Nio president said media reports that the company sold 832 units in Europe in the first half of the year are inaccurate, and that the real results were three to four times that number.

(Nio president Qin Lihong (left) and the company's CEO William Li were interviewed by English-language media on September 21. Image credit: CnEVPost)

Nio (NYSE: NIO) has already entered the European market, but the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker doesn't announce its sales there.

We've known some websites that track Nio's sales figures in Norway and Germany, but those numbers are often confusing due to the lack of many details.

In an interview yesterday, Nio co-founder and president Qin Lihong mentioned that reports of the company's European sales figures are inaccurate and far below the actual results.

The EV maker hosted a Nio IN 2023 innovation day event yesterday, where it introduced its technology layout and launched its first smartphone. After the event, the company's executives were interviewed by the media.

In a group interview with local media, Nio was asked if the company could confirm whether the rumors in media reports that it sold 832 units in Europe in the first half of the year were true, according to Sina Tech.

In his response, Qin said that the figure was inaccurate and that the real operating results were three to four times that number, according to the report.

While the number is only part of the results, Qin is not happy about it, saying that overseas sales have not met expectations.

Nio's products are more expensive in Europe than in China due to a number of factors. Despite this, the company still has room for improvement in areas including the building of its operational system, he said.

Also, Nio management underestimated the difficulty of building infrastructure in Europe, according to Qin.

It's been really slow to move the effort forward in Europe, with Germany being much slower than China to get approvals for the construction of battery swap stations, for example, according to Qin.

Nio's first stop in Europe was Norway, where it launched the ES8 on September 30, 2021.

On October 7, 2022, Nio announced its entry into Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, and introduced the ET7, EL7 and ET5 to European customers.

Unlike its direct vehicle sales in Norway, Nio initially offered a service called Nio Subscription in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, which only allowed local consumers to rent vehicles, rather than buy them.

After much controversy over the model, Nio began offering the option to buy vehicles in these countries on October 21, 2022.

Nio's business model in Europe makes it difficult to accurately get figures for its sales there.

Vehicles for Nio Subscription in Europe are recognized as assets on the company's balance sheet, but are not counted in announced deliveries, Nio said on November 1 last year.

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