April 4th is the standard Qingming Competition in China—a time when folks go to ancestral graves and burn paper-made gadgets, together with pretend cash, to honor and keep in mind family members who’ve handed away. It’s a somber event, centered round mourning and reflection. Nonetheless, for considered one of Nio’s advertising managers, this yr’s Qingming was particularly troublesome. In accordance with media experiences, a advertising supervisor from Onvo, a sub-brand of Nio, was fired after posting an “inappropriate flyer” throughout the vacation break.
Within the flyer, he used a Chinese language phrase that may be immediately translated as: “Swap your batteries this Qingming — depart anytime.” This was seen as extremely insensitive, because the phrase “depart” (走) in Chinese language is usually interpreted as a euphemism for dying, particularly throughout the Qingming Competition—a time devoted to honoring the deceased. In accordance with media experiences, the flyer was reported to Nio’s advertising division by an nameless person. Shortly after, the advertising supervisor who created the flyer was dismissed from his job, and his crew chief obtained a proper warning from the corporate’s headquarters.
Past the sensitivity of the Qingming Competition, the timing of the flyer was notably problematic for Nio. It got here shortly after a broadly publicized crash involving the Xiaomi SU7, which resulted within the deaths of three college-aged women. The incident has raised issues throughout Chinese language social media in regards to the security of electrical autos, and a slogan related to dying might be an absolute set off for the general public.
In accordance with data disclosed by Nio, the corporate delivered a complete of 221,970 autos in 2024, marking a 38.7% year-on-year improve. The Nio model accounted for 201,209 deliveries, up 25.7% year-on-year, whereas the newly launched Onvo model contributed 20,761 items. In February, Nio set a brand new file with 136,748 battery swaps accomplished in a single day. The corporate additionally signed a partnership settlement with CATL to construct battery swap stations collectively.
Supply: Sina.cn
