Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker NIO last week posted three job openings in the U.S. for its local replenishment facility, piquing public interest to the possibility of an expansion into the American auto market — reports CnEVPost.
“We have had a software development team in San Jose, USA since the inception of our company, and the recent job postings are normal hiring practices,” said NIO in response.
However, while NIO has previously been seen hiring for software development-related positions in San Jose, California, the three job openings the EV startup posted to LinkedIn on Thursday were for its local infrastructure plans, the first of their kind.
Now that NIO has established a foothold in its home field of China — the company surpassed BYD to become the most valuable car brand in the country earlier this year, it has its sights set on global expansion.
At NIO Day 2021 this month where the company unveiled its ET5 mid-sized smart electric sedan, founder, chairman, and CEO William Li announced NIO’s plans for global expansion.
The company’s next stop is Europe, with Li adding that NIO will launch in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands in 2022. Li said that the company’s goal is to operate in 25 countries and regions across the world by 2025, and local media outlets reported after the fact that this number would include Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and Western Europe.
Li also shed some light on NIO’s strategy for expansion, saying in an interview that the company will develop local infrastructure and a robust after-sales service system in any given region to ensure a good user experience before expanding into it.
“If we think we can’t do it, we’d rather not enter this market, or if we can’t do it in the short term we’d rather wait a little bit,” said Li.
NIO filling up positions related to local infrastructure would therefore indicate that the company has started laying the groundwork for an entry into the U.S.
NIO delivered a total of 10,878 vehicles in November, breaking its previous record for monthly sales and representing a 105.6% year-over-year increase in deliveries.
