Nio is more likely to announce plans for its sub-brands than new Nio-brand models on Nio Day 2023.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

With about five months of the year gone, Nio (NYSE: NIO) has kicked off preparations for its biggest event of the year, Nio Day.

Nio today began recruiting user advisory group members for Nio Day 2023 in China, with the registration deadline of 8:00 pm Beijing time on June 3.

Nio Day is an annual event for Nio and its friends, and the company has had a Nio Day user advisory panel since 2019, according to an article posted on the Nio App today.

Only Nio owners or those who have ordered a Nio vehicle can apply to join the Nio Day user advisory panel, and they also need to have ample spare time to participate in discussions and preparations for the event.

"Users with relevant experience or skills in large-scale event planning, execution, content direction, music production and planning, and art curation are especially welcome to join us," Nio said.

It will conduct an initial screening based on applications and subsequent interviews. In late June, the company will announce the names of the Nio Day 2023 user advisory panel members.

Nio typically holds its annual Nio Day event at the end of each year or at the beginning of the following year, and unveils the latest models and technologies.

The last such event, Nio Day 2022, was held on December 24 in Hefei, Anhui province, the city where Nio's vehicle assembly plants are located.

The city of Nio Day is not decided by Nio, but rather by its customers' votes. The company is expected to continue this practice this year.

Nio launched its preparations for Nio Day 2023 at about the same time as it did for the last event.

The company began recruiting members for the Nio Day 2022 user advisory panel on June 7, 2022, and on July 15 began the process of selecting cities to host the event.

On August 29, 2022, the host city for Nio Day 2022 was determined to be Hefei, and on December 8, the event was scheduled for December 24.

Nio launched the EC7 and the new ES8 at the last Nio Day event, with deliveries of the former already starting a month ago and the latter expected to start in June.

There is no clue what new models or technologies Nio will unveil on Nio Day 2023.

On December 14 last year, local auto media Auto Home reported that Nio was going to build its own "Mercedes Maybach" model, which was already in the design stage and would be a luxury sedan priced at 1 million yuan ($144,000).

The luxury sedan will be operated under the Nio brand, not a sub-brand, and will compete with the Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-class, the report said, citing an Nio insider close to the project.

If things go well, the model would be released as early as 2024 and sold globally, the source added.

It is worth noting that these rumors have never been confirmed by Nio.

In addition, Nio management previously mentioned that the company plans to start delivering mass-market models in the second half of 2024, with prices in the RMB 200,000 to 300,000 range.

The sub-brand, internally codenamed ALPS, will be based on the NT 3.0 platform and powered by Nio's own batteries.

In addition to ALPS, Nio is also planning a third brand with the internal code name Firefly, which will debut in Europe and is expected to go on sale in the third quarter of 2024, according to information previously revealed by the company's management.

Including the new ES8, which has not yet begun delivery, Nio currently has six models on sale, which seems to be a well-established model matrix.

On Nio Day 2023, the company is more likely to announce information about the two sub-brands than new models.

NIO's Firefly project will have its own plant, but city not yet determined, report says