China’s electric carmaker Nio said it will open a plant in Hungary in September to make power products for the European market.
Its first overseas factory will open in Pest, in the eastern part of the capital Budapest, it said in a statement late on Friday.
The plant will create and manufacture power products such as battery-swapping stations to serve electric vehicles across the continent, Nio said.
Nio said it would rev up construction of battery swapping stations in Europe with a view to expanding car sales in countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark in the second half.
The company is also partnering with oil giant Shell to build battery swapping stations globally, starting with China and Europe this year, according to a Nio statement on Monday. Shell will open its charging network in Europe to Nio users, it added.
Competitive Advantage
Nio started shipping its ES8s to Norway in 2021 and has opened a showroom in Oslo.
The company has been touting its after-sales services with city-centre showrooms and battery service networks as important competitive advantages.
Nio has said it planned to establish 4,000 battery swapping stations worldwide, a quarter of them outside China.
More Chinese electric vehicle (EV) startups and battery makers are increasing their presence in global markets where EV and energy storage demand is taking off.
Chinese battery maker Gotion High Tech said in June it planned to locate a third of its production capacity outside China by 2025 with construction of its first overseas battery plant, in Gottingen, Germany, to begin by the end of the year.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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