Tesla's Chinese Rival NIO's Firefly Models To Stay Competitive In Europe Despite Added Tariffs, Says CEO William Li: Report

William Li, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO Inc. NIO, has voiced his opposition to the European Union’s newly imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

Despite this challenge, he reportedly emphasized that NIO’s forthcoming models under its third brand, known as Firefly, remain poised to maintain competitiveness in the European market, CnEV Post reported.

Check This Out: Tesla’s Chinese Rival NIO Unveils Plans For Nio IN 2024: Anticipates Launch of Second-Generation Nio Phone Amid Innovations

“The EU originally imposed a 10 percent tariff on Chinese EVs, and now an additional 21 percent has been added, raising it to 31 percent, which is definitely not right,” Li said at a user communication event in Tianjin on June 19, CnEV Post added.

He remarked that Europe serves as a global exemplar for clean energy and sustainability; however, the imposition of additional tariffs on Chinese EVs now represents a contradiction in principles.

Li also pointed out that the additional tariffs are still pending and a final decision is expected to be announced by October or November, the report added.

On June 12, the European Commission announced plans to impose provisional additional tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, effective the following month.

These tariffs, ranging up to 38.1% and varying by carmaker, apply particularly to Nio and several other Chinese battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufacturers that participated in the investigation but were not directly sampled. For these companies, the additional tariff averages 21%.

Upon the announcement, Nio expressed strong opposition to these new European tariffs, affirming its unwavering commitment to the European market despite the imposed measures.

“We certainly don’t want to end up with so many additional tariffs, but if that’s what’s ultimately decided, then for Firefly, even with these additional tariffs, it will still be competitive in Europe,” Li said, CnEV Post added.

Price Action: NIO shares are trading lower by 1.58% to $4.36 premarket at last check Thursday.

Read Next: AMD Cyberattack? Hacker Claims To Sell Stolen Data, Company Says Working Closely With Law Enforcement Officials (UPDATED)

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo by Sundry Photography on Shutterstock