Electric vehicles (EV) are increasingly popular, as seen at this year's Shanghai Auto Show. Nio, a Chinese local EV producer, sees the electrification of auto a widely accepted trend. Li Bin, its chairman and CEO sees this year as a qualifying round for EV competition, while estimating that it might take a decade for winners to clearly emerge.

“The competition will last for a long time, not in a year or two. I think it will take 10 years or even longer to see what electrification will bring to the industry and the global auto market,” he said. 

And he thought that players in the market should focus more on the changes in consumers' experience.

“The trend is undoubtedly obvious. We should notice the change in consumer experience besides technological evolution. The ethics, culture, and mission of companies will also change in this era,” Li said.

The competition in the e-commerce sector was considered evidence. “In the eve of the Internet age, many had noticed the rise of e-commerce. Amazon saw that and so did Wal-Mart. But Amazon won the game as it has a culture and an organization which is suitable to e-commerce.”

The CEO believes the pace of EV popularization to accelerate.

“It is advantageous in many aspects such as higher power output, more compatibility for an intelligence upgrade, less cost in use and in maintenance,” Li listed, adding that smart EV, connectivity, and autonomous driving have already been foreseeable.

Chinese auto market outlook

The Chinese auto sector suffered a tough time last year. Li predicted that the overall auto market would continue to decline this year, while EV sales would grow.

“Overall auto sales in China will drop this year. But I am positive on sales of EV, in particular, smart EV,” he told CGTN. 

However, he acknowledged that EV companies are facing a more competitive environment. China has announced its plans to reduce subsidies for EVs, which is “within expectation,” said Li. And he advised offering some favorable policies on the use of EV, rather than on EV purchases.

“We have seen the government roll out tax cuts and favorable policies to encourage EV on the road. In Shanghai, the car plate for EV is free while that of gas car costs a lot. And in Beijing, there is not any traffic restriction on EV while each gas car is banned on road one day per week,” he further explained. Meanwhile, he is positive that these policies will become “a key factor to promote sales of EVs.” 

Li confident in bringing value to long-term share investors

Nio has delivered so far more than 15,000 units of its seven-seat electric SUV so far and plans to launch new models this year to spur sales. 

“As a listed company, Nio has a large amount of investments. Share investors worry about the value of our company based on various reasons. That's normal,” Li said.

But he claimed that Nio has got a 100-percent customer satisfaction. Meanwhile, as the company pays attention to strong execution in the long term, he is confident that Nio could bring considerable returns for long-term investors. 

“Share investors can recognize the execution of our team, our particular market position in China as well as our competitiveness in the international market,” he said.