NIO Inc. founder, chairman, and CEO Li Bin shared insights at the 2026 China Automotive Chongqing Forum, which was held from June 12th to 13th.
Discussing the recent sales growth at NIO Inc., Li Bin stated that the company has remained true to its core, yet still managed to achieve over 30% annual sales growth even during its most challenging periods. He indicated that starting from the second half of last year, NIO Inc. entered a new growth cycle, with an anticipated opportunity for 40% to 50% growth this year.
He attributed this primarily to the company's accurate assessment of a market "inflection point for pure electric vehicles," which has largely met expectations. Since the latter half of last year, the penetration rate and market share of pure electric vehicles have accelerated significantly across all market segments.
When the new ES8 was launched on August 21st last year, Li Bin proposed that "the era of pure electric large three-row SUVs is arriving." He explained this judgment was based on two factors. First, the experiential benefits that pure electric technology brings to large SUVs are increasing and are often highly visible. For instance, the usage rate of the frunk in the Ledao L90 exceeds that of the trunk, an advantage not possible with extended-range, plug-in hybrid, or traditional fuel vehicles, alongside benefits in interior space. Second, the rapid proliferation of charging and battery swap infrastructure has achieved a qualitative change from quantitative growth, minimizing the inconvenience previously associated with charging and swapping.
Therefore, Li Bin pointed out that last year marked such an inflection point—where the experiential gains users receive from the pure electric technology route now far outweigh the losses previously caused by inconvenient charging or swapping. "Looking at it now, that judgment still holds true."
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