NIO to open nine NIO House & Service centers in National Day Holiday

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- NIO, a Chinese electric vehicle startup, is said to open nine user centers, including one NIO House and eight NIO Service centers, during China's National Day holiday, after it reported a quarter-over-quarter increase of 24.9% in the Q2 net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders.

Under the slogan “A space for NIO's users and friends, a joyful lifestyle beyond the car”, the EV manufacturer has so far opened 20 NIO Houses across China. Apart from the car gallery, a welcoming open kitchen, living room areas, meeting rooms and a library all fit around an open forum space where travel talks and lectures can be given.

NIO Service is designed to provide “a one-stop solution for solving all of car servicing related worries”. Major services it offers include quality assurance, roadside assistance and car connectivity—all of them are lifetime free. From the time being, 16 NIO Service centers have been opened in the country.

The high-profiled startup delivered 3,553 vehicles from April to June, compared with 3,989 vehicles handed over in the previous quarter, according to NIO's latest financial result. Total revenues for the second quarter were RMB1,508.6 million (US$219.7 million), representing a decrease of 7.5% from the first quarter of 2019.

Besides, the company still posted a net loss of RMB3,285.8 million (US$478.6 million), an increase of 25.2% from a quarter earlier and an 83.1% surge from the year-ago period. The Q2 net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders was RMB3,313.7 million (US$482.7 million), jumping 24.9% from the first quarter.

Since the first NIO House opened in Beijing in November, 2017, the startup has pumped a huge deal of money in such brand experience centers. It is a smart method to maximize NIO's brand acceptance by setting up user centers at a city's prime location with huge amount of passenger traffic. In this way, people who have not known NIO before are likely to become potential targeted users.

However, every coin has two sides. The whopping operational cost is intensifying the company's financial pressure, notably the four-year-old startup hasn't achieved profit yet. Maybe how to efficiently transfer its brand influence into substantial revenue is one of major tasks on NIO's shoulder (photo source: NIO).