Midea and Nio will cooperate in areas including EV parts, automation services, digitalization, low-carbon parks and smart logistics.

(Image credit: Welling)

Nio (NYSE: NIO) has signed a strategic agreement with a Chinese home appliance giant to collaborate in several areas.

Midea Group (SHE: 000333) and Nio signed a strategic cooperation agreement at the appliance maker's subsidiary Welling Holding's plant in Anqing, Anhui province, on April 10, according to a Welling statement today.

The two companies will cooperate in areas such as electric vehicle (EV) parts, automation services, digitalization, low-carbon sustainable parks and smart logistics, according to the statement.

The signing ceremony was attended by Midea's chairman and president, Fang Hongbo; Nio's founder, chairman and CEO, William Li; and officials from the Anqing municipal government.

Midea and Nio will work together to explore new technologies applicable to smart EVs and jointly develop products including air-conditioning compressors, electric drives, thermal management integration, and in-vehicle refrigerators.

The two companies will also cooperate in the areas of industrial robotics, industrial automation solutions, motion control solutions, digital management systems, and smart logistics, according to the statement.

Nio's EV as well as its energy business are growing rapidly, and Midea wishes every Nio vehicle to have parts produced by the company in Anqing, Fang said.

Midea and Nio also witnessed the launch of Welling's first next-generation 900 V round wire stator.

Midea is one of China's largest home appliance makers, with products that include air conditioners, smart home devices, consumer appliances as well as robotics and automation products.

Midea announced its entry into the commercial vehicle sector in 2003 and has since acquired several bus companies with chassis manufacturing capabilities. However, in 2008, the company stopped its car-making program and shifted its main production bases to logistics bases.

In May 2021, Welling announced three major electric vehicle (EV) product lines, including drive systems, thermal management systems, and assisted driving systems.

"The supply chain has become a headache for a lot of car companies, and we want to be the most responsive supplier in the industry to keep up with the speed of them," Midea vice president Fu Congjun said at the time.

Welling shipped 750,000 units in 2023, a 400 percent year-on-year increase, according to its statement today.

Nio has previously used parts from Midea, and the ES6 and ES8 have used Welling's heat pump products in the past, according to a January 2022 Jiemian story.

In February 2022, Welling announced the start of construction of its NEV parts production base in Anqing, saying it would be a key strategic project for the group.

The project, with a total investment of about RMB 11 billion ($1.5 billion), would mainly be used to produce products including power steering motors, electric compressors for NEVs, and drive motors, Welling said at the time.

The project will have an annual capacity of 60 million sets and an annual output value of RMB 40 billion, according to the company.

($1 = RMB 7.2306)

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