Chinese electric car maker NIO is inching closer to expanding into Europe and appears set to first launch in EV-loving Norway.

The company took to Twitter to confirm the news, revealing that it will hold a press conference in Oslo, Norway on May 6 to discuss its presence in the local market.

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NIO already has some presence in Europe with a global design center located in Munich, Germany and its advanced engineering R&D center located in Oxford, England. While it has been touting an expansion into Europe for a couple of years now, fellow EV start-up Xpeng got the jump on it and began selling its vehicles in the Old Continent late last year.


Benzinga understands that NIO’s first European showroom will likely be located in Oslo. It is also reported that the former head of Jaguar Land Rover in Norway, Marius Hayler, will serve as the chief executive of NIO Norway. Various job listings on LinkedIn also reveal that the car manufacturer is looking to recruit talent for its European operations.

In early April, NIO reached a significant milestone rolling out its 100,000th vehicle, nine months it built its 50,000th vehicle and exactly 1,046 days since production of the flagship ES8 electric SUV began.

The ES8 is slightly larger than the Audi E-Tron, has an output of 643 hp and 619 lb-ft (840 Nm) of torque, and can be equipped with a 100 kWh battery pack offering an NEDC-estimated range of up to 360 miles (580 km). Other models currently produced by NIO include the ES6 five-seat electric SUV and the EC6 electric coupe SUV. It remains unclear which of these models will be the first to launch in Europe.