• Nio Day 2025 will take place in Hangzhou on September 20, where the third-generation Nio ES8 SUV will be officially launched.
• The new ES8 will reach a production capacity of 10,000 units in October and 15,000 units in December, Nio management said earlier this month.

Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) announced today that Nio Day 2025 will be held on September 20, following last month's confirmation of Hangzhou, Zhejiang as the host city.

The event will take place in Hall 5 of the Hangzhou Grand Convention and Exhibition Center on September 20, where the all-new ES8 SUV (sport utility vehicle) will be officially launched, the company said.

Nio Day is the company's most significant annual event. This year's theme is "Grow with the Light," with the main event scheduled from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm on September 20.

The company began accepting user registrations for the event starting at 11:00 am on September 5.

Nio Day was previously held annually toward year-end. On July 3, Nio announced shifting the event to the fall, partly to capitalize on the peak sales season in the fourth quarter.

On August 21, Nio debuted the third-generation ES8 and commenced pre-sales for the large SUV. The model delivers significant upgrades while pricing notably lower than its predecessor.

The third-generation ES8 comes standard with a 100-kWh battery pack, with pre-sales pricing starting at RMB 416,800 ($58,420) including the battery pack.

This represents a reduction of RMB 139,200, or 25.04 percent, compared to the RMB 556,000 starting price of the older 100-kWh ES8 variant.

Under the BaaS (Battery as a Service) plan, the third-generation ES8 starts at RMB 308,800, lower than the RMB 428,000 BaaS starting price for the older 100-kWh ES8.

In China's auto market, the official launch price of a new model typically falls below its pre-sales price.

Despite the aggressive pricing, Nio management previously said the new ES8 still generates gross margin due to significantly lower costs compared to its predecessor.

If prices remain high, it will be difficult to compete in the market, said William Li, Nio's founder, chairman, and CEO, last month.

Following the pre-sales of the new-generation ES8, Nio management noted the model outperformed the pre-sales performance of the popular L90 SUV from its sub-brand Onvo.

The all-new Nio ES8 will reach a production capacity of 10,000 units in October and 15,000 units in December, Li said during a September 2 earnings call.

Beyond the third-generation ES8, a media report last month suggested Nio may roll out a special edition Firefly EV at Nio Day 2025, based on the European version of the hatchback.

Firefly launched its debut model in China on April 19. The Nio sub-brand commenced deliveries of the Firefly EV in Norway and the Netherlands on August 14, marking its official entry into overseas markets.

($1 = RMB 7.1348)