Chinese electric car start-up Nio (NYSE:NIO) has announced plans to begin selling vehicles in Norway this September, its first foray into a market outside of China.
Nio plans to first launch its ES8 electric SUV in Norway, followed by its ET7 electric sedan in 2022. The company anticipates expanding its local staff in Norway to 50 people by year’s end.
The Norway venture will begin with a flagship "Nio House" showroom located in Oslo, Norway that’s slated to open in the third quarter of this year. Four smaller showrooms are set to open in other parts of Norway in 2022.
More than half of the new cars sold in Norway last year were battery-powered electric vehicles, according to the Norwegian Road Federation. The 54.3% electric vehicle proportion marked a rapid increase from 42% in 2019.
Electric vehicles have dominated new passenger car sales in Norway for the last three years, with Volkswagen’s Audi e-tron leading in 2020, followed by Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Model 3 in 2019 and Nissan’s Leaf in 2018. Other Chinese electric car makers are already selling in Norway, including U.S.-listed Xpeng (NYSE:XPEV), which sold 100 of its G3 electric SUVs in the country last year.
