• In the past month, nearly 800 sales professionals with experience at Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus, and Volvo have joined Nio's sales team, said a Nio executive.
• Nio's third-generation ES8 is said to make its debut on August 20, with showroom models available at Nio stores on August 21.

Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) significantly expanded its sales team in the past month, partly in preparation for the upcoming launch of its ES8 large electric SUV (sport utility vehicle).

In the past month, nearly 800 sales professionals with experience at Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Lexus, and Volvo have joined Nio's sales team, Yang Bo, the company's head of user operations, said on Weibo today.

At the same time, many professionals from the real estate, insurance, and financial sectors have also joined the company and are currently undergoing intensive training, Yang said.

He said that sales talent from all industries are welcome to join Nio and its sub-brand Onvo.

"Welcome everyone, let's look forward to the launch of Nio's new ES8!" Yang wrote.

Yang did not mention any further details about the ES8, but shared a photo of the third-generation ES8 that was reported by CnEVPost yesterday.

On August 1, during a media briefing the day after Onvo launched its L90 large SUV, Nio founder, chairman, and CEO William Li said that the company will unveil the third-generation ES8 later this month and officially launch it at Nio Day 2025 next month.

Nio will hold a product and technology event for the third-generation ES8 in late August, at which point show cars will be available in stores, Li said at the time.

The company has not yet announced the release date for the new ES8, but according to some automotive bloggers, the SUV will make its debut on August 20, with show cars available in Nio stores on August 21.

The ES8 is Nio's first mass-produced model and one of its most expensive, with a starting price of RMB 498,000 ($69,380) including the battery pack.

The first-generation ES8 was launched on December 16, 2017, at Nio Day 2017. The second-generation ES8 was rolled out on December 24, 2022, at Nio Day 2022, transitioning to the NT 2.0 platform.

The expansion of the sales team is part of Nio's preparations for the traditional peak sales season in the third and fourth quarters and the launch of the higher-end ES9 SUV next year.

As part of these efforts, Nio has moved its Nio Day event, which is usually held at the end of each year, to the fall.

($1 = RMB 7.1775)