Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Nio has garnered a $2.2 billion investment from a firm backed by the United Arab Emirates, as it continues to push to introduce its EVs in additional markets.
Nio’s investment comes from Abu Dhabi-backed firm CYVN Holdings, after the automaker also gained a $1 billion round of financing from the company in July, according to Financial Times. The recent injection gives CYVN 20 percent of Nio’s shares, just following President and Co-founder Lihong Qin’s recent statements that the automaker was seeking new investment plans.
“We are looking for new investors, and financing is one of our daily jobs,” Qin said. “It never stops, it’s just that currently the global financial policy environment has made this work more challenging.”
He also said that the automaker is currently losing roughly $12,000 for every vehicle it sells, saying that Nio had “not become profitable yet.”
“We definitely face a lot of challenges, but do not have concerns for short term survival,” Qin added.
Nio is aiming to enter the U.S. market, the home country of dominant EV seller Tesla, by 2025. The automaker in July launched its ET5 mid-sized sedan in the United Kingdom, and the company has been adding stores across much of Europe in recent years ahead of plans to launch a more affordable model in the region in 2025.
Last month, reports showed that Nio was looking to cut as much as 10 percent of its staff, as it warned workers that the next two years would bring about a very competitive EV landscape.
Nio is known for its focus on battery swapping technology, which some have warned may be difficult to make a viable business opportunity without the aid of extensive partnerships. In the past, Tesla had a battery swapping unit, though the company shifted its focus onto charging very early on, suggesting that the swapping model wouldn’t be as viable.
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