The EC6's contribution to Nio's sales is modest, but the actor's move to buy the coupe SUV is an endorsement of the model and the Nio brand.

(Actor in Nio's new EC6 launch event, Zhang Weixun (first from the left), shared a photo of him with people including Nio CEO William Li.)

This is when acting becomes reality.

Nio (NYSE: NIO) launched its new EC6 coupe SUV on September 15, completing the transition of the last NT 1.0-based model to the latest NT 2.0 platform.

Unlike all of its previous launch evets, the Chinese EV maker took a completely new approach to the new EC6 -- presenting the model in the form of a Nio staff member introducing it to a family customer.

The family customer was actor Zhang Weixun and his wife Li Siyi, and interestingly, Zhang himself ordered the new EC6 on the day of the launch and recently took delivery.

Zhang chose the same vehicle presented at the launch, a purple EC6, according to an article he posted on October 31 on the Nio App.

Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li, as well as the company's co-founder and president Qin Lihong, welcomed and thanked Zhang in the comments section of the post.

"The filming process was also a process for me to learn about the new EC6 as an intended customer. As the filming progressed, I saw a lot of technology and ingenuity behind the EC6 and thought it was really an awesome car," Zhang wrote in his post.

After more than a week of filming, Zhang and his wife decided to buy the new EC6 and paid a deposit on the night of the launch, he said.

"As an actor, a large part of the time is spent waiting. So besides the comfortable seats, what got me was the EC6's Dolby Atmos sound," he wrote.

The new EC6 starts at RMB 358,000 ($49,000), which is RMB 20,000 higher than the RMB 338,000 starting price of Nio's main selling model, the new ES6.

(A screenshot from the video of Nio's new EC6 launch event)

Nio also has a higher-priced EC7 coupe SUV on sale with a starting price of RMB 458,000. The EC7 was released on Nio Day 2022 on December 24.

Coupe SUVs are a niche market in China, and the EC6 and EC7 are making limited contributions to Nio's sales, though Zhang's own purchase of the EC6 is an endorsement of the model and the Nio brand.

Nio delivered 15,641 vehicles in September, with the EC6 and EC7 contributing 1,006 and 229 units, or 6.43 percent and 1.46 percent, respectively, data monitored by CnEVPost show.

The company delivered 16,074 vehicles in October, including 11,086 SUVs and 4,988 sedans. Breakdown figures for specific models are not yet available.

($1 = RMB 7.3118)

Nio launches new EC6 with starting price $2,750 higher than ES6