• The layoffs should be around 10 percent, with some variation by region, according to a local media report.

• Onvo president Alan Ai has made few appearances since January's sales missed expectations, and a number of recent internal meetings have been chaired by Onvo vice president Xia Qinghua.

Nio has made layoffs of varying degrees across multiple teams last week, offering packages that include compensation and reassignments, local tech outlet Leiphone said in a report last night.

The layoffs are centered on the sales team and also include the service segment, which Nio had been focusing on, involving the UR Fellow department, which is responsible for after-sales customer service, Nio House, after-sales stores and other after-sales service departments, according to the report.

The layoffs should be around 10 percent, with some variations in different regions, Leiphone said, citing several employees with knowledge of the situation.

The UR Fellow team in Shanghai has a total of about 80 people, and seven to eight people have been laid off, a proportion of 10 percent, the report said.

The UR Fellow team in Shenzhen had a layoff ratio of about 50 percent, with some of the removed employees leaving to join Xiaomi's (HKG: 1810, OTCMKTS: XIACY) EV unit, which is currently building a user service system, according to Leiphone.

The report comes a day after another local media outlet, 36kr, said in a March 11 report that Nio had recently made new organizational changes to focus more on cost control, with founder, chairman, and CEO William Li increasing his involvement in supply chain management.

The EV maker has introduced a CBU (Cell Business Unit) management system aimed at strengthening cost control, and several departments would be downsized based on full-year goals, the 36kr report said.

The 36kr report did not mention further more about the downsizing, while Leiphone's report yesterday provided more details.

Nio's layoffs to its sales team began in February, and the company conducted the downsizing in parallel with efforts to strengthen corporate governance, according to Leiphone.

In the first half of 2024, Nio significantly expanded its sales team ahead of the launch of its sub-brand Onvo's first model, the L60, with the Shenzhen sales team expanding from 200 to 400, the report said, citing people familiar with Nio's sales system.

The current size of Nio's sales force matches the capacity of selling 30,000 to 40,000 cars a month, but overall sales have fallen short of expectations, the people familiar with the matter said.

Nio's rapid expansion of its sales team in a short period of time was meant to prepare the team build for the launch of the Onvo L60, however the model has not performed as well as expected since its launch, according to the report.

Onvo president Alan Ai previously provided plans for the sub-brand to challenge sales of 15,000 units in January and February, over 20,000 units in March, and to reach 30,000 units per month in the fourth quarter, but the sales figures fell far short of expectations, Leiphone's report said.

Ai has made few appearances after January sales fell short of expectations, and a number of recent internal meetings have been chaired by Onvo vice president Xia Qinghua, Leiphone said, citing sources familiar with the company's internal affairs.

Many employees even believe that Ai is already in the process of making the exit handover, perhaps delivering on his previous promise to resign if sales targets he made at the 2024 Guangzhou auto show are not met, Leiphone said.

Additionally, Nio has made changes to its flagship showroom, Nio House.

Nio will eliminate the store manager position at Nio House, which will be merged with the sales positions in such facilities, Leiphone said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Some of Nio House's operations and service staff have been replaced with part-time staff from third parties, and the store's staff has been downsized from eight or nine to three or four, the report said.

The Nio Houses in Shenzhen are now open to the public, Leiphone said, citing people familiar with the matter. Previously these facilities were only open to Nio-brand car owners.

While mentioning these adjustments, Leiphone's report noted that some of Nio's businesses are seeing good trends.

Multiple employees confirmed that Nio's battery swap stations are now gradually achieving profitability, according to the report.

Construction costs that previously required between RMB 5 million ($690,000) and RMB 6 million have now shrunk to between RMB 1 million and RMB 2 million, according to the report.

Nio's chargers can service other brands of vehicles, giving the business more room to operate, the report noted.

On February 8, Li said in a live video broadcast that trends in Nio's battery swap business were getting better, with the stations in Shanghai already largely close to profitability.

($1 = RMB 7.2289)