"It's just like two runners on their tracks," said Nio president Qin Lihong. "If you have a great lead, you just need to keep your own pace."

(Image credit: Nio)

After the ET7, Nio's next model to enter Europe could be the ET5 sedan.

Nio will roll out other models in Europe, including the ET7 and ET5 sedans, starting this year, Reuters reported today, citing the company's co-founder and president Qin Lihong in a phone interview.

Qin and William Li, the company's founder, chairman and CEO, are currently in Germany, potentially preparing the company for a major event there.

"It's just like two runners on their tracks," Qin said, according to the report. "If you have a great lead, you just need to keep your own pace."

The Reuters article didn't provide any more details on the ET5, but it seems quite unlikely that the model will be offered in Europe starting this year, given its current popularity in China and the long wait times.

Nio unveiled the ET5 and began accepting reservations at Nio Day 2021 late last year. The company began allowing consumers to lock in their orders on September 9 and closed the reservation channel. Deposits paid by consumers before September 9 are refundable at any time, and deposits made after that date are non-refundable.

First deliveries of the ET5 are expected on September 30, and Li said in a September 7 second-quarter earnings call that Nio is well positioned to deliver more than 10,000 ET5s in a single month in December, with a higher internal target.

The Nio ET5 is being produced at the company's second plant in NeoPark in Hefei, Anhui province, and Nio announced last week that it had completed employee training for the model.

On September 16, Nio began displaying expected delivery lead times for all models on its mobile app, and for Chinese consumers ordering the ET5 now, they can expect delivery in 21-23 weeks after locking in their orders.

Nio's flagship sedan, the ET7, has a slightly shorter wait time in China, though it does have 11-13 weeks.

The company sent the first batch of ET7 sedans to Europe via three ships last month, some of which have already appeared across Europe, and its deliveries there will begin in the fourth quarter.

Nio currently has three models based on the NT 1.0 platform -- ES8, ES6 and EC6 - and three models based on the NT 2.0 platform -- ES7, ET7 and ET5.

For the past year, Nio has been experimenting with battery leasing and swapping in Norway for its ES8. The company has sold 800 of the SUVs and installed two swap stations in Norway, the Reuters report today quoted company executives as saying.

NIO sees its 'Model 3' moment as ET5 starts locking in orders