CHANGING LANES

EV billionaire William Li is chasing growth overseas. His first step—entering the European market via Norway.

- YUE WANG

IN EARLY MAY, WILLIAM LI STRIDES ONTO A SHANGHAI STAGE IN A NAVY T-SHIRT EMBLAZONED WITH TWO WORDS: NORWAY 2021.

The founder of Nio greets his new team sitting in Oslo at the virtual event before launching into details about the Chinese electric car maker’s first move overseas.

The Nordic country was chosen because it is the first country in the world where EVs have overtaken sales of traditionally powered vehicles—nearly 55% of all car sales in 2020, according to the Norwegian Road Federation. It will also serve as Nio’s springboard to Europe, which briefly passed China last year as the world’s largest EV market after governments doled out subsidies to spur purchases during the pandemic. Starting in 2022, Nio will enter five more European countries, which Li declines to name.

While success at cracking a new market far from home is hardly assured, Li is confident about his company’s roadmap for growth. “China is already the most competitive EV market in the world,” the 46-year-old said at a press conference earlier that day. “If I can do it in China, there is no reason I can’t do it elsewhere.”

Li, dubbed the Elon Musk of China, has already made his mark at home. In seven years, his company has gone from startup to become the seventh largest in China’s EV sector by deliveries. He led the carmaker back from the verge of bankruptcy in late 2019, when executive departures, vehicle recalls and a rollback of government subsidies pummeled investor confidence in the company.

Fast forward to today: Nio delivered 20,060 vehicles in the first quarter, a fivefold jump from a year earlier when demand was suppressed by the pandemic. Sales grew over 490% over the same period to reach 7.4 billion yuan and its net loss narrowed to 451 million yuan.