Nio cuts prices in China and discontinues free battery swap service for new owners

Due to shrinking EV sales in China and the price war that Tesla started earlier this year, Nio is forced to cut down its prices to return to growth. The bad news is this also means an end of the free battery swap service for new owners as the company still needs to balance its books. Currently, the company offers at least four free battery swaps per month to its existing users, which results in considerable company expense.

Starting June 12, the company will be selling all of its vehicles with a RMB 30,000 ($4,200) discount and that includes the ES6 and ES8 sport trims. The price cuts range between 6 and 9%, depending on the model.

Additionally, buyers who place deposits from June 12 onwards will no longer be eligible for free batter swaps. That's because the company is under scrutiny from investors, which claim that the service is bringing down profitability. In Q1 2022, Nio had a net loss of RMB 1.8 billion ($252 million), while this during year's Q1, the net loss went up to RMB 4.7 billion ($658 million).

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