GAC Nio, the joint venture between Chinese carmakers GAC Group and Nio, announced on September 16 that it is launching the GAC Nio Smart Mobility Ecological Fund in conjunction with Xin Ding Capital, with an initial fund size of $1 billion to provide financial and resource support for companies in the ecosystem.

At the same time, GAC Nio intends to set up a smart car research institute with PKU Jinqiu New Technologies, dedicated to providing forward-looking trend research.

"The establishment of the first $1 billion Smart Mobility Ecological Fund is just the first step, which will provide more resource support in the smart mobility sector in the future," said Zhang Chi, chairman of Xin Ding Capital.

The automotive industry is now generally facing profitability bottlenecks, and the software business is starting to become a major growth area.

According to GAC Nio's plan, its first product HYCAN 007 integrates GAC's new energy technology platform and Nio's intelligent network connection technology, and under the pressure of boosting sales and subsequent corporate development, betting on software and user experience has become the trump card in GAC Nio's hand.

As early as August 19 this year, GAC Nio founder Liao Bing for the first time open HYCAN 007's BOM list (bill of materials), and at the same time publicly promised to policy hardware comprehensive profit no more than 1%, the excess will be returned to users.

Liao Bing said that GAC Nio's hardware profit margin is not more than 1%, which will completely change the business model of the automotive industry that relies on hardware to make profits, and the value chain will be reconstructed in the context of the development of intelligent network connection.

This means that GAC Nio will not rely on selling cars to make money, and integrated software and hardware intelligent travel ecology will be born.

Liao Bing said, "As a technology startup company, GAC Nio will not be able to build the entire ecological service alone, and together with its partners, it will explore the unique development path belonging to GAC Nio to maximize user value."

Liao Bing said that GAC Nio direct stores are currently selecting locations in Beijing, where it plans to open at least two direct stores this year and about 60 direct stores nationwide.

A month ago, GAC Nio launched its automotive eco-membership system, which includes Smart, Ultra, and Value membership.

Official figures show that in less than a month, the percentage of purchases made by members was 40 percent.