Li Bin’s Letter to All Employees: The Automobile Industry Has Entered the Final Round of Competition, NIO Must Make Five Preparations

The first rays of sunshine in 2026 shine on the new energy track, marking this industry’s entry into a more brutal yet more exciting finals stage.

In the past year, China’s automobile market underwent an unprecedented reshuffle and reconstruction. For NIO, 2025 was not only a critical year to emerge from a slump and return to rapid growth, but also a turning point for its multi-brand strategy to bear fruit and for its technology moat to truly become market competitiveness.

On the first day of the New Year 2026, NIO’s founder, chairman, and CEO William Li issued an open letter to all employees—summarizing the past and issuing a “battle plan” for future fierce competition.

Looking back at 2025, NIO showed explosive power. In December, new car deliveries reached 48,135 units, an all-time high. Powered by three major brands, annual new car deliveries reached 326,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 46.9%, signaling that NIO has successfully emerged from its previous trough and is back on the fast growth track.

Besides breakthroughs in sales, 2025 was also a “harvest period” for NIO’s technological innovation and infrastructure construction.

William Li stated in the letter that the company’s ongoing investment in R&D is now translating into tangible competitiveness; the deepening of intelligent, cross-brand, multi-model platform capabilities has improved development and operation efficiency; in terms of energy replenishment network, NIO has built 3,737 battery swap stations globally. Li candidly said that the hot sales of the LeDao L90 and NIO’s new ES8 would not be possible without strong support from the battery swapping and charging network.

However, Li also clearly pointed out in the letter that the competition in the smart EV industry has entered the finals; the pace of tech upgrades and iteration will quicken, and market competition pressure will intensify. He knows that as the industry moves into the finals, any relaxation may result in being left behind.

Li stressed that the harsher the environment, the more one needs to maintain strategic focus—neither belittling oneself nor deceiving oneself. Based on sharp industry insights, Li believes the golden age of pure electric technology is coming. He predicts that by 2030, new energy vehicles will take more than 90% of new car market share in China, with pure EVs accounting for over 80%.

To secure an advantageous position in the “finals” of 2026, Li proposed five concrete strategic preparations, demanding that all staff “build strong defenses and fight tough battles.”

First, NIO will continue to invest resolutely in 12 core full-stack technologies for smart electric vehicles. In 2026, NIO plans to launch three new models to further grow its share in the high-end large vehicle market; for intelligence, the NIO World Model (NWM) will achieve breakthrough; NOMI intelligence will also get major updates to further boost competitiveness in smart cockpits.

Infrastructure construction remains top priority. Starting from Q2, NIO will begin large-scale rollout of fifth-generation battery swap stations. The annual target is to add over 1,000 new swap stations, bringing the total to over 4,600 by year-end. The “swap station for every county” plan will continue, and the “charging scenic routes” will surpass 100 lines. Li specifically mentioned that NIO will continuously improve the commercial operation capabilities of its charging and swapping network, paving the way for eventual profitability.

Third, the breadth and depth of the sales and service network will be expanded concurrently. Facing fiercer market competition, NIO, LeDao, and Firefly—the three major brands—will jointly deploy in lower-tier markets while deepening focus on key regions. The plan is to cover over 210 prefecture-level cities with sales and service networks by 2026, ensuring capabilities reach broader user groups.

Fourth, globalization will advance steadily. While continuing to consolidate the Chinese market, NIO will expand its overseas footprint through a national distributor model. Firefly will be the pioneer brand, aiming to enter 40 countries and regions, paving the way for NIO’s global strategy.

Lastly, and very crucially, is improving organizational efficiency. Li emphasized that automotive industry competition boils down to efficiency—even a 3-5 percentage point gap can prove decisive over the long term. Therefore, in 2026, NIO will continue to deepen organizational reform, optimize basic operating units centered around user value, reinforce cost control and ROI awareness, ensuring every cent is spent wisely. Only with industry-leading operational efficiency can a company survive the fierce struggle.

At the beginning of 2026, NIO is about to roll off its one-millionth mass-produced car—a milestone moment. Li compares the journey to a “marathon on a muddy road”; along the way, user support is the driving force, while “one step at a time, perseverance brings success” is the attitude NIO brings to challenges. With a mature three-brand matrix, a deepening technology moat, and an ever-improving energy replenishment network, NIO is ready to face the ultimate battle in the smart EV industry.

The full text of the staff letter is as follows:

Dear colleagues:

2026 has arrived—Happy New Year to everyone!

We just announced our December 2025 delivery results: 48,135 new vehicles delivered—a historical high, up 54.6% YoY; in Q4, we delivered 124,807 vehicles—a historical high, up 71.7% YoY. Quarterly deliveries among the three brands all reached new highs: NIO delivered 67,433 vehicles in Q4, up 27.8% YoY; LeDao delivered 38,290, up 92.1% YoY; Firefly delivered 19,084, up 52.8% QoQ.

In 2025, NIO, LeDao, and Firefly delivered 326,028 new vehicles in synergy—a historic high, up 46.9% YoY, returning to rapid growth. LeDao L90 delivered 43,439 units in five months since launch, winning the annual large pure electric SUV sales crown; NIO’s all-new ES8 delivered 22,256 units in December, setting a new monthly delivery record for cars priced above RMB 400,000. These two large models have reshaped competition in their markets, together leading the three-row SUV segment into the pure electric era. Firefly, launched as a new brand this year, saw consecutive five months of growth, pushing high-end small car market share beyond 61% and remaining No. 1 for seven months running.

These achievements are the result of everyone’s joint effort. Here, I’d like to sincerely thank all of you—every colleague in R&D, supply chain, quality, manufacturing, user experience and service, management and support—for your hard work. Thank you for not backing down under pressure and for delivering real results to reward our users, partners, shareholders, and the wider community for their trust and support.

In 2025, we together proved the long-term value of persistent technological innovation. Our consistent R&D investment entered a harvest phase, producing mass-market adoption of global-first automotive-grade 5nm advanced intelligent driving chip, comprehensive vehicle operating system, and Tianxing smart chassis—core technologies for intelligent cars. While continually pushing the ceiling on product performance and user experience, we also achieved substantial cost reductions through technology, providing fundamental support for lasting competitiveness. Cedar, Banyan, Coconut, Aster, and other intelligent systems saw ongoing iteration, as cross-brand, multi-model intelligent platform capabilities deepened, significantly boosting R&D, iteration, and operations efficiency; our tech strengths are turning into real user value and market recognition.

We jointly demonstrated the user value, business value, and social value of continued investment in our charging and battery swapping networks. To date, we have built 3,737 swap stations worldwide with cumulative service exceeding 96 million swaps. We have built 1,010 highway swap stations, and the “swap station for every county” and “charging scenic routes” are ongoing. As of today, we have completed the Deqin Meili Snow Mountain swap station, linking the Yunnan-Tibet route; now, drivers can swap batteries all the way from Kunming to Mount Everest. Step-by-step, we are fulfilling our promise of “making charging as convenient as refueling.” The impressive sales of the LeDao L90 and NIO’s new ES8 come hand-in-hand with an increasingly convenient charging and swapping network.

In 2025, we showed the resilience expected of us. In recent times, the company underwent tough but necessary organizational reform; full-staff business awareness and cost control have strengthened, the CBU mechanism has basically taken hold, and system capabilities and operational efficiency continue to improve—laying a solid foundation for fiercer market competition.

Colleagues, competition in the smart EV industry has entered the finals; the pace of tech upgrades will only get faster, and market competition pressure will mount. The rougher the environment, the more we must keep strategic clarity; don’t underestimate or deceive ourselves, stay true to our original purpose and focus on execution.

Our confidence comes from 11 years of persistent investment in tech innovation and battery swapping infrastructure, and from the market now validating our chosen technology path. In the first eleven months of 2025, pure EVs accounted for 61.9% of NEV sales, growing much faster than extended range and plug-in hybrids. As tech advances and infrastructure improves, the experience gains from pure EVs now outweigh the inconvenience of charging. In the large three-row SUV market, the golden age of pure EVs is arriving. By 2030, new energy vehicles will account for over 90% of new car sales in China, with pure EVs taking more than 80% of NEV share. Our 12 full-stack technical strengths and competitive prowess in energy infrastructure will win over more and more users.

In 2025, we gradually emerged from the bottom; the company entered its third development stage, starting a new round of rapid growth. But we have no grounds to relax for even a moment. In 2026, we must keep fortifying and fighting hard, laying a solid foundation for both present and long-term development, gathering strength—we will keep resolutely investing in 12 core full-stack EV tech to ensure our product and tech leadership. In 2026, three new models will come to market, further boosting our market share in high-end large cars. The NIO World Model (NWM) has completed breakthroughs in algorithm architecture and training paradigms, and will see several major versions launched this year, comprehensively enhancing intelligent assisted driving experience; NOMI intelligence will have significant updates and iterations, strengthening our smart cockpit competitiveness.

We will keep up robust investment in charging and swapping infrastructure. Starting in Q2, we will begin mass construction of fifth-generation swap stations; the annual target is to build 1,000+ stations, making for over 4,600 in total by year-end; “swap station for every county” keeps going, and “charging scenic routes” will surpass 100; we will keep improving the commercial energy operations capability of the battery swap and charging network, laying a firm base for charging and swapping profitability.

We will keep strengthening our sales and service network, so our capabilities can meet ever fiercer market competition. In 2026, NIO, LeDao, and Firefly will, while deepening focus on key markets, jointly roll out coverage in lower-tier cities, finishing sales/service network coverage in over 210 prefecture-level cities.

In 2026, while focusing on the China market, we will also steadily grow our global layout—continuing to expand overseas via the national distributor model, with Firefly leading as the pioneer brand, planning to cumulatively enter 40 countries and regions.

In 2026, we will keep deepening organizational reform, continually refining our basic business units for user value creation and a high-efficiency, all-staff operations system, ramping up cost control, and sharpening ROI awareness so every cent spent is worthwhile. The auto industry is a long-term competition where a 3-5% efficiency gap decides life or death; only with industry-leading operational efficiency can we survive.

Fellow colleagues, in a few days we’ll see our one-millionth mass-produced vehicle roll off the line. User support has always fuelled our progress and confidence in competition. Please keep our original goal of serving the user, and repay their trust with better products, better service, and better operating performance.

One step at a time, perseverance brings success. Our journey is a marathon on a muddy road. Let’s keep focused and overcome coming challenges together. Happy New Year—keep charging forward!

William Li

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