering with other automakers to reduce costs, NIO also needs to address several key issues.
First, NIO needs to address its own losses. Although the new investment has increased cash reserves, if the rate of loss cannot be controlled, it will still face cash flow problems. NIO needs to actively promote measures to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and find more profit points. By cooperating with other car companies to share resources and technologies, NIO can reduce R&D and production costs, and improve the cost-effectiveness and market competitiveness of its products.
Second, NIO needs to further promote its own technological innovation and product upgrades. Although NIO has made certain achievements in the fields of pure electric vehicles and intelligent driving, in the face of fierce market competition, it still needs to continuously improve its technical strength, accelerate product development and launch, and launch more competitive models. At the same time, NIO also needs to work user experience and after-sales service to improve user satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Finally, NIO needs to adjust its strategy and positioning. Although the battery swap mode provides convenience for users to charge to a certain extent, it has not achieved the expected results in the development of the entire industry. NIO needs to further optimize the battery swap mode to improve its utilization rate and convenience. At the same time, NIO also needs to clarify its brand positioning and differentiated competition strategy, find out the market positioning, meet the needs of different users, and create a unique brand image.
In my opinion, the challenges and changes that NIO faces are inevitable, and they are also a necessary stage for a growing company. In the face of fierce market competition and high investor attention, NIO needs to maintain its strategic focus and deepen its own transformation and innovation. Although NIO's loss problem still exists at this stage, NIO has the opportunity to achieve sustainable development by introducing external investment and cooperating with other car companies. The key lies in whether NIO can seize its own advantages, meet user needs through technological innovation and product upgrades, and build a highly loyal user group.
At the same time, NIO also needs to strengthen cooperation with industry associations, actively participate in the formulation of industry standards and policy norms, and strive for more policy support and market opportunities. At the same time, strengthen its own enterprise management and talent training, build a professional and efficient team, and improve organizational efficiency.
Finally, as an observer and participant in the industry, I believe that a startup like NIO has a strong ability to innovate and adapt. Despite the unpredictable market environment, NIO still has a chance to succeed and achieve sustainable development as long as it persistently pursues excellence and maintains self-innovation and transformation.